Breaking Away
SUMMARY: Good movie. But I wish there were more cycling.
There aren’t a lot of cycling movies. Actually, I can only think of two that have much focus on cycling, and those Break Away, and American Flyers. They were both written by the same guy: Steve Tesich. Breaking away came out in 1979. American Flyers came out later in 1985. Between the two, I prefer American Flyers because it focuses more on the bike racing.
Breaking away is more about a group of four guys who are locals (cutters), and how they are going to deal with their future. It also deals with how they relate to the college kids at the nearby state college.
The main character Dave is fascinated by the Italian bike racing team. He wants to be just like them, and even speaks Italian. When the Italian team comes to race in a local race, he manages to keep up with them until one of the team shoves a tire pump into Dave’s spokes and he crashes. I loses his fascination with the Italians.
The last part of the movie is a bike race where the Cutters team is invited to race with the college teams. The race is a relay, but the plan is Dave will race the entire thing with his friends just being there. Dave crashes, and the other guys ride too. But Dave manages to get back on the bike with his feet taped to the pedals, and wins the race. The cycling that is in the movie is pretty good. I just wish there were more of it. The story is very good. It won an Oscar for the screen play and was nominated for several others.
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Going the Distance: The George Thomas Story by George Thomas
SUMMARY: Fascinating story about a man with epilepsy racing a bicycle across the United States.
The Race Across America (RAAM) is considered one of the most grueling endurance races in the world. I remember reading a little about it many years ago. Imagine racing a bicycle across he United States in about 12 days. The average about 300 miles a day! They ride around the clock only taking short sleep breaks. They burn massive amounts of calories keeping those pedals spinning. This is George Thomas’ story. He suffers epilepsy which may have been caused by a car crash years before. He battled seizures, and various other problems due to the epilepsy such as having his driver’s license taken away. He finally finds an experiment drug that helps bring his seizures under control. He goes on to race the RAAM as part of a relay team, solo, and on a tendem bike. It is an interesting read. I enjoyed it. If you are interested in endurance sports, or cycling, I think you might like it.
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American Flyers
SUMMARY: The best cycling movie I have seen.
I first saw this movie on TV many years ago. Later, when I started bike riding a little more seriously, I began to watch this movie often on VHS, to get me pumped up for a ride. This is long before Lance Armstrong was winning Tour de France championships, and making cycling more common in the USA. In the movie, the race is called The Hell Of The West, but it was based on the real life race The Coors Classic. I love the cycling footage. The acting is so-so, but I enjoyed the story, and there is quite a bit humor in the film. It is a relatively early role for Kevin Costner. Alexandra Paul is amazingly cute in this movie too. I have watched this movie countless times. After about 13 years without a bike, I am just now getting back to doing some bike riding. I now have a mountain bike, but I do miss my old Trek road bike. I miss flying down a hill at close to 60 miles per hour! I haven’t tried that on the mountain bike yet. Anyway…I recently watched this movie again while doings some miles on my treadmill. I don’t think it has lost anything. It is a thoroughly enjoyable movie. (parents beware, there is a small touch of female nudity in the movie).
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