Serious bike riders are an obsessive bunch. On weekend days, we (and yes, I do include myself in the “obsessive bunch” group) wake up at the crack of dawn, jump on the bike and then head down the road, listening to the sweet music of the bike’s wheels rolling over the pavement as the miles roll by. During the week, we sit in our offices staring out of a window, daydreaming about our next epic ride. When we have some free time, we clean and adjust every gear and component.
Sometimes, we may even sit on the front of the television and we watch movies about bike riding.
PEE WEE’s BIG ADVENTURE
Pee-wee's Big Adventure, the greatest movie ever made about cycling is a wildly creative, idiosyncratic masterpiece. The film tells the story of Pee-wee Herman, a childlike adult who loves his bicycle more than anything else. After his bike is stolen, he must embark on a nation-wide adventure to search for his bike. The movie, which turns 25 in 2010, was directed by Tim Burton, written by Paul Reubens, Phil Hartman and Michael Varho; it starred Paul Reubens as Pee-wee Herman.
BREAKING AWAY
The story about working-class kids, restless in a small college town, is one of the best cycling films ever made. It is also one of the best films ever made, period! It won the 1980 Academy Award for Best Screenplay and was nominated for four other awards. In 2006, the American Film Institute (AFI) listed Breaking Away as #8 on the List of America's 100 Most Inspiring Movies. In June 2008, AFI announced its "Ten Top Ten"—the best ten films in ten "classic" American film genres—Breaking Away was acknowledged as the #8 best film in the sports genre.
TRIPLETS OF BELLEVILLE
The Triplets of Belleville (Les Triplettes de Belleville) is a Canadian/French/British/Belgian 2003 animated surreal adventure film written and directed by Sylvain Chomet. The story focuses on Madame Souza, an elderly woman raising her young grandson, Champion. Souza notices her grandson is sad and lonely so she buys him a puppy named Bruno to cheer him up. Although he was initially happy, he quickly becomes melancholy once again. After discovering that Champion has a keen interest in road bicycle racing, Souza buys Champion a tricycle. Eventually, Champion enters the Tour de France but during the race, he and two other riders are kidnapped by two French mafia henchmen and brought to the bustling metropolis of Belleville, somewhere in North America. The movie is absurdly bizarre (well, what can you expect when you mix Canadian-French-British-Belgian elements and throw them together in one animated film)…it is also a sweet and stunning homage to Fausto Coppi.
(NOTE: Angelo Fausto Coppi was an Italian bike champion, born on September 15, 1919. Coppi was the dominant international cyclist of the years each side of the Second World War. His successes earned him the title Il Campionissimo, or champion of champions. He was an all-round racing cyclist: he excelled in both climbing and time trialing, and was also a great sprinter. He won the Giro d'Italia five times (1940, 1947, 1949, 1952, 1953), the Tour de France twice (1949 and 1952), and the World Championship in 1953. Other notable results include winning the Giro di Lombardia five times and the Milan – San Remo three times. Coppi also had wins at Paris–Roubaix and La Flèche Wallonne, where he set the hour record (45.798 km) in 1942.)
AMERICAN FLYERS
Kevin Costner’s enormous moustache is hard to ignore…but Rae-Dawn Chong’s wheel change is the real stunner in this fun story of two brothers who tackle the Hell of the West through the Rockies. Some of the details are ludicrous—the way the Russian bike riders bob and weave as they attack—but as celebration of the 1980s American cycling scene, with appearances by the 7-Eleven Team and the gone-but-missed Coors Classic, it deserves a place as a bicycling movie classic.
THE BICYCLE THIEF
Bicycle Thieves (Ladri di biciclette, also known as The Bicycle Thief) is a 1948 Italian neorealist film directed by Vittorio De Sica. It tells the story of a poor father and his son searching the streets of Rome for the father’s stolen bicycle, which he needs to be able to work. The movie is a bleak but truthful story of survival; it is also a rebuke to Hollywood’s slickness. The Bicycle Thief ushered in a new era of cinematic realism and is routinely listed as one of the greatest films of all time.
A SUNDAY IN HELL (long version)
If you have ever struggled to explain the consuming passion of bike racing to non-riders, refer them to this film instead. A chronicle of the 1976 Paris-Roubaix race—with riders like Eddy Merckx, Roger De Vlaeminck and Francesco Moser—it’s a transporting documentary that drops you into the cobblestone dust, soaks you in sweat and idolizes all the suffering in one of the world’s greatest one-day race.
STARS AND WATER CARRIERS
A film about the 1973 Giro d’Italia, directed by Jurgen Leth, who also directed A Sunday in Hell. Leth's commentary is perhaps some of the most passionate and descriptive commentary on cycling to be found anywhere. Failed breakaways are referred to as "a beautiful waste of energy.” Leth is a great film maker not a former cyclist; his time trial commentary is arguably the most insightful and artistic narrative of athlete and machine yet written on bike racing--indeed "Pain is an Icon.”
Now, get off your computers, go get your bike, clean it up and take it for a long spin down the road.
Enjoy!
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