British downhill mountain biking champion Will Longden and World Cup racer Marc Beaumont explain to Will Longden of BikeRadar.com the basic downhill riding techniques of body positioning, braking, riding roots and drop-offs, and cornering–bike setup and safety equipment also are covered.
Cahall describes the series long documentary this way: “A veteran climber invents a new piece of gear. A pro snowboarder searches for a way to return to the roots of his sport. A boulderer returns from a series of injuries with new perspective. A family man goes to Whistler to test himself against mountain biking’s elite. A young sea kayaker with a troubled past sets out to reinvent his sport.”
Episode 1: “A season is a collection of a thousand tiny handholds, paddle strokes, heartbeats, and gear shifts…”
B.C. Filmmakers Derek Frankowski and Ryan Gibb are the vision behind Life Cycles, a mountain biking movie they have been shooting and editing for nearly three years. The philosophy behind the film has been to “spend time, not money… and look at what inspires people to bike.”
In addition, the filmmakers felt compelled to work with a wide selection of riders–Darren Berrecloth, Matt Hunter, Cam McCaul, Brandon Semenuk, and others–as Ryan Gibb notes in his interview with Pinkbike’s David Peacock:
“We’ve been very selective about who we have chosen as our riders. Every rider in the movie is there for a specific reason and there is something about their riding style that we want to highlight. We want the movie to feel balanced, we don’t want too much of one aspect of riding. I hate watching a movie and seeing 6 different guys all doing tailwhips, it starts to get old quick.”
The much anticipated film is to be released spring of 2010:
Awesome Land: Women of Dirt, produced by the filmmakers at Bones Over Metal, is a fresh look at the world of downhill racing, dirt jumping, and freeriding through the eyes of the sport’s top up-and-coming female riders.
“‘The inspiration for Women Of Dirt starts first with the women who make up an important part of our sport and yet get overlooked,’ said film producer Mark Brent. ‘We felt that our lifestyle gets overlooked, and that the women in our sport get overlooked. By focusing on two elements that we don’t see in DVDs, we are telling a story that hasn’t been told,’” reports Joseph Espiritu of Bike magazine.
“Legro, 33, screamed because she knew what came with the herd—guard dogs. Shortly after she rolled down a hill and came upon the sheep, a dog leaped at her, locked its jaws on her hip and yanked her off her bike. A second dog pounced as she fell.” In the Los Angeles Times, Nicholas Riccardi writes about a Colorado incident that has highlighted the conflicts that can occur between those making their living from the land and “new” users, particularly mountain bikers and hikers.
photo credit: Jake Spurlock
