PRO — A movie of the life of pro bike racers today. It centers on the USPRO championships in Philly. The director also makes “Hard Road” about a year in the life of a new young-pro team of guys who are trying to make it in bike racing but who basically get laundered and trashed. Life on the road in a van. Catch these modern pics, but don’t forget the classics like “A Sunday in Hell” which are undoubtedly better filmed but which show the hard life to be much the same today as in yesteryear.
Note that I offer the most amazing all-season sports-vid available in my Ski Products area. “UNLIMITED” emphasizes XC skiing because that’s the one sport whose masters tend to do all the other outdoor sports as well. The producers are a husband/wife team and worldclass Canadian XC skiers. The rest of the year gets its fair share, too.
High Velocity 
This video ROCKS! Yeee-haw! I always knew XC skiing was wild…but no media had ever shown it. FINALLY! Our big sport hits the big screen, done right, with plenty of variety. This movie is an hour of fully-stoked action, set up
as a bunch of fast-paced mini-movies. It has a super-cranking diverse original soundtrack. I really liked all the downhill bombin on those long twisty pitch-changing runs. There is also some fine cornering going on here. I just love bustin some angulation to keep on course at 30mph. Every sport needs videos for how-to, races/events…AND!…experience/art/action. XC finally got it! (These folks previously did “On Snow.”)
Waterwalker
WOW! Magnificent documentary by Bill Mason, who’s canoeing solo and watercoloring his way around Lake Superior in an old red wood’n’canvas canoe, thru the seasons. Just gorgeous. Superbly written. Stunning soundtrack by Bruce Cockburn. Understated Canadian brilliance for ya. Mason got an Oscar for his documentary for “Paddle to the Sea,” an amazing kid flick you might have seen in school. This is just as good.
Breaking Away 
Need I say more. The best teen coming of age flick. Every actor in this movie is giving us art at 110% and the story works doubletime. Thanks, bike! (Oh, you red Masi, you.) So that’s why people like opera. We sure appreciated this flick when it came out and we were all just breaking away ourselves. Do they get any better?
Ultimate Fighting Championship Boxed Set 
The only realistic comparison of realworld fighting methods. For the first time, fans got to see what happens when boxing faces karate, or when wrestling faces kickboxing. With the winner working his way up thru the various kinds of artists. These early bouts are just amazing. As close to the amateur spirit as prize fighting gets. And the winner is a little guy usually…. Ya gotta love Royce, Tank and Oleg. What characters! The Gracie family just invented this new sport and entire video/event niche extravaganza from thin air—jail threats notwithstanding—now it’s been polished to a grotesque extreme, as per usual. But watch these early flicks to see why anyone cared. Nobody got as hurt as they do in regular boxing matches. Plenty of fighter courtesy…and mucho bravado. In UFC 2 you get treated to one of the most amazing modern athletic feats, where tiny Royce Gracie sneaks in a deadly defeat on the huge, talented Gold Medalist Dan Severn…stunning announcers and everyone else. Everyone had been concerned about his health and fate when suddenly the subtlest, weirdest move happens and Goliath falls…in full amateur-style glory. That moment launched the UFC and changed martial arts forever. …Then there’s Oleg doing his crazy upside down attacks that actually work. …And Tank just stuns you with his arrogant, jokey ferocity.
BikeCam–professional bike racing from inside the pack! “https://outyourbackdoor.com/videoshop/bikecam.jpg” BORDER=”0″ ALT=”cover” hspace=”3″ vspace=”3″ ALIGN=”BOTTOM”
WIDTH=”144″ HEIGHT=”98″ NATURALSIZEFLAG=”3″>In bike racing movies, there isn’t a whole lot of variety to choose from. There are a ton of fine newscasts of races. There’s maybe one how-to flick. A couple documentaries. But no action/experience movies! This comes the closest. John Bickmore wears a helmet cam as he races in a few Pro events in Colorado. His cam puts you right there in the elite action, where you can see strategy and feel the big hammer go down. This link takes you to his site. $20 for a lot of video fun. Tell him I sent you.
A Sunday in Hell 
WIDTH=”110″ HEIGHT=”200″ NATURALSIZEFLAG=”3″> The best bike racing film of all time. It’s a 1976 B&W documentary of Eddy Merckx, Freddy Maertens and Francesco Moser duking it out on the mean streets of Paris Roubaix—the toughest one-day race. With lots of team dynamics background lore to let you see the whole world of Euro pro racing. This link takes you to the Brandford Bike videos page. Tell them I sent you.
