Ciao, Papa

I just learned that Peter Yates, british-born director of the 1979 movie Breaking Away died on Sunday.

As I've continued this blog over the past year, I've tried to steer away from things that have to do with me personally.  Why?  Well, mostly because I'm an incredibly boring individual.  However today, I'm going to bend my self-imposed rule just a bit, not because I think anyone will really find it interesting, but because I'm feeling all nostalgic suddenly.  Consider it my "Clark Griswold-stuck-in-the-attic-watching-old-family-movies-moment."

When I was a kid, two of my more favorite things to do were to watch movies and to ride my bike.  It was just about 1978 when my parents got me my first real bike, a Huffy Thunder Road.

It wasn't long after that that my family went to see Breaking Away.  The only scene I remembered as a kid was when Dave races against Team Cinzano outside Indianapolis. 

Sabotage Italian Style
Breaking Awayat MOVIECLIPS.com

This scene was most memorable to me for two reasons, I think.  #1) Although it was just a Hollywood moment, it was the first bike race I had ever seen, and #2) I had just had my ass kicked by a kid named Tom C. on the playground because he didn't like my plaid pants....(yeah - my mother dressed me funny).

This is the exact kind of shit my mother would love to buy for me.

Anyway - I've watched Breaking Away many, many times since and every time I see it, it means something new to me.  Sometimes I watch it from the standpoint of Mike, Dave's angry friend who starts craving the glory days only a few months after graduation. Sometimes I watch it through the eyes of Dave's Dad who revels in his own crankiness ("REFUND???"). And sometimes I watch it from the standpoint of Dave's Mom who gets a US passport not for travelling abroad, but just in case the checkout lady at the grocery store asks her for identification one day, she can appear like a world traveler.  But mostly I watch it from the standpoint of Dave who is constantly fighting who he is, craving to be something he's not, and coming to terms with something somewhere in between.

One of my favorite scenes:

Bike Restoration
Breaking Awayat MOVIECLIPS.com

I've discussed a number of times with a lot of different people what the best "cycling movie" is, documentaries not included.  I always respond Breaking Away, probably because it's not about cycling at all.  Its greatness transcends cycling, just like the beauty of cycling transcends the actual bike.  Thanks, Pete.

Chasing a Truck
Breaking Awayat MOVIECLIPS.com

Heroes

Ok - so what so we do NOW?

I don't know how I feel about the steaming pile that was laid upon the world of cycling news this morning.  I almost entitled yesterday's post, "A Great Day for American Cycling" with the recent exciting victories of Farrar and Zabriskie....but with the implications Landis has made regarding many American cyclists still racing today (literally) like Armstrong, Hincapie, Leipheimer, Zabriskie and Barry, American cycling may only be as great as what....European cycling?  I mean - no one was that shocked when Vino or Basso were implicated.  Why did we (meaning I) think we (meaning Americans) were above this?  Maybe we (meaning I) didn't really think we were, but rather just really hoped it.  Too much. 

I can't help it.  I've always routed for sports figures.  Athletics has always been too important a part of my life not to get emotionally charged by someone competing.  Back in the day, it was this guy.

He was my hero when I was a kid.  He may have also been the last "clean" athlete I ever rooted for, whatever "clean" really means.  And even as "clean" as Dr. J was, he still tried to choke the shit out of Larry Bird once.

Another famous basketball player named Charles Barkley probably put it best when he was reprimanded for spitting on a fan who was shouting obscenities at him and responded by proclaiming, "I am not a role model."  But it's fans like me who elevate athletes to this status...by watching them, cheering for them, and ultimately very nearly deifying them because of what?  Because they can run faster, or shoot a ball better, or turn the pedals over harder than somebody else?  It seems kind of silly when I think of it like that, but consider me guilty as charged.  Floyd Landis hasn't necessarily let me down today; I think I let myself down by not having better discretion as to whom I choose to look up to.

And whenever I look up to somebody too highly because they appear to be so superior, I find myself at risk for getting let down when I realize that they fail and screw up just like anybody else.  I'm reminded of Dave Stoller in the movie Breaking Away.

For those few who haven't seen it, Dave emulates the Italian Cinzano Cycling team with such fervor, that he actually wishes to be Italian.  When he finds himself in a race alongside his heroes, and then subsequently in a breakaway group with the very cyclists whose images adorn his bedroom walls in poster format, one of the Italians jams his pump into Dave's spokes, causing him to crash out the race and trash his bike.  When Dave makes it home, tail tucked hard between his legs, his father asks him what is wrong.  He tells his dad, "Everybody cheats......I just didn't know."  And his dad replies, "Now you know."

The fallout from the Landis implications has only just begun and I'm guessing the press conference following today's stage at the Tour of California will be an interesting one.  I think I'll skip it and just go for a ride. 

If you've already had enough of this story, then let me direct you to another far more inspirational one appearing today in VOX about a local cyclist who IS in fact someone you can look up to.  Read it.

And then, if you've never visited Lieutenant Dan's blog, do so immediately.  It's right here.  But be warned, you might find yourself three new heroes: Dan, Maggie and Cassidy.

CC Film Fest Day 5

COMO CYCO Film Fest Day 5

Today is the fifth and final day of the 2010 COMO CYCO Film Festival.  I wish I could tell you that bringing these movies to you has been a joy, but in all honesty, it's made me realize how old I am.  Today's flick is no exception.  But before I announce the final Feature Film presentation I probably need to preemptively quiet some grumbling that is no doubt about to occur.  I know I don't have A Sunday in Hell, or Overcoming, or The Bicycle Thief, or Hell on Wheels or the Road to Roubaix on the list this time.....but......this list wasn't generated necessarily on the informative or accurate depiction of cycling, but rather the entertainment value....which sometimes means the enjoyment one gets from watching a bad movie (especially if it involves nudity).

But what I do offer you on this final day of the Festival is my personal favorite cycling movie:  Breaking Away (1979). Tomatometer: 94% (ka-POW!).  Centering on the real-life Little 500 bicycle race held at Indiana University every year, this film stars Dennis Christopher as Dave Stohler....who used to be as normal as pumpkin pie....

Trailer:

And finally, to appease those grumbling about the absence of some Triplettes....

Pedal on!

Inspiration

As the weather has turned very grey, cold and blustery this week in Columbia, and the daily commute has become more painful, I have been looking for current cycling-related distractions both to inspire and motivate me.  Not being into cyclocross is a detriment during the fall as there seems to be a veritable hornet's nest of cross activity going on.  As Jeff Yielding of Hermann, MO reports on his blog JYCycling, cyclocross is alive and well in the state of Missouri this autumn.  Looking at pictures of hard-core cross races makes me fully realize what a cycling panty-waste I am, as I prefer to stick to the road.

The problem here, of course, is that when you are looking for inspiration in something that you are unfamiliar with, you shouldn't look at the failures, but rather allow yourself to be swept up in the full romantic notion of the thing.  Take the following photo, for example of Valentin Tondeur, charging up the bois de Biscorne in the 1930 Paris cyclocross championships as published in the French cycling magazine, L'Intran Match. 

Now this is the stuff of cycling Gods.  If this image was all you were given to explain what cyclocross was, I daresay, EVERYONE would want to be slinging their bikes over their shoulders and running up rain-soaked hills across Belgium and France.  Until, of course you noticed who was among the spectators.  Ok - let's have a little quiz.  If I hadn't mentioned the fact that this was the 1930 cyclocross championship held outside of Paris, how could we still know this race was happening in France?  Is it the fact that 5 out of 7 of the spectators pictured here are wearing berets?

Perhaps.  But, I think the real dead giveaway is the haughty expression on these two chaps:

The key to looking haughty is to feign disinterest while raising one or both eyebrows. Haughty fellow on the right prefers to look at the camera instead of the race with eyebrow raised, and left haughty fellow is so disinterested, he keeps both eyes shut with both eyebrows raised.  Difficult maneuver and very, very haughty - typically only the French can pull this one off.  Although similar, the haughty look is not to be confused with the look of disdain which is marked by a furrowed brow and frown.

Interestingly, both AC and LA will be back together again today in France for the grand unveiling of the 2010 Tour de France route.  The Astana ship has become sort of like the Titanic lately, with everyone scrambling to get off as quickly as possible.  Since LA never received a paycheck from the Kazakh group and thus was never under contract, he was more than ready and able to take his proverbial ball and go home (or at least as far as Radio Shack headquarters) after the 09 Tour when it became apparent that AC wasn't going to roll over and play second fiddle.  Bruyneel has also announced he's leaving for the Shack (citing Vinokurov's return to the team as the reason), and not only is he taking his ball with him - he wants to take four riders currently all under Astana contract: Kloden, Popovych, Rast and Zubeldia. (Leipheimer and Horner have already made the switch). I hope the Shack is ready to open their wallets for the hefty buyouts required.  And Contador is left alone like an alter boy who just farted in church, holding the empty shell of a team that was at one time built around him by Bruyneel himself, who stated in 2008, "Alberto Contador has only one big goal for 2009 and that is to win the Tour de France."  So it's a little perplexing that regardless of LA's comeback, when AC stuck to the original goal conceived by he and Bruyneel in the 09 Tour that he was accused of not being a team player, and now abandoned.  Quite a little political powerhouse the Armstrong machine has become.

But, as an armchair directeur sportif, who really knows about the inner workings within the pro peleton?  Certainly not I.  And again, when ignorant about something, one should not look at the failures for inspiration, which I consider the entire aforementioned mess to be, but instead be swept up in the romantic notion of the thing.  So perhaps I should look to other cycling inspirational and motivational items soon to be released, like the new documentary movie about the 2009 Leadville 100 mountain bike race called "Race Across the Sky."  I couldn't help but watch the high-def trailer on YouTube and captured some stills from it.

The trailer is impressive, with commentary by LA and six-time defending champion Dave Wiens.  As it introduces the key players, the music is pretty folksy and low key.  But remarkably at minute 3:30, when LA is shown on the bike in earnest, the music quickly jumps into an epic, high-pitched choral arrangement over rapid percussion-driven orchestration giving it a Ridley Scott-Gladiator-type feel.  Helicopter shots seem to capture him from every angle.

As if the scenery weren't epic enough by itself (which it is) some obligatory drama is interjected with the use of yellow-on-black (colors familiar to anyone?) text on the screen.

Yes, indeed, anything can happen, and in fact does!  What you may ask?  Well the trailer tells you.  Lance, who is leading the race over rival Wiens, gets a flat tire.

No team mechanics here, no support crew in the middle of nowhere, he has to address this mechanical himself.  Here is the drama - right?  Having to change a flat with the defending champ biting at his heels?

As LA nervously looks behind him to catch a glimpse of Wiens, he quickly pulls out a CO2 cartridge.  Anxious to see if he is caught and passed we watch with anticipation.  And again - just in case we don't feel the heavy hand of the timer ticking away, another line of text is interjected.

Can the suspense get cranked any higher?  Well actually no, because anyone who read the race report knows that 1) LA's flat came in the last 10 miles, which he didn't even bother changing out, prefering instead, to simply blow some CO2 into, and 2) at this point in the race he was in the lead by a good 30 minutes.  In all honesty, he could have changed the flat, ordered a pizza and had a bit of cat nap in the time it would have taken Wiens to catch up.

Inspirational?  Hmmmmm well, I guess I would have to see it to know.  I haven't decided if its worth the 8 bucks yet.  In case you are interested, it's playing one night only, October 22, at the Forum 8 at 7:00PM.  But I might just watch my copy of Breaking Away again instead.

Pedal on!