About a month ago, my wife and I sat down and watched the Race Across the Sky 2009 movie from Citizen Pictures featuring Lance Armstrong’s win of the Leadville Trail 100 Mountain Bike race. We both enjoyed the 2009 movie, not because we are huge Lance fans, but because the footage allowed my wife to finally see the course. She has been my number one supporter during each of the five Leadville 100 Mountain Bike races that I have competed in during the past 10 years. I had recently finished race five, so the course was fresh in our minds when we sat down to watch the film. The 73 minute film offered a complete and concise look into not only the racers, but the vast number of volunteers and supporters that it takes to make this event happen.
The Trail 100 Mountain Bike race has been held each August in Leadville, Colorado since 1994 and draws racers from every state and well over 20 countries. The Leadville 100 is the brainchild of former mining shift boss, Ken Chlouber, who in 1982 lost his job along with 3000 other fellow miners when the Climax Molybdenum Mine suddenly closed. With the closing of this mine, Leadvile was plunged into a category no town wants to be in – one on the most jobless communities in the country. Ken had the idea to create a 100 mile foot race that started in downtown Leadville at 10,000′ and race out 50 miles to the top of Columbine Mine at 12,600′; then the racers turn around and head back to Leadville. The first Leadville Trail 100 running race was held in 1983 with 45 competitors – only 10 finished. Since 1983, the race has grown each year to include the 100 mile mountain bike race which traces the same route as the foot race and a series of shorter foot and bike races. These races have brought millions of dollars into the Leadville community and hundreds of thousands of dollars into the LT100 Legacy, the non-profit arm of the races.
Citizen Pictures is back this year with the release of the Race Across the Sky 2010 movie which premiered November 4th in Denver, Colorado. I walked into the theater thinking that it would be tough to top the 2009 movie as watching cycling on the screen can be, well, frankly boring. This was recently proven to a group of us who attended the premier of a ‘free ride’ mountain bike movie at this years InterBike in Las Vegas. That movie had all of the making to be a great movie… huge jumps, awesome scenery and top tier riders; but ultimately it fell flat.
I attended the Race Across the Sky 2010 with my friend and gold belt buckle finisher of the Leadville Trail 100. Prior to the start of the movie, we were treated to a live panel featuring Levi Leipheimer, David Wiens, Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski, Rebecca Rusch, Bahram Akradi and Erik Weihenmayer (the only legally blind person to complete the race). The panel was introduced to the audience before the screening and answered a few questions regarding the race, but most questions were reserved until after the movie.
The 2010 movie is filmed in a similar manner to the 2009 version utilizing footage from stationary cameras, bicycles, motorcycles and a helicopter. There is plenty of footage of the top tier men’s and women’s racers, but where the 2010 movie deviates from the 2009 movie is the number of personal stores that are told throughout the film. The Leadville Trail 100 is not about what professional rider shows up (though it does add clout to the race), it is about the individual racer and their finishing of this grueling 100 mile course. The stories touched upon ranged from a Leadville female resident who is battling to come back from being hit by a car on her bike to two racers trying to complete the course for their friend who is battling for his life. The stories were told so well that there were a few teary eyes in the theatre – something you would not expect from a mountain bike movie. For me, as a finisher of this race, seeing the footage of those who did not make the cut off times and were ultimately pulled was tough to watch. Apart from the personal battles that those individuals fought to get to the race, I know the pain that they endured on the course up to that point. I know it is just a bike race, but sometimes there is not a second chance to try again and that shows in some of their faces. The 2010 film does follow the entire race from start to finish highlighting the winners, the gold beltbuckle cut off (9 hours finishing for men) and the 12 hour race cut off (men’s silver belt buckle and women’s gold). Towards the beginning of the film, the racer’s meeting is shown, but the end misses the awards ceremony. Though it does not detract from the movie, the viewer does miss the awards that the winners receive – a handmade ore cart trophy, a gold belt buckle (every finisher under 12 hours receives a buckle), a sweatshirt with your time on the sleeve (for every finisher) and a handful of prizes from the sponsors. There is no cash prizes which goes back to what the race is all about – setting a personal goal and achieving it with the help of all of the staff, volunteers and supporters. If you are a cycling fan or need a little personal uplift, catch this film.
The Race Across the Sky 2010 has an encore screening on November 9th, check Fathom Events’s website for local theaters.
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