Yesterday evening The Wife and I had the chance to attend a screening of the documentary Ride the Divide in a small opera house in Geneva, NY. The film follows, or attempts to follow, the journey of three endurance mountain bikers as they race along the Continental Divide in the Rocky Mountains, from Canada to Mexico. To get the stats out of the way: the whole race is over 2700 miles, the total elevation gain across the course is 200,000 vertical feet (which is often compared to climbing from sea level to the top of Mount Everest 7 times), there have been less than 100 individuals that have attempted the feat, less than 40 have been successful.
Despite some technical difficulties with the actual projection of the film, the evening was quite enjoyable. The screening was arranged by the Geneva Bicycle Center, (where I purchased my Fisher 29er a few years ago), and a raffle was held to distribute prizes ranging from energy bars, to waived race registration fees, and ultimately a full bike frame and set of racing rims provided by various sponsors. The atmosphere was informal and resembled closely the attitude of the local mountain biking culture here in the Finger Lakes.
As for the film itself, personally I think its biggest advantage was that it didn’t take itself too seriously. The film makers were acutely aware of their audience and designed the film to cater specifically to dirt riding enthusiasts. By that I mean they didn’t shy away from including elements in the film which may, if screened by a more critical audience, give the impression the creators are a bit less than professional. One example occurs during the early part of the film when the film crew was caught in traffic in the starting city and actually missed the start of the race. It took the crew a few days to catch up with the leaders, but along the way the discovered some interesting places and interesting people, which ultimately strengthened the film.
Of course, as movies like this have a tendency to do, I felt the spark of adventure calling me to some epic cross-country endurance rides. While I don’t quite feel the tug to subject my body to such a grueling trial of the human spirit, I would very much love to travel out west and tour around for several days observing natures beauty with a few good friends. I have such friends. My brother lives in Park City, Utah and another is attending graduate school in Tuscon, Arizona. And although I have yet to scrap together the necessary resources and timing to visit either of them, there will be such a time when the journey is possible and we will complete some epic rides. But definitely not climb Mount Everest 7 times!
If you are interested in finding a screening or purchasing the film you can visit the Ride the Divide website HERE.
