PORT ANGELES — This “Bicycle Dreams” movie still astonishes its director.
The documentary, to screen Friday night at Peninsula College, is about people who pedal 3,000 miles, from the Pacific to the Atlantic coast, in fewer than 10 days.
It’s the Race Across America, in which participants cover 300 miles daily and sleep a few hours nightly.
“By the time they reach the East Coast, they’re altered human beings,” said Stephen Auerbach, the filmmaker behind “Bicycle Dreams.”
First in series
This first film in the spring Magic of Cinema series will light the screen at 7 p.m. Friday in Maier Hall, which is on the Peninsula College campus at 1502 E. Lauridsen Blvd. Admission is $5, or free for students with identification.
In addition, the Bike Garage, a Port Angeles bicycle shop, will provide free brake and gear adjustments from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. outside Maier Hall.
“It’s our gift to the community that we do as often as possible,” said Bike Garage owner Tom Michowski.
He’s expecting a good turnout for the free service, what with spring’s bike-friendly weather and longer days.
“Bicycle Dreams,” meantime, is Auerbach’s look at riding in some of the worst conditions this country can offer.
He hired 25 camera people to follow Race Across America rivals through the Mojave Desert, the Rocky Mountains, the Great Plains and the Appalachians.
At the finish line in Atlantic City, N.J., there’s prize money. But Auerbach said the ride itself is the motivator.
These are “extreme personalities,” he said of the racers. They use the race to test their physical and mental strength, “but it’s more than challenging themselves,” Auerbach believes; there’s something chemical going on in the riders’ minds and bodies.
“It’s beyond explanation,” he said.
‘So demanding’
The filmmaker said that to his knowledge, the Race Across America riders don’t use the substances associated with professional road racers.
“Ultra cycling is so demanding,” Auerbach said, “that to do the performance-enhancing drugs might work against them. At least, that’s what I have been told.
“All I saw with my own two eyes was Advil-type medication for swelling and caffeine for energy.”
Auerbach, for many years a television producer based in Santa Monica, Calif., said he wanted to do something completely different.
“Bicycle Dreams” is that. He and his crew assembled 40,000 minutes of footage from the Race Across America, and Auerbach boiled that down to his 108-minute documentary.
The filmmaker acknowledges that he, too, has an extreme personality, “which is probably why it works.”
“Bicycle Dreams,” having won top awards at 15 film festivals around the United States, is now available for sale on Auerbach’s website, www.BicycleMovies.com.
“When you get in a dark room and watch this film,” the director promised, “you go on the journey.”
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Features Editor Diane Urbani de la Paz can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5062, or at diane.urbani@peninsuladailynews.com.
