Race Across the Sky Movie

What a great evening for a bike movie.  The little promoted “Race Across the Sky” which chronicles the Leadville 100 mountain bike race was very entertaining with great scenery, a couple of human interest story lines but thankfully mostly about the 100 mile race with 14,000’ of climbing.  First, we gathered at Feta Greek Kuzina restaurant in Pickerington for some great Greek food.  There were Rick H, Steve O, Butch, Peggy, Cindy, Mitch O, Eve & Norma. The best line of the night was when Eve, observing Steve’s midsection said, “Steve, are those love handles?”  That Eve.  Later, at the theatre lobby we saw Kevin H, Craig B, Mark R and a smattering of wives & kids.  Probably at that point there were 17.  Anxious to acquire a good seat, I nervously watched the clock as we continued to talk, before finally heading for the movie at about 5 minutes prior to the start time.  Wow, other than our core group, there were only a couple of other people already seated.

Well, those that would have liked the movie but were oblivious to its one-time showing, missed a great movie.  OK, the Q&A at the start and end with the 5 principal characters (Armstrong, Wiens, Brown, etc..) was a little tedious and long but once the “action” started, wow.  The length and elevation gain of the route is hard enough but the weather and trail conditions added a degree of difficulty to an already brutal challenge.  1400 people were accepted but at the start, they parted for what were expected to be the main protagonists, 6-time winner Dave Wiens and Lance Armstrong. Accounts of the race are found at various cycling news sites but seeing it unfold on the screen, even if you knew the obvious outcome (Armstrong setting a course record and finishing almost 30 minutes ahead of 2nd place) it was still fun to watch.  Should be available on DVD soon.  To see a nice movie trailer, go to raceacrossthesky.com.

Afterwards, ran into Craig Butler and he described his current training as he prepares for a 30 mile trail run race at Burr Oak in November.  30 miles not 30k.  Craig is running 60 miles on trails each week.