Gareth Crook
2700 miles from Canada to Mexico... on a bike! Extreme endurance stuff!! If you enjoy a challenge and like bikes, this is the documentary for you. It's made very much on the fly and is really just a document more than anything, but there's enough polish to help it along and the people are honest, tough and put it all out there. Guy Martins book talks about it and his own account is awesome, but it's great to see it on film, if just for the scenery alone. Not sure I'd be able to do this, but the thought is pretty cool.
cowsincars
I really wanted to like this film, the subject is so interesting (especially to a cyclist)but the film has very little focus. The film makers seem unsure what the focus of the film is (despite the blurb), sometimes we focus on the ride, sometimes the places we are going through, sometimes the film makers themselves. We meet riders that we never visit again or only for two seconds, riders that often seem interesting and engaging. We listen to phone conversations about or with people that we have no idea who they are and we switch focus on to different riders all the time but with no depth or follow up. It misses the human element, there is very little back story to the riders, how they trained and prepared for the event or why they are doing it. The emotions and struggles they go through is very poorly covered and with little understanding, the whole event and feelings of an event like this seem to come as a constant surprise to the film makers. We don't even get to know who came where in the results. Mary's story is the only one that is almost followed through but even then it's patchy and very surface. It's a real shame, this film and subject could be so interesting but a lack of focus, preparation and editing leave this one of the most disappointing films I have seen by no means the worst, it's still watchable but just too surface and nothing really to engage you.
John Scobey
This is an inspiring, emotional and funny documentary. See it whether you like biking or not. Beautiful scenery, drama. No villains. No corporate scandals. No Michael Moore finger pointing. No artificially contrived tension. These are the least competitive "racers" you will ever see. They would rather wait for their friends to catch up than just pad their leads. Just finishing the 2700 mile race - or even doing one 100 mile day for the rest of us - is a triumph. This movie will inspire you to try things you have never tried, and to do things you did not think you could accomplish. Finally a documentary that truly shows how ordinary people can do ordinary things, and are capable of pushing themselves far past what they thought was their limit.
Lx Hrcrt
Viewed this film at the premier in Vail, and I must say that it is fantastic. The film made the audience laugh, cry and cringe. The cinematography was amazing, and of course mother nature did help make it that way. The film encompassed the good and bads of mountain biking 2700 miles without a sag wagon. The initial 'Why?' questions were soon vanquished as you are presented with the hardships and soul finding experiences that are their day to day basis. Somewhere in there, you realize the fact that this technically is a race, with a winner that is greeted only by a Mexican border guard and no prize??? Now you are hit with the devotion to the journey. By the middle of the movie, you understand why so many riders are unable to complete the "race". Now the viewer understands why there is a film about it. The scenes are beautiful, the journey is rough, and the end is satisfying, lets just leave it at that.