Mountain biking film festival

WITH the risk of reinforcing a stereotype, mountain bikers aren’t your average arty farty types. So it was a mixed review last night for the I Bike MCR Bicycle Film Night.

A series of 10 short films was screened at the Manchester Dancehouse Theatre, near Oxford Road, to celebrate ‘the bicycle’.

Art house theatre directors focused on a range of subjects centering on cycling - with plenty of food for thought. Whether its groundbreaking community cycle initiatives in Columbia or way out commemoration services for fallen bikers in New York City, there was varied evidence that cycling is at the heart of millions of people’s lives across the globe. Quite where the kissy kissy cycling fitted in is anyone’s guess.

But organisers certainly saved the best to last with the Klunkerz.

What a refreshing eye opener to the start of mountain biking per se. The very founding members of a sport that now fills the hearts and minds of so many. Here they were, the cycling enthusiasts of Northern California Marin Country, reliving all their teen tales of field testing, designing and building the very first mountain bikes and why.

Fisher, Richy, Specialized, Shimano - all the brands we live and breathe - and how it all began. A truly mesmorising trip down memory lane.

What is so compelling about this film, is the sheer devil would have ‘em attitude that made it all snowball so uniquely. Gathered at their favourite descent in Mount Tamalpais, they challenged each other to complete a time trial faster than their mates. And blessings me to the guy who finds a new part in a dumpster or junkyard that might just shave a few seconds off their times. These were the original speed fiends; the original down hillers.

The sense of commoradory and healthy competition gives way, of course, to business - as the group soon realise they are sewing the seeds of what becomes a multi-billion pound industry today. Sad but true.

Seeing their tale on the big screen, though, is well worth the jolly. Not only might you feel a little more respect for your jumpstumper, you may also be inspired to push the boundaries. After all, that’s what the Klunkerz boys did, and look where it got them.

Find out more at www.klunkerz.com and www.ibikemcr.org