This weekend, the Bike Film Festival comes to San Diego. It’s the first time ever. And you know what? Feels overdue, now that I think about it.
Long a draw for serious road cyclists, including pros (I recall seeing Team 7 Eleven on training rides pre-1984 Olympics out Ramona way; and Team Slipstream held its 2007 January training camp in Julian), San Diego’s got a vibe that lends itself perfectly to the bike: Year-round sun. Plenty of bike paths and back roads. The Pacific Ocean. Mountains. Motorists who are accustomed to seeing two wheels powered by humans. We all seem to get along pretty well here. I don’t feel endangered very often, although once I was left unconscious on the side of the road once (more on that in later posts on BikeCrave).
I’m excited to see the Bike Film Festival come to San Diego — not only as a native son but also because the city’s name is alongside some of the world’s leading bike capitals. Places like Portland. Austin. Boulder. Copenhagen. Plus a bunch more. In San Diego, I’ve been riding since the early 1980s when I first fell in love with a Bianchi in Celeste #227 at Zumwalt’s Bike Shop in North Park. At the time, that bike cost more than my VW bug with surf racks and an 8-track tape player. I was in college. A car meant little. A bike unlocked so much more. Since then, my rides have taken me to nearly every corner of the county. I’ve never once thought of the place as bike cool. No, just a cool place to ride bikes.
Maybe we’re growing up and ready to share more local cycling secrets with the rest of the world. There’s a hidden downhill mountain bike course tucked away near my house where an Australian film crew spent a few days capturing airborne wizards on machines I could never imagine riding. In February, the Tour of California held its finishing “queen” stage here. Viral movies spread. Blog posts. Photographs. Stories. Now film festivals. Anything is possible, I suppose. The more we celebrate pedaling bikes, the more people may take up cycling and enjoy the journey. For fun. For fitness. For work commuting. For life. Are you with me?
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