Life Cycles, Derek Frankowski and Ryan Gibb (2010)

A mountain bike film with stimulation for the soul as well as the adrenalin

Review first published at sundaytimes.co.uk

Life Cycles, the feature film by Ryan Gibb and Derek Frankowski, is a balletic homage to the mountain bike – as a manufactured object and a transport of delight.

Featuring galaxy of world-class mountain bike talent including Cam McCaul, Brendan Semanuk, Darren Berrecloth and Matt Hunter, it traces the life of a bicycle from foundry to rusty remains. Intertwined with this story, is footage of mountain biking that is alternately pulse quickening and bewitchingly beautiful.

Canadian Frankowski made his name as a stills photographer working for mountain bike magazines. Seven years ago he stated talking with film maker Ryan Gibb (who produced the mountain bike film Suspect) about the possibilities of making something together. They have spent much of the past three years doing just that.

Using Red high-definition video cameras, the pair built up thousands of hours of footage from which the final 40 minute package was crafted. The scale of their shooting is evident in the ingeniously edited scenes that show riders descending through a steep sided forest as the seasons change.

It is not the only scene that seems at first sight to be the product of special effects – even more dramatic is the corn field in Saskatchewan, Canada out of which Cam McCaul appears, as though shot from a canon to perform a back flip, before disappearing back into the wheat.

Here is where the full dvd package comes into its own. A generous selection of special features shows how much of the filming was achieved. In the case of the cornfield, it was not digital manipulation, but earth moving that enabled these extraordinary shots.

From the high tech of Shimano’s factory to the trails of British Columbia and the rock fields in Utah that were the set for Planet of the Apes, the film is an extraordinarily rich visual feast.

A monologue plays over the top of some the visual action, which is occasionally schmaltzy: ‘Life is a river, my grandfather used to say’. Within it, however, is the underlying message of the film, that a bicycle is the means by which we can all rediscover life’s adventure. And more importantly still, it clearly locates the mountain bike as an exceptional product of the manufactured age – ‘the earth’s most efficient machine…our noblest invention’.

Whether you have a shelf full of mountain bike videos, or have never seen one before, Life Cycles is worth seeking out.

The dvd costs £27 from the official site, or £9.99 from iTunes, and rather less from the link below.