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Smiley Theatre to host showing of bike race film
'Race Across the Sky' documentary focuses on riders in Leadville 100
Arts & Entertainment Editor
Photo by Courtesy of Brett Butterstein
Leadville Trail 100 founder Ken Chlouber, left, and racers Lance Armstrong, Dave Wiens, Travis Brown and Matt Shriver, as well as race announcer Dave Towle, who emceed the event, discuss “Race Across the Sky” at the film’s world premiere Tuesday at the Fort Lewis College Community Concert Hall.
If you go
“Race Across the Sky,” a documentary on the 2009 Leadville Trail 100 from Citizen Pictures will be shown at 5 p.m. Sunday at the Smiley Building Theatre. Tickets cost $10 and are available in advance at Maria’s Bookshop or at the door, if not sold out. For more information, visit www.raceacrossthesky.com or call Trails 2000 at 259-4682.
Fresh off its national release Thursday, an encore screening of “Race Across the Sky” will be shown Sunday in the Smiley Building Theatre. The world premiere of the documentary on the Leadville Trail 100 mountain bike race was held at the Fort Lewis College Community Concert Hall on Tuesday night before it was shown on more than 400 movie screens to audiences across the country.
The film centers on the lead pack of racers, including seven-time Tour de France Champion Lance Armstrong, six-time Leadville 100 winner Dave Wiens, Fort Lewis College Mountain Bike Team coach Matt Shriver and former Olympian and Durango local Travis Brown.
Armstrong won the 2009 race after finishing second to Wiens in 2008, and this year Wiens was the runner-up. Shriver finished a strong third to the two living legends, and Brown scored a respectable seventh place.
While the stars garner much of the screen time, “Race Across the Sky” is also the story of everyday riders who accept the challenge of finishing the race, with neither the desire nor expectation of competing with the pros.
The stories, which include mini-profiles of longtime locals, provide a good tug on the heartstrings to balance the adrenaline rush that comes with watching Armstrong, Wiens et al. in action, who quickly separate themselves from the pack early in the race. For the average rider, just finishing the grueling 100-mile trek at a five-figure altitude is its own victory, and the producers’ commitment to telling those stories is one of the movie’s greatest successes.
Shot with high-definition cameras, the film also scores high marks for its cinematography. Shots taken from a helicopter are seamlessly edited with bike-side action filmed aboard a motorcycle, capturing both the spectacle of the mountains and the very human struggle of trying to win the race or finish within the 12-hour time limit, depending on the competitor.
If there is one weakness in the film, it lies in the soundtrack, which at times features canned instrumental music that doesn’t always live up to the on-screen emotion, which it is intended to complement. That’s a matter of personal taste about which I didn’t finalize my opinion until the movie ended, but there is room for improvement.
Sunday’s screening will feature a slightly different film than that which debuted earlier this week.
Tuesday’s premier at the Concert Hall included a panel discussion with Armstrong, Wiens, Brown and Shriver as well as race founder Ken Chlouber, and the latest version will include clips from the Durango event.
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