Road Cycling - Road Racing Movie

How many of you have seen this movie "The Hard Ride"

It follows the NetZero team through the 03 season. It's actually pretty cool. I had never even heard of it, I just stumbled across it on DVD at the libray. It's worth a look.

How many of you have seen this movie "The Hard Ride"

It follows the NetZero team through the 03 season. It's actually pretty cool. I had never even heard of it, I just stumbled across it on DVD at the libray. It's worth a look.

It's not bad... I bought it on an impulse but I shouldn't have. It's not worth the price. As a rental/loaner it's OK though.

And that's not easy to say because I applaud the effort of the guy to produce this because clearly it was done on a limited budget and I always moan about there being little in the way of good cycling programming available.

- The racing footage is (very) disapointing, relying primarily on recycled TV footage or one camera stationed at a single point of an event. I expected much, much more.

- There is way too much recycled footage through out the movie. I forget the exact scene but you see the same footage of the racers relaxing after a race at least 3 and maybe 4 times.

- Editing is awkward. Every scene (both video and audio) is cut as a stand-alone piece. It's hard to describe but if you watch it you'll know what I mean. There's a "home-made", vacation movie feel to it.

- The layer transition is completely f'd up on my Panasonic DVD player and it takes a few minutes for everything to settle down again (this player has never had a probelm with a disc before or since).

- I wanted to punch that one guys wife who looks like a gym rat, whines about money then you see her get into some type of luxury auto (I forget now).

- The training/climbing scene is *painfully* long.

I'd like to see a re-edit of this documentary. I'm sure they've got all the right raw footage, it just needs better packaging.

I'd have to agree with you on the merits of the film from an artistic standpoint. I wouldn't buy it, but if you can pick it up at the library it's a nice change of pace for a day on the trainer if you've worn out your tape of the Luz'ardidan stage from the Tour like I have. :)

I especially agree with you about the gym rat wife, but he did say he was working hard before to make the money to impress the ladies, now he had her, I imagine he knew what he was getting in to. The other wife they showed seemed a little more supportive, but you could tell she was just waiting for him to fail and give up on his crazy dreams so she could have a kid.

I won it from Velo News and have tried to sit through the whole thing several times, but never make it!

It was interesting to learn some things about domestic racing since I am considering competing this season.

Glad it was a gimme! It has soured me on getting other "Cycling" videos. Are there any good ones out there??

Kudos to Jamie Paolinetti's ambition. He not only wrote, directed and produced this documentary...he's the protagonist--NetZero's captain. And you also get Keith David (King in Platoon) narrating. I agree, not something I would buy, but definitely worth renting.

As far as other cycling videos....all of the extended WCP TDF videos are great trainer companions. Can get 'em on ebay at a pretty good discount.

On a related note, does anyone know the status of that IMAX movie that features Team CSC?

It's not bad... I bought it on an impulse but I shouldn't have. It's not worth the price.

I did the same thing. Totally agree with ya!

I enjoyed The Hard Road (http://www.thehardroad.com/) for exactly what it was. A poorly shot, poorly edited, low-budget documentary about bike racing. It ain't A Sunday in Hell, or anything. But it had bikes in it, so it's already better than half of what's on tv. The racing coverage is indeed scant. Although, I loved the Freddy Rodriguez bits.

I agree with y'all. That cougar just didn't get her man. And what a nag. :rolleyes:


On a related note, does anyone know the status of that IMAX movie that features Team CSC?

I heard that it's due out in late 2004/early 2005. It'll be interesting, seeing Tyler on the CSC team, riding a Cervelo again. I'm glad they filmed this last year. I don't think I could look at the Phonak team kit in IMAX size. ;)

On a related note, does anyone know the status of that IMAX movie that features Team CSC?

There was an article about it in one of the weekend papers this month. It's a done deal... I don't know the release schedule but it will happen.

And there's an IMAX in my town... :D :D

The IMAX movie is actually about the brain:


"Partners Healthcare, a group of Harvard University-affiliated medical centres, research organisations and community hospitals with a worldwide reputation for brain research and medical imaging technology, took advantage of the exceptional media interest in last summer's 100th Tour de France. Armed with a major grant from the American National Science Foundation, Partners chose the dramatic visual aspect of the world's most extreme sporting event as a vehicle to promote major neuroscientific breakthroughs and arouse public interest in the biology of the brain. "The Tour de France serves to illustrate how the human mind works, but it also acts as a metaphor for the brain's perpetual activity," notes Director Bayley Silleck, a veteran of the large format industry.

I believe it's scheduled for release this Fall.