"Because It's What I Like To Do"
T
A Novices Review of a Motorcycling Classic
Saj Sinniah
he Oxford English
dictionary defines
the term “Pas-
sion” as a very
strong feeling of
love, hatred, an-
ger enthusiasm.” If there is any-
thing this documentary does
showcase is the strong sense of
that one word – passion. Hitting
play on this feature, I am eager
to find out what this is all about.
I am told a mere two details: One
is that it was produced in 1971
and it features Steve McQueen.
“For some people a motor-
cycle is work, or a way to get to
work or a way to get away from
it all to the solitude of the open
country” –the second line of this
documentary. And in less than
its 2nd minute, that one line had
me engaged.
Nominated for an Oscar for
Best Documentary at the 1972
Oscars, we soon begin to see the
quality this feature has to offer.
In the first quarter, we meet
the enthusiasts. Director Bruce
Brown, narrates the film and does all the introductions.
These riders are described as people who are “definitely
not your Hollywood image” and “small like 5 6”, 5 8.” Like
how Ringo was considered to be the least attractive Beatle
for their time, (and now the most attractive for 2018 stan-
dards) I am forced to remember that it’s the 70’s and the
standards of beauty have probably changed for the better.
The people that we meet seem like your everyday folk,
except their thirst for danger is well hidden. One of them
is introduced as the “late Ken Presbrough.” “They don’t
always make it” Brown continues – a hair-raising feeling.
As he continues, we see some incredible footage of crash-
es in slow motion. The camera work in this will certainly
have viewers gasping with shock. “In car racing you can
make small mistakes like spinning out, in motorcycle rac-
ing, there is no such thing as a small mistake” Brown says,
R
while describing the crashes as
‘unbelievable.’
But these passionate sports-
men, do not let these unbeliev-
able crashes get them down.
With fractured bones and near
death experiences a lot of them
are back on the road in 2 weeks.
Back on the road to some of
them involves getting into the
sport of road racing. Road rac-
ing is described as a sport that
is precise, noisy, dangerous, but
has certain beauty and is beau-
tiful to watch. It certainly had
beauty in this film. The scenes
we get, accompanied by a sooth-
ing score, make it seem smooth
– however we are reminded to
not be fooled, as it’s been slowed
to make it seem that way (for
dramatic purposes perhaps).
We also get to meet a very
passionate biker named Mert.
One thing Mert is good at is nev-
er letting his unsuccessful races
get in the way. He picks up and
keeps going. We are educated
on how motorcycle riding is a
science. I am too shocked to pay attention to the exact
equation at this point – I hear the words “geometry” and
“air-pressure” and I accidentally swear in astonishment.
After the 30 minute mark, we are introduced to moto-
cross riding. Brown describes the motocross riding track
as “uphill, downhill, jumps, bumps, mud, rocks and dust
– the rougher the better.” The rules of this sport, seem like
there aren’t any. We get a plethora of comical accidents at
this stage. Crashes seem imminent, and so is cheating. An
introduction to Steve McQueen is casually mentioned by
Brown. Academy Award nominated Hollywood mega star
Steve McQueen who even Sheryl Crow named a song after,
was a motocross rider. Brown says McQueen’s agent would
have had a coronary if they knew what he was up to. We
then learn that he used an alias – Harvey Moshman. Can
this documentary become more insightful and insane?
E
TRAVERSE 86
V