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Off Road to Athens review

Off Road to Athens is a documentary that tells the story of eight American cross country racers as each tried to secure one of three spots on the US Olympic team prior to the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Greece.

The project was put together by Gripped Films, and the production team travelled around the world with the riders and used their unfettered access to their subjects (and plenty of editing) to put together two hours of intense, insightful footage that shows what it takes to roll with the best in the world. The riders — Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski, Todd Wells, Adam Craig, Jeremiah Bishop, Alison Dunlap, Sue Haywood, Mary McConneloug, Shonny Vanlandingham — give it their all and wear their emotions on their sleeves throughout the film, something that in-and-of-itself adds to the drama created by the race footage.

Over the course of about two hours, viewers are treated to fine examples of top-notch cross country racing, really good interviews with the riders, and insightful criticism of the sport and its governing bodies.

The premise

For 2004, the United States was allowed to send three riders to the Games, two men and one woman, and the film follows the racers as they chase down their Olympic dreams. In the leadup to the Athens Games, USA Cycling came up with a complicated and, some might argue, convoluted way of selecting the team, a process that forced the riders competing for the spots to travel all over the globe and race hard for an entire season just to have a chance at making the Olympic squad.

Starting off with the Continental Championships in Ecuador and ending with the Marathon Worlds in Austria, producer Ken Bell and cameraman Jason Berry try to convey the intensity that goes along with racing at high-level mountain bike events, the pressure that all of the riders are forced to deal with on and off the bike, and the politicking that is sometimes necessary to achieve their goals.

The film

In terms of the amount of film and video it receives, cross country racing rarely gets the same amount of exposure as downhill and freeride, which is entirely understandable given the photogenic nature of the gravity events, but this imbalance doesn’t necessarily mean that xc isn’t worth covering. ORTA shows how demanding the courses are at many of these events and how fast the riders go at these events. And while the speed of the descents and the steepness of the climbs doesn’t always translate well on the small screen, the film makes it pretty easy to tell how skilled these folks are and how much they push their bodies during each of the races.

When the riders in the film aren’t racing, they’re training (or thinking about training) and ORTA emphasizes the level of commitment, fitness, and mental discipline that’s required to compete at the sport’s highest levels. In the film, it’s the riders who aren’t able to focus solely on racing who fall off the pace fastest, although things like injuries, botched travel plans, and mechanical failure all play a role in the ultimate success or failure of the athletes.

I found it especially interesting to see the riders’ personalities emerge over the course of the film, something you rarely see in any of the other mountain biking films out there. It certainly provides some life to the otherwise staid coverage of the mountain biking scene — aside from a few riders on the downhill circuit and a couple others, an outside observer could be forgiven for thinking most mountain bikers have zero personality. This aspect of the film makes it engaging in a way that I’ve never really seen in other flicks, and you’ll likely find yourself saying, ‘That guy is such a goof,’ or, ‘Man, I hope she does it here’, depending on your own personality and your approach to riding.

I did feel that the film dragged close to the end, but the extra time was needed to wrap up loose ends and hammer home the point that the selection process used for the 2004 Olympics was complicated, confusing, and, in the end, not exactly fair.

Overall, I was really impressed by Off Road to Athens. The production value is very high, with excellent editing, an appropriate soundtrack, and fantastic cinematography. The story itself is engaging and the riders are all affable, despite any personal ‘quirks’ that might bother the occasional viewer. The film also spends a good deal of time looking at the politicization of the sport, and what some riders will do to reach the podium race after race. Finally, Off Road to Athens shines in its ability to show how freakin’ tight the competition is at the UCI World Cup events.

What’s next?

Next up for Gripped Films is a documentary on endurance power Chris Eatough and the world that he’s a major part of, the 24 hour endurance race scene. The filmmakers are following Eatough around the world to capture footage of the rider’s 2006 season.

Can’t wait for this one to come out. Berry’s hoping to have it ready in time to premier at the 2007 Sea Otter Classic.

Other reviews of Off Road to Athens

• Ashwin reviewed Off Road to Athens on his blog
• Rochester Democrat & Chronicle: A rough ride to ‘Off Road’
• Baltimore City Paper: ‘Off Road to Athens‘

This entry was posted on Thursday, June 1st, 2006 at 12:01 am and is filed under Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.