|
Awesome Land: Women of Dirt:
Enjoying the ride
National News - Seattle, WA
"Awesome Land: Women of Dirt" is a
documentary about women's mountain-bike sports that tends to get a little
monotonous visually, but throws light on the sheer joy and pride of its
female athletes.
In the final moments of "Awesome Land:
Women of Dirt," two of the professional female cyclists championed by this
unabashedly enthusiastic sports documentary go tearing down a winding, bumpy
trail in a forest for the sheer pleasure of it. Afterward, in the waning
afternoon light, they head to a beach where they disappear beneath a
gathering wave because, well, it feels good.
Mountain-biking documentaries are
hardly rare, yet rarely do they convey the kind of heightened experience of
being alive that the women athletes in "Awesome Land" so clearly feel. Many
of the cyclists shown engaging in their extreme sport are past and present
champions of women's downhill racing and related competitions in dirt
jumping and free riding. But, on film at least, they spend little time
talking about their personal victories, preferring to celebrate their
inclusion in an activity gradually gaining respect in a male-dominated
field.
Names like Tammy Donahugh, Stephanie
Nychka and Cierra Smith may not mean much outside of biking circles. But
those athletes and other top-rated female cyclists get a lot of exposure in
"Awesome Land," demonstrating considerable skills racing over tricky terrain
in natural settings, as well as on synthetic courses. Most of the film is
really just watching the riders go down or over course after course, which
indeed gets visually monotonous but holds one's interest because of the
racers' pluck and courage.
Even if one doesn't find racing
particularly interesting, there is a lot to be said for watching people do
what they do out of pure commitment and passion. Occasionally, one of the
cyclists will talk about the future of women's mountain-bike sports, how
respect and rewards will build over time as athletes push the envelope of
what's possible. In the meantime, the racers aren't going to wait for that
day — they're too busy enjoying their own rush.
Source: The Seattle Times
Click here for to visit the Article Source
Posted By: Diesel
Date: 02/09/2010 |
