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 Ewald |
Until I ventured to Bloomington by Greyhound to attend IU in 1981, I'd never been west of Pennsylvania.
I owe it all to the movie Breaking Away.
In those days, there was no place to rent videos, but I worked through high school in the Washington, D.C., area at a cable TV station with two pirate copies of major movies--Star Wars and Breaking Away.
We watched them both. A lot. Thanks to Breaking Away, I made the choice to attend IU. It was as close as I could get to a galaxy far, far away.
I arrived at the peak of attention for Little 500, but somehow never got involved in riding. The movie didn't begin to show how seriously people took the event, and I was always more of a cycle tourist, not a racer.
I skipped most of the races until 1986 when I covered my first as a photographer. I was hooked.
When some of the Breaking Away actors returned for the 10th anniversary of the movie, they seemed a bit startled by all the attention, much less that a person would have picked a university to attend because of it. Now I encounter students who have never seen the movie.
I've been a few more places than Indiana over the years, and I've been surprised to find people who know about the Little 500. In Italy, the movie was called All American Boys, and they even showed the short-lived TV series that starred Shawn Cassidy. I have yet to figure out how to dispel the blank looks on my Italian and Singaporean friends' faces when I describe this silly sounding event.
How do you describe the electricity in the air in those final few laps of the race, when it's deafeningly loud and quiet at the same time?
Who's leading? Where's the leader's pit? Did I get the picture of the rider crossing the finish line in focus? What do I do with the 50 pounds of equipment that cost more than my education while I run around shooting the celebration? Will I get trampled in the mayhem? Will someone mess up the classic photo of the bike held high overhead? What about all the photos of elation and dejection that I'm missing?
It's a madhouse trying to do everything in the span of a few minutes. Not the same as being involved with a team, but it's pretty cool following the winner every year. The rush is intense, and best of all, I don't have to ride a bike for months getting ready for the big day.
(Editor's note: "Breaking Away" will be shown at 8 p.m. Friday, April 23, at the Buskirk-Chumley Theatre in downtown Bloomington following a reception at the Fountain Square Ballroom. For ticket information, call 812-855-9152.)
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