I mentioned yesterday that I would introduce you to how I was baptized into the world of the Little 500. At the time, I thought it was a pretty stupid movie (hey, I was young), but even though the movie came out in 1979, I truly love this movie and watch it at least once a year.
Breaking Away is a 1979 coming of age film that tells the story of four teenagers in Bloomington, Indiana who have graduated from high school and are not sure what they want to do with their lives, other than hang out and go swimming in an abandoned limestone quarry. It stars Dennis Christopher (Dave), Dennis Quaid (Mike), Daniel Stern (Cyril), and Jackie Earle Haley (Moocher) as the main characters.
The highpoint of the movie is when Dave’s friends soon persuade him to form a cycling team for the annual Indiana University Little 500 bicycle race. They race under the name “Cutters” (a euphemism for “stoners”, the industrial stonecutters who worked the Indiana Limestone quarries of southern Indiana) against university intramural teams. Dave is so much better than the other competitors, he rides without a break and builds up a large lead, while the other teams have to switch cyclists every few laps. However, he is injured and has to stop. After some hesitation, Moocher, Cyril and Mike take turns pedaling, but soon their lead evaporates. Finally, Dave has himself taped into his bike and starts making up ground, winning on the last lap.
It’s a great feel good movie in my opinion. The underdog wins despite the road blocks encountered. One of the best things is that it was filmed on the IU campus and in Bloomington. I can recognize where a lot of the shots of the campus and city. So stay tuned as my good camera is coming with me on Saturday, and I hope to get some good pictures of the race, as well as the campus.
Filed under: Life in General Tagged: | IU, Little 5, tradition
