Transcontinental: 10 years, 4 films, still impressive

Ten years ago, I wrote about a small series of videos that were released about a relatively new long-distance race at the time: the Transcontinental Race.

Back then, the race was still from London to Istanbul and Specialized presented the AWOL, a kind of gravel bike for long distances, with which the two co-developers of the bike, Recep Yeşil and Erik Nohlin, set off for Asia.

I still consider the AWOL to be one of the best bikes that Specialized has developed and I still think it’s a shame that it’s no longer available.

A series of short films were made about their journey, which are now classics and were simply breathtaking for me at the time: ‘Melon, Trucks & Angry Dogs’ established a new visual language and narrative style in my opinion. Videos were not so widespread back then. And the videos that did exist were more representational and less accompanying and narrative.

I wrote at the time: The videos impressively show ‘what cycling can mean, what it means to give up and yet keep going and how to find your way of travelling. I particularly like the visual language, this closeness to the protagonists and their emotions.’

And that is still the case today.

For me, the Transcontinental was an event for crazy people back then (and still is today 🙂 ), but it gave me my first idea for this kind of challenge, which later became a reality when I took part in a few races.

These films were shot by Kristian and Martin from Ertzui Film in Leipzig. I remember one scene in particular that I hadn’t seen before: it was filmed from behind. So you can see the road behind the moving rider and how the road moves away. So you are looking into the past and at the same time looking forwards through the movement.

Today this is completely normal and a popular stylistic device. Back then, I found it new and inspiring. The two Leipzig-based artists did a great job. And even after 10 years, this story has aged very well and is timelessly exciting and inspiring.

And since it was all so long ago, I can imagine that there are some of you who haven’t heard of these classics yet. I’m sure they will inspire you as much as they did me.

And to help you understand the trials and tribulations, highs and lows, motivation and resignation that the drivers go through on the Transcontinental Race that is currently taking place, I recommend these four films to you once again: