Break the Cycle film » Riders http://breakthecyclefilm.com A film about downhill mountainbike lifestyle in Ireland Tue, 29 Jun 2010 10:14:03 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.1 en hourly 1 BTC Release.. Not Long Now! http://breakthecyclefilm.com/not-long-now/ http://breakthecyclefilm.com/not-long-now/#comments Sat, 08 Aug 2009 12:14:17 +0000 admin http://breakthecyclefilm.com/?p=580 btcdvdcoverforweb Well, BTC has been edited, colour corrected, and the DVD cover artwork has just been finished off today! A few deals are to be made with distributers, then all of you should be able to get your hands on a copy either through this website, or at your local bike shop soon! European release is expected first, then other parts of the world to follow.

A world premier in Ireland is also in the works, with world tour packages also planned for people who want to hold their own screening events.

Other news… BTC Director Andy Yoong made an amazing return back to the race scene in the Masters category taking a Gold at the 2009 Irish National Champs and Bronze at the Masters Worlds. Glyn O’Brien has just returned home from the World Police and Firefighter games taking the Gold medal in both Dual Slalom and Downhill. International pro Ben Reid took first place in Irish Championships in Elite, with Colin Ross coming in at a close second. 2009 European Champion Meave Baxter took first place in the women’s category for the third year running. She has also just won a Silver at the Masters Worlds in France!

Keep your eyes peeled to the website over the next few weeks for news on release dates!

]]> http://breakthecyclefilm.com/not-long-now/feed/ 0 Final Group Shoot http://breakthecyclefilm.com/final-group-shoot/ http://breakthecyclefilm.com/final-group-shoot/#comments Sat, 18 Apr 2009 22:24:34 +0000 admin http://breakthecyclefilm.com/?p=518 Click here to view the embedded video.

It finally arrived – Break the Cycle’s final shoot, and we definitely finished off the shooting in style.  Andy and I met up with all the Break The Cycle riders (minus two) this morning bright and early at Moneyscalp forest, Co. Down.   It was an amazing day, one of the best we have had for a while with sunny blue skies.  We were really lucky to have zip line extraordinaire Shane McCauley to come and set up a zip line for us!  It took a little longer to set up than he had hoped, Moneyscalp forest is pretty dense and it was hard finding a spot where Andy would stay clear of nearby trees, but he managed and it turned out really good, the fastest and longest one Andy had experienced yet!

After the riders had a quick warm up , we started filming as Shane got to work with the zip line.  Was a strange but cool day having Irelands top riders all together but not competing against each other, I think everyone enjoyed the experience of riding together and checking out each others lines and riding styles!  Was very chilled out and funny when the riders started trying to overtake each other, there were a few funny falls!  After the zip we had a few interviews to finish off then called it a day.  A few of the riders took the opportunity to spend another few hours out on their bikes together while they were all in the same part of the country and had the chance.

So with shooting finished Andy is now getting stuck into the editing.  We have had requests from people in Canada, America and UK for screening evenings, and are currently checking out some film festivals also.  Subscribe to the site to be the first to hear of screening event details and World Wide dvd release dates.  I am currently trying to organise a launch party in Belfast which should be pretty big with some of the bands involved playing.  Details will be posted here when I have them, don’t miss out!

]]> http://breakthecyclefilm.com/final-group-shoot/feed/ 0 Meave Baxter Shoot 2 http://breakthecyclefilm.com/meave-baxter-shoot-2/ http://breakthecyclefilm.com/meave-baxter-shoot-2/#comments Sat, 18 Apr 2009 00:13:20 +0000 admin http://breakthecyclefilm.com/?p=513 IMG_4101.jpg Yesterday Andy and I headed to Ravensdale, Co Down where we filmed Masters World silver medallist Meave Baxter for her second Break The Cycle shoot.  She has got a very cool house where she is lucky enough to have a mountain bike trail which practically leads straight down to her back door, very lucky lady!

We started off at the big mast above Ravensdale Forest, the views were unreal, it was pretty hazy at first but it wasn’t long before the sun came out and the hours just seemed to fly by as we filmed some pretty sick riding by Meave.  I even had a go on Meave’s bike (my first ever go on a downhill bike) which I totally loved, as you can probably see from the photograph below!

After scaring a few sheep and coming across a random plastic chair halfway up the mountain we headed back down to Meave’s house were we all stuffed ourselves with some lovely sandwhiches made by Meave then headed to a Forest just outside Newry, Co Down to meet up with Liam, Meave’s brother for a cross country section.  The forest looked amazing, the sun was just setting and the bluebells were in full bloom, the footage looks pretty cool!

Andy and I got back to Belfast quite late in the evening and are now getting ready for the final group shoot today!  Should be a good one!

]]> http://breakthecyclefilm.com/meave-baxter-shoot-2/feed/ 0 Fireman ‘Glyn O’Brien’ Shoot http://breakthecyclefilm.com/fireman-glyn-obrien-shoot/ http://breakthecyclefilm.com/fireman-glyn-obrien-shoot/#comments Thu, 09 Apr 2009 14:24:03 +0000 admin http://breakthecyclefilm.com/?p=504 With filming for Break The Cycle almost finished, and the editing process already begun, we still have a couple of exciting shoots to go.  Yesterday was no exception as Andy and I were lucky enough to get an insight into the Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service.  We headed to Armagh Fire Station, County Armagh, where fireman and Break The Cycle rider Glyn O’brien is stationed.  It was a really fun afternoon as we were given the grand tour of the newly built fire station and then got to film Glyn and a few other fireman going through some of their drills, check out the photos below.

Coming up next is the final group shoot where we are getting all the riders together for some serious riding and some craic of course!

]]> http://breakthecyclefilm.com/fireman-glyn-obrien-shoot/feed/ 0 Ben Reid Session 2 http://breakthecyclefilm.com/ben-reid-session-2/ http://breakthecyclefilm.com/ben-reid-session-2/#comments Sun, 08 Mar 2009 11:39:46 +0000 admin http://breakthecyclefilm.com/?p=498

Click here to view the embedded video.

After months of waiting for new sponsors to come on board for his 2009 team, we finally got a session with Ben Reid on his downhill bike.  We hit the trails near Rostrevor in County Down to soak up the action.

Ben just recently built up his new 09 Iron Horse with all the latest kit that you can see in the teaser video.  It’s a pretty sweet set-up, and the bike is really quiet on the trail.

Ben was actually great to work with.  We started at about 10:30 in the morning and filmed through to 18:00.  He only had a small bottle of water and a couple of chocolate biscuits to keep him going, but he had no complaints at all!  All that pre season training must be paying off.

]]> http://breakthecyclefilm.com/ben-reid-session-2/feed/ 0 Reid & Crockard MX Madness http://breakthecyclefilm.com/reid-and-crockard-motox-madness/ http://breakthecyclefilm.com/reid-and-crockard-motox-madness/#comments Tue, 10 Feb 2009 23:14:26 +0000 admin http://breakthecyclefilm.com/?p=483 Click here to view the embedded video.

After having to put this shoot off a few times due to snow we decided we couldn’t wait any longer and met up with Irish pro Ben Reid and his rather high profile MotoX training partner Gordon Crockard for a session somewhere close to Londonderry this afternoon.

When we arrived on location we were all pretty surprised at how much snow there was still lying, it was about a foot deep and unfortunately unrideable, didn’t stop them having a go but we soon realised if we were going to get any decent footage we would have to go elsewhere and fast, before we lost the daylight!

A few phone calls were made and we headed to another location close by. The track was in much better condition, still not great but we got some pretty good shots just as the sun was going down.

Music Credits: Lily-Jean Lonely, Hell Fire Club

]]> http://breakthecyclefilm.com/reid-and-crockard-motox-madness/feed/ 0 Jamie McCullough Session 2 http://breakthecyclefilm.com/jamie-mccullough-session-2/ http://breakthecyclefilm.com/jamie-mccullough-session-2/#comments Tue, 03 Feb 2009 00:35:52 +0000 admin http://breakthecyclefilm.com/?p=474

Click here to view the embedded video.

Another early start at 7am to go and meet Jamie McCullough down at the Mourne mountains.  One of the seals has been leaking in his break caliper so he resorted to burning the brake fluid of his brake pads with a blow torch!

It was a really cold day and also quite dark when we started, but by the time we got to the top of the trail the sun had started to rise properly.  

There are loads of downhill trails around the Mourne area. The trail we focused on (the wolf trail) has loads of densely packed trees along it which can make it quite tight at places, but really fun to ride.

We spent around 5 hours on this trail and got some really good footage.  You can see a clip with some blow torch action in the teaser video.

Up Next:

With downhill rider Ben Ried being a full time pro he has to find something to occupy his spare time in the off season.  Ben decided that putting a 250cc engine into his 80cc MX bike would be a good idea.  Check back soon to see what happens.

]]> http://breakthecyclefilm.com/jamie-mccullough-session-2/feed/ 2 Tom & Greg at Comshingaun http://breakthecyclefilm.com/tom-power-greg-okeefe-comshingaun-shoot/ http://breakthecyclefilm.com/tom-power-greg-okeefe-comshingaun-shoot/#comments Sun, 25 Jan 2009 10:50:05 +0000 admin http://breakthecyclefilm.com/?p=453 Click here to view the embedded video.

Andy and I headed to Waterford on Friday for our second shoot with Tom Power and Greg O’Keefe.  We arrived at Tom’s place in the evening and realised that it was Greg’s birthday.  There was no major celebrating done that night though, we chilled out for a bit and planned out the next days shoot then everyone headed to bed for an early night.

Saturday morning we were up at the crack of dawn, packed up the cars after a quick breakfast then drove for about half an hour to the Comshingaun in the Comeragh Mountains, the location of our shoot.  It is an absolutely stunning place, and we couldn’t have hoped for better weather, it was a cold crisp morning with sunny blue skies and there was snow on the top of the mountain.  

We trekked for a good hour or so before we reached the peak where we started shooting. The views were amazing, check out the photos below. We filmed for about 5 hours until we lost the sunlight behind the mountain then headed back to Tom’s camper van for a cup of tea to warm us up, and a look over the footage. Tom and Greg did pretty well pushing their bikes up the mountain time and time again, Greg was worried he wouldn’t be able to dance that night as his legs were getting sore!!

Next up: Filming is a bit behind schedule because of the bad weather.  We also planned to do a session with Belfast rider Ewan Doherty this weekend but he is out with a broken hand.  Hope he gets better soon.  Another day with Colin Ross this week should finish his section, then Irish Pro Ben Ried, and a few other final days out should have filming wrapped up towards the end of February. 

]]> http://breakthecyclefilm.com/tom-power-greg-okeefe-comshingaun-shoot/feed/ 3 Glyn O’Brien Shoot http://breakthecyclefilm.com/glyn-obrien-shoot/ http://breakthecyclefilm.com/glyn-obrien-shoot/#comments Wed, 24 Dec 2008 01:48:16 +0000 admin http://breakthecyclefilm.com/?p=419 Just before Christmas we headed to Rostrevor where we spent two days filming Glyn O’Brien at Kilbroney Forest for his part in Break the Cycle. One of the things that really stood out on this time  is just how dark in general it is at this time of the year which makes it particularly hard to shoot in a forest setting, and full day shoots are definitely out!  

We made the most of our time though. Shane McAuley came down to set up a few zip lines again. We had Glyn hitting a super smooth step down and attacking a couple of flat out corners for that. The shots turned out quite well. By the time we were finished with the zip line it was starting to get dark so we packed up and headed back to Glyns house in Newry.

We stayed over at Glyn’s that night and got some interviews and footage from around his house. The next day Glyn, Big Ray (the headcam guy), and myself headed hiked up the hills above Rostrevor as far as we could go to capture some more action. The views were pretty amazing, and we were lucky to get clear skies.  It was so open up there and definitely worth the trip up.  Ray helped us out with head cam shots with the new HD camcorder we recently purchased gaffer taped to his helmet!

After that we then headed back to Kilbroney forest. Kilbroney has been home to the Irish Downhill Championships for a few years now and has a couple of amazing trails. The light was a bit better this time so we worked flat out to get in as much footage as possible.

Check out the clip from Glyns interview and some shots above Rostrevor. Fuzz also got a few behind the scenes clips together from day 1 of shooting.  A big thanks to Shane for setting up the zip line and Ray for helping with the headcam.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

]]> http://breakthecyclefilm.com/glyn-obrien-shoot/feed/ 0 Recce with Ben Reid http://breakthecyclefilm.com/recce-with-ben-ried/ http://breakthecyclefilm.com/recce-with-ben-ried/#comments Sun, 14 Dec 2008 19:14:55 +0000 admin http://breakthecyclefilm.com/?p=414 IMG_2158.jpg Top Irish rider Ben Reid and myself got up at the crack of dawn to go and scope out some locations along the coast for the film.  We just about made it there!  One of the main roads on the way had not been gritted with salt so was covered in black ice.  Is was pretty scary because you could not tell there was ice there at all.  That road was about 3 miles long and in that space three cars had gone off the road and got smashed up the same morning.  

When we did eventually get to our location things were looking pretty good.  The scenery was amazing and there was loads of scope for some sick lines on the bike.  There was potential for some fast flowy sections, big step downs, and flat out corners. After a few hours getting some lines ready for the shoot we called it a day and headed into Ballycastle for a chippy.  Not many pics this time but check them out below!

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