Leaps and Bounds - The Story of BikeTrial (leaps and bounds 2)

So recently a documentary was made by Desmond Lee, a Canadian filmmaker, and also an avid Trials rider from Vancouver B.C. all about the history and evolution of the sport of Bike Trials.  A historical look at where the sport originated, and how its progressed from an offshoot of MotoTrials, to an independant form of bike riding. 

At 1h, 47mins in length, it goes into quite alot of detail, and has interviews with current riders in the sport, as well as riders from the past.  Some big names in the video are, but not limited to,  Ryan Leech, Hans Rey, Ot Pi, and the Coustelliers. 

Telling the story from its origins in Europe in the mid 70's, the viewer has a chance to see the makers and designers of the early bikes, and see how the sport deveoloped in a technical sense.

The video goes above and beyond just interviews and spectacular riding.  It shows different styles in various parts of the world.  Lee travels to many places, such as Japan, Germany, France, Spain, England, and more.  

It also has many bonus clips, from extra riding footage, to bloopers, to a clip of the women riders (sadly its not a popular sport for women, though there are a strong few!).

My only negative first impressions were with the sound.  This video isn't well mixed.  The title menu is extremely loud compared to the main feature and bonus material.  As well, the main feature's background music is too loud at times to hear whats being said, especially since most of the interviews are with folks with heavy accents.  

Besides that, the DVD is well worth it I think.  I haven't seen a documentary as detailed as this about the sport of Bike Trials.  A small sport that has been well rooted internationally, and has outlasted many other forms of riding.  Pushed through trendy styles, and maintained itself as an independant sport!

A trailer is on here, and I would recommend anyone involved with bicycles to check it out, even if you aren't a trials rider.  There's some incredible history, and culture here.

oh, and no I won't make copies for people.. so don't ask me.. support independant films!