The bicycle movie that broke away from the pack

Peter Yates died on Sunday. You might not know the name, but you'll recognize the name of one of the movies he directed — “Breaking Away.”

Although it's considered a bicycling or sports movie, I think most people like it for the other theme that runs through it, that of growing up.

It's certainly my favorite movie, as much for the cycling scenes as the interactions between the friends facing their first year after high school with their whole lives in front of them. It's a time the characters Dave (Dennis Christopher), Mike (Dennis Quaid), Cyril (Daniel Stern) and Moocher (Jackie Earle Haley) would probably never forget.

Dave's mother is caring and doting to her son, the father is worried. He's especially concerned when he walks in on his son shaving …. “his legs.”

Cycling scenes

The most exciting cycling scene in the movie has to be the final laps of the Little 500, but the most memorable for me is Dave tooling down the road and picking up the draft from an 18-wheeler. The Italian operas (Rossini?) playing throughout make that a better soundtrack to cycling than the usual amped up guitars.

One of my favorite scenes doesn't have a bicycle at all. It is the reaction of Dave's father to his son agreeing to refund the cost of a deceased used car purchased at his father's lot (at right).

The Internet Movie Database mentions some trivia from the film, such as Dave riding a 1978 Masi Gran Criterium and the screenwriter's changing the townies nicknames to “cutters” instead of “stoners” or “stonies.”

The Italians

Not mentioned is that fact that one of those menacing Italian cyclists on the Cinzano team is actually John Vande Velde, the father of pro cyclist Christian Vande Velde. John competed in 6-day Euro races and might have known firsthand about some tactics they employed. He's a member of the US Bicycling Hall of Fame.

Of all the obits and homages to Yates I read Tuesday, in my opinion the best was written by Linda Holmes at NPR.

Other work

Yates had other films, including “Bullitt,” which featured a memorable car chase through the streets of San Francisco. Some other of Yates work that I grew up with included episodes of “The Saint” and “Secret Agent” in the 1960s.

Yates died in London of an undisclosed illness.

Unfortunately I haven't seen the movie in a while. My copy is on VHS, and our player died a few years ago. Although I don't buy many movies, “Breaking Away” is definitely one I need to replace on DVD. I can't wait for the Blu-Ray edition.