Strength and Honour: Cycling Canada Coast to Coast (2006)
What could a person gain by cycling across Canada?
The cyclists on this trek know nothing about cycling. It is clear from the start that a lot of learning will take place throughout the seven-week journey this summer. The elements of wind, sun, spandex and road construction tame the wildest spirits on the team. Everyone has a wall to go through, but how badly does each one want to smash through it. Does the fear of what lies on the other side prevent someone from finishing the trip?
Zaak initiates the trip on a whim by adding “Cycle across Canada” to his list of life goals. Will, a young 15-year-old is eager to prove he’s a man. Bernd, a successful logging business man, is out for adventure. Kurt wants to pray across the continent. Saison wants to see the country in slow-motion. Australian Jessica wants to get to know her distant cousins, but will her boyfriend Eric let her? Landon is bored at work, so he joins the crew a week before they set out. Amber, Zaak’s wife, doesn’t want to be left behind. Add a mother-in-law and a precocious 5-year old to the mix of tired, hungry cyclists – and watch the sparks fly.
How do you cross the Rocky Mountains if all the training you’ve had is an afternoon in the prairies? How do you finish a trip you didn’t want to do in the first place? More importantly though, who gets the last cob of corn?
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The trip takes place during the summer of 2003. The film was completed after interviews in 2005 and editing in 2005-6. Strength and Honour: Cycling Canada Coast to Coast screened at the Montreal International Film Festival in 2006.