We all have the power to make change and it starts with the engine inside.
Mitchell Elliot is a writer who began his career writing about the mountain bike scene in the late 90s in North Vancouver.
Since this time, Elliot grew his career by working for Bike Magazine and then went on to start his own magazine.
Now, Elliot lives in Nelson, B.C. and is the managing editor of Kootenay Mountain Culture Magazine, which includes all things outdoor adventure culture, of which mountain biking continues to be a major part.
But Elliot’s appreciation for the bicycle goes beyond seeking out brown powder lines of dirt down mountainsides.
About 12 years ago, he wrote down a note for himself about the idea for a film about the transformative power of the bicycle.
Elliot had worked with Anthill Films before, and they reached out to him about his idea, having heard about it as Elliot began to develop the concept.
Anthill Films, based in Squamish, B.C., are award-winning film makers, with a number of mountain bike films to their credit, including Long Live Chainsaw The Life and Legacy of Stevie Smith.
Long Live Chainsaw was shown in Williams Lake by the Williams Lake Cycling Club in November of 2021.
But The Engine Inside goes beyond the more typical action mountain bike film to touch on six different stories from around the world about bicycles, with one of those stories being about a B.C.-based mountain biker.
While the movie was originally meant to be made a couple years before the COVID pandemic, Elliot and Anthill were not able to secure enough funding to make it happen, but once the pandemic led to a boom in the bicycle industry, they finally succeeded and pulled the project back off the shelf.
Unlike other films showcasing the bicycle, it doesn’t follow a chronological or linear line, instead, it follows six people across the globe.
It was originally difficult to settle on six stories to focus on, explained Elliot.
The bicycle has been tied to a number of major human social developments, including the women’s suffrage movement, and has branched in many directions, from the massive popularity of road cycling in Europe to the growth of mountain bike culture in North America, which is a major global draw for tourism.
But after sifting through different stories, they gradually settled on some modern stories to highlight this historic invention.
One story includes a modern narrative on how women continue to be empowered by the bicycle, especially in Muslim countries. Following a woman in Egypt who is promoting the bicycle there, the film shows how she is using the bike as a tool for women to attain greater mobility and independence, a country where riding a bike is still seen as taboo.
“Bicycles play a huge role in disempowered people, people with not great economic resources,” said Elliot, noting a person on a bike can earn significantly more in many countries, as it provides affordable, reliable transportation.
This is highlighted in the film in the story of a man in Ghana who is producing bikes in a local factory made of local materials in order to lift up others in a community where he used to have to trek miles to and from school to obtain an education.
The concepts came before the stories, explained Elliot of how the film came together, and while they found multiple powerful stories of people and bicycles, the final stories were selected based on both geography, wanting to touch on a number of regions around the globe, and how they fit into the story Elliot had written.
“We were looking through a pretty narrow lens based on the development we had done on the script side,” said Elliot.
Despite both Anthill and Elliot being based in B.C., only one of the six stories is B.C.-based, but it is a powerful storyline which will likely resonate with many in the region.
Jay Bearhead, an Indigenous mountain biker who lives in Tk’emlups, B.C., was connected to the film project via Williams Lake’s own Tom Schoen of First Journey Trails and Schoen’s business partner.
Anthill reached out to Bearhead to hear his story about how mountain biking and the community helped him reconnect to his roots, and helped keep him grounded, as he recovered from addiction and trauma.
Elliot said it is tough to pick a favourite character among the six storylines the film depicts, but admitted he might have to choose Darnell Williams, otherwise known as RRDBlocks, from Harlem, in New York.
RRDBlocks leads street-wide rides with youth from the city, and has built a movement around them, called Bike Life. Now a social media sensation.
“I’ve always really loved not just the functionality of the bicycle, but the creative expression of the bicycle, the art of it all,” he explained, noting the cool, creative and fun factor DBlocks creates around the bike for the youth builds community as well.
“I think it really embodies the bicycle in such a perfect way — it’s not just a tool it’s also a toy.”
The film includes these fun factors as well as some serious ones, featuring lawyer and cyclist advocate Megan Hottman, who represents cyclists or families of those injured in road violence and Janice Tower, an endurance athlete in Alaska who rides the epic challenge of the Iditarod invitational overland event on a fat-tired bicycle in arctic winter conditions.
“In Canada, especially rural Canada, I think we’re pretty far behind in bicycle infrastructure,” said Elliot, noting while there are big distances in Canada, there area also lots of creative solutions and benefits, especially when it comes to shorter trips.
“It’s not just about exhaust or pollution, it’s actually about the mental state and the vibe of moving through a downtown core when it’s primarily pedestrian,” said Elliot, noting their research showed the mental health and economic health benefits of downtown cores with a focus on pedestrian infrastructure.
Elliot believes the film can help inspire people to weave the bicycle into the fabric of our societies and support a healthier, more sustainable future for everyone.
“These characters have had their lives transformed through their passion for cycling, and through that passion they are transforming the lives of others,” he said.
The film has screened all over the world, playing at festivals and winning awards, and will be shown in Williams Lake during Fall Go By Bike Weeks by the Williams Lake Film Club and Streets for All Williams Lake. On Oct. 19, doors at 6:30 p.m., film at 7 p.m. with a bike valet available for safe storage for bicycles for those in attendance.
READ MORE: Organizers invite community to participate in Fall Go By Bike Weeks
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