We’ve written about Banff many many times. And for good reason. The Mountain Festival there celebrates the best there is to offer of photographs, films and books. There’s been some great recent stuff there, but taking a step back a bit and looking one of of the prior festivals, I want to bring your attention to a 1999 film by Dan Austin, who, along with his brother and a friend, hopped on their mountain bikes and headed east from California, en route to the Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, MA. The epic bicycle trip was all about celebrating basketball and became big success. In fact, it won a boatload of praise at the Banff Film Festival.
And it turns out there is a companion book which documents the 4,800-mile ride. Called True Fans: A Basketball Odyssey, the book captures the same material as the movie but, um, i words. Good stuff.
