CBC Doc Zone
Pedal
Power
Thursday September 24, 2009 at 8 pm on
CBC-TV
Repeating: Friday September 25, 2009 at 10 pm ET/PT
on CBC
Newsworld
Summer, 2008: Igor Kenk, owner of The Bicycle
Clinic, a Queen Street repair shop, is arrested. The former police officer from
Slovenia has 2,865 bikes stashed away in various places around Toronto and he's
hit with 58 charges related to bike theft (and an additional 22 charges relating
to
drugs).
Cyclists are stunned by the discovery, but not
completely surprised. Everyone's lost a bike or two and wondered where they
went. But worldwide interest in the Kenk case signals a tipping point in the
history of urban culture. Bicycling, once seen as a simple pleasure from
childhood, has become a political act. For the first time post World War II, the
dominance of the automobile is being seriously challenged, with cyclists
demanding their share of asphalt real estate from
drivers.
From bicycle-mad Paris to rush-hour New York and
the back alleys of Toronto, Pedal Power takes a ride through the changing world
of bike culture. And with exclusive background access to Igor Kenk - exclusive
footage of how he operated and built a legendary reputation on Queen Street West
- this major documentary explores the two-wheeled revolution in our
streets.
"The sickening thud was unmistakable. A cyclist lay
crumpled on the streetcar tracks. A motorist talking on her cell phone had
"doored" him. Right outside Igor's shuttered bike shop. Across the street from
our office. Beyond that scene we found a battle brewing for a fair share of the
streets from Amsterdam to Vancouver - a new mass activism for bikers' rights in
the decline of the Age of the Automobile. Every now and then a movement becomes
a revolution. That's what we found." (Robin
Benger)
Bicycles and automobiles have to share the same
roads - a recipe for conflict - and many potential cyclists just won't ride in
the city because they see it as too dangerous. Add in the plague of bike theft
and a lot of cyclists are simply leaving their bikes at
home.
In Canada, bicycles "don't get no respect." From
the story of Igor, and the anatomy of the underground world of bike peddlers in
Toronto, this film spins out to how other cities are making riding safe. Using
innovative "bike-cam" techniques to convey, up-close, the sensation of bike
riding, a series of character-driven mini-narratives propel the film through a
study of what makes a city "bikeable". Whether it's the public bike program in
Paris, bike mega-garages in Amsterdam, bike paths in Vancouver and Montreal, or
the surprising leadership of New York City, we follow the story of this
remarkable little conveyance as it wheels though the first decade of the 21st
century.