Bicycle Dreams, the award-winning feature-length documentary about the Race Across America (RAAM), will premiere at the Madcap Theaters as part of the film’s ongoing nationwide winter tour. The screening is presented as a benefit for the Tempe Bicycle Action Group.

The event is co-sponsored by State Bicycle Co., a local fixed-gear bicycle shop. The State hosts a weekly Loop ride on Wednesday and on the night of the show the group will ride to the theater to take in the screening.

The film, which has won numerous awards at film festivals all over the world, “is an up-close look at what RAAM riders go through,” says Stephen Auerbach, the director and producer of Bicycle Dreams. “They deal with searing desert heat, agonizing mountain climbs, and endless stretches of open road. And they do it all while battling extreme exhaustion and sleep deprivation. It’s a great subject for a film.”

To capture the mammoth scope of the race, Auerbach worked around the clock with a complement of 18 cameras. Embedded camera operators traveled inside the racers’ support crew vehicles, gaining unprecedented access to the cyclists and their teams. Their footage captured emotional and physical breakdowns, late-night strategy sessions, and great moments of personal triumph, all in intimate detail. Auerbach then took on the enormous task of editing hundreds of hours of material and forming it into a powerful and inspiring look inside the most difficult race on the planet.

Critical acclaim for the film continues to pour in from all sources.

The Tempe Bicycle Action Group is a non-profit organization working to make bicycling a prominent, safe and convenient form of transportation and recreation in Tempe, as well as in  surrounding areas, through education, grassroots events, and civic participation.