Riding through rain, mud and the occasional water buffalo, Olympic cyclist and Long Beach Bicycle Ambassador Tony Cruz—along with a dozen friends—took their bicycles on a 12-day, 1000-mile ride through Vietnam. And Scott Nguyen was there to film it all.
“The film is about brotherhood and camaraderie,” Nguyen says of Cruzin’, the cycling documentary he directed and produced about the trip that’s screening at the Art Theatre for the second time this summer. Even though the trek was grueling, and the pace difficult to the point of some riders not wanting to be on camera anymore, the bonding that the group went through as a result was incredible, he says. “We are all friends now.”
The cyclists, however, were never alone during their demanding journey. Nguyen and his film crew followed them in vans and provided the riders a safety net of a bus that followed them along the entire way, acting as a safe place to store bicycles overnight and also to provide assistance to weary cyclists.
“Not everyone was able to bike all the miles, every single day,” Nguyen says. “Once you cramp up, you’re done, you’d get left behind.”
The 1000-mile road that Cruz and the other cyclists ride in the film winds its way along the Ho Chi Minh Highway from North to South Vietnam, dealing with hot and humid tropical weather the whole way. The cyclists would bike anywhere from 6 to 8 hours a day, needing to cover an average of 80 miles a day. Still, the film crew often struggled just to pace the riders.
“We could barely keep up,” Nguyen says. “There was a steep 23 mile climb and we ended up getting separated, and Tony beat us to the top.”
Despite the length of the trip, Nguyen says that all the locals were both curious and courteous. “They would stare at us as they rode by and waved. They were not used to seeing bikes like these,” he said. Despite cycling not being the recreational sport in Vietnam that it is here, the respect on the road was still there, “bikes are accepted over there, like here in Long Beach. Not every city here are they accepted.”
The tour itself was coordinated by Patrick Morris, who owns Velo Asia Bicycle Tours, who handled all the accommodations. Lodging, food, and the route itself was also handled on behalf of the cyclists. All they had to do was ride—which is perfect since that’s what they do best.
Cruzin’ originally screened at the Art Theatre in July and Nguyen said the reception was overwhelming.
“There was a cycling group who wanted to go on the exact same tour as them. And this group had a hundred members,” he says. Nguyen has even been contacted to screen his film in Idaho.
Nguyen has high hopes for Cruzin’. His next step is to get in contact with Discovery, Travel Channel, National Geographic even Netflix for wider distribution. He believes with the support he’s seen here in Long Beach that Cruzin’ has amazing potential to reach a wider audience of cycling enthusiasts.
Cruzin’ screens Thursday, August 23 at 9PM in the Art Theatre.