In February of 2020, Louis (Louie) Arévalo suffered a ski accident that put him in a wheelchair for life. So, when he was approached by the NAC to direct the film, he was thrilled.
“Last summer, the National Ability Center approached me about this project that an athlete Josie Fouts had pitched to them about documenting a group of para-cyclists, adaptive athletes attempting to ride the White Rim trail in one day,” Arévalo said. “Me being new to the adaptive community and world, I was 100%. And I was just like, I don't even need to know anymore. I'm in. I want to do this. I want to be a part, I want to help make this happen.”
He describes the film as having a conversation among those living with and accepting their disabilities and thriving.
Steven Wilke is one of the film’s featured athletes. Wilke was born with limits to the use of his left shoulder, arm and hand. He says he too was approached by para-cyclist Josie Fouts who was born without her left hand.
“She came to me a while ago, saying, 'Hey, do you want to set the fastest time on the White Rim trail?' And I was like, 'Sure, I guess we could do that,'" Wilke said. "So, I went and tried to set the fastest time for a para-athlete and I did do it - in around eight hours and 20 minutes. I did it fully self-supported. I carried my own water, carried my own food, carried all of my own bike equipment. I had to like re-lube and do some trail maintenance and stuff. But yeah, it was, it was a pretty intense one-day activity. I never thought I could something like that.”
Perhaps the most challenging part of the ride was the conditions.
“I was very surprised about how rough the trail was like when you look at the map and you kind of research about the trail, you're like, oh, it's not going to be that bad,” he said. “And then when you get out there it was, it was really bad, especially with the first like 15 miles of mud because two days prior, it just flooded. Then, the actually, the road through there had been completely washed out by a rock slide. And so, the ranger did say, she's like, 'Well, I can let you guys out there, but there's going to be no way to be rescued.'”
He says it took the other group more than 20 hours to finish.
The 35-minute documentary, titled “Tread Setters,” will premiere in August at the Steamboat Gravel Festival and after that it will be entered into film festivals and play at other cycling events, eventually making it to the internet at the beginning of next year.
