‘True Fans’ documentary brings in cash for Aggie Blue Bikes
Clad in a sweaty tank top and emanating small-town charm, Dan Austin rode a freight elevator up to Calvin Klein’s office in New York City and requested an audience with the man himself.
Austin wanted to pitch an idea for a cologne which had struck him while biking across the Rockies with his brother and a friend in the summer of 1997. The trio was making what Austin calls “a pilgrimage,” riding their bikes 4,800 miles from Los Angeles to the Basketball Hall of Fame in Massachusetts. They brought with them “an unblemished NBA-issue basketball” for people to sign along the way, hoping to have it immortalized in the Hall. Austin and his companions, Cache Valley natives, filmed their journey and made it into a documentary, “True Fans.”
Austin showed his film and its sequel, “True Fans Forever,” at USU Tuesday night at a fund-raiser for Aggie Blue Bikes, an on-campus borrow-a-bike program that began lending in September.
The bike program currently has 17 bikes, but has hopes for many more.
“It’s not very much, but we’re growing,” said Adam Christensen, director of Aggie Blue Bikes.
The film’s subject appealed to ABB’s organizers, including Kevin Kobe, campus recreation director, who invited Austin to show his film at USU in 2000. Austin’s return will benefit the bike program, allowing them to buy more bikes and supplies.
The success of “True Fans” led Austin to write a book about the journey. The movie is also being developed into a Broadway musical.
The film was well received at several film festivals, including the Banff Mountain Film Festival where it was given the People’s Choice Award. It became the first in a trilogy of similar films about pilgrimages across the world.
Austin said he began taking pilgrimages at the age of 13 or 14, starting with relatively short trips to Ogden. He has made several pilgrimages that could be called major, including a trip through the British Isles, one to Mexico, as well as the one that started it all, to a sports bar in Washington state.
“All pilgrims are seeking something,” Austin philosophizes in his film. “The road holds all the answers and knows the questions, even if you don’t. It’s not important to know what you seek-only that you seek.”
Austin said he has learned from his trips that he really values the true camaraderie of his friends and the people he met along the way.
“I didn’t realize how much I loved interaction with people,” he said. “We became connected to country and humanity. It showed how you find transcendence through interaction.”
Even though Austin says he loves his bike, he said his bike travels have come to an end. However, he is planning his next trip: a three- to four-month, around-the-world exploration of transcendence.
The pilgrims may have found transcendence, but the pilgrims’ ball did actually find immortality when, after traveling 4,800 miles, and carrying the signatures of every friendly stranger they met, it was accepted into the Basketball Hall of Fame.
-ella@cc.usu.edu