Watch Jeff Goldblum Rediscover The Bicycle

Jeff Goldblum hadn’t owned a bicycle in years, but that all changed when he set out to learn more about our personal favorite mode of transportation


By Jessica Coulon |

Jeff Goldblum hadn’t owned a bicycle in years, but that all changed when he set out to learn more about our personal favorite mode of transportation in Episode 7 of his Disney+ series The World According to Jeff Goldblum. Each episode in the series follows the actor as he takes a deeper look at one thing in particular—like denim, ice cream, or in this case “Bikes,” as the episode is titled.

Goldblum soon learns that bicycles have come a long way since the little, red Schwinn of his childhood.

He begins his “journey of discovery” at a pump track in Los Angeles with a group of young riders from the nonprofit Bay Area BMXers. Goldblum is outfitted with a BMX bike and a helmet before being briefly drilled on some of the basics by Brandon Cato, the son of the organization’s founder, Howard Cato. He even receives some tips from a seven-year-old team rider, Kevin.

“I’m going to start weeping uncontrollably,” Goldblum said at the end of his ride around the pump track. “That was fantastic.”

Goldblum then ventures to Morgan Hill, California, to tour Specialized’s headquarters and take a look at some of the technology and innovation that goes into producing modern-day bicycles.

There, he’s introduced to the term “peloton” and learns how carbon bicycles are created. He even gets to check out the company’s wind tunnel to learn how aerodynamics affect riding. For Goldblum, riding in his street clothes proves to be 43 percent less efficient than riding in a full (“panther”-like) cycling kit, which would make him 11 minutes faster over the course of a 32km ride.

But not every great bicycle needs to be made out of high-end carbon, as Goldblum then discovers at the Slow Roll group ride in Detroit, Michigan. This popular weekly ride through the different neighborhoods of Detroit can attract up to a few thousand participants at a time.

Detroit is perhaps the greatest epitome of the United State’s obsession with car culture, and the many pros and cons that have come with it over the past century. A city that once thrived on the automobile is still coming to terms with its post-industrial existence, and it’s rather fitting—if not poetic—that its residents are reclaiming their community with bicycles, as Goldblum witnesses firsthand.

“I felt that it was an extension of my body,” Goldblum said about his bike, after participating in the Slow Roll ride. “It allowed me in a unique and subtle but profound way [to] be in connection with everything around me.”

As he had hoped at the beginning of the episode, it seems Goldblum may have rediscovered his love for riding a bike. Plus, just think of how much faster he could escape a T-Rex by bike than on foot in Jurassic Park—and even more so in full lycra.

 

A post shared by Official 510 BayArea BMXers (@bayareabmxers) on Dec 20, 2019

READ MORE ON: Jeff Goldblum news People who ride

Copyright © 2024 Hearst
..