U.S. 'cross champ to host Off Road to Athens screening in CA

The NorCal High School Mountain Bike League announced this week that it is hosting a showing of the feature-length documentary, Off Road to Athens in Berkeley to raise funds to support its upcoming season.

Olympian Todd Wells, who recently won the 2005 National Cyclocross Championships, will be flying in from Durango, Colorado to host the screening. "Mountain biking wasn't an Olympic sport when I was in high school, so I never dreamed I would compete in the Olympics" stated Todd Wells. "I started racing mountain bikes my senior year of high school. We didn't have any support from the school. Where I went to school in Kingston, New York the only sports were baseball and football. It's great to see how the sport has grown."

Todd Wells, who stars in the movie, explained "When these guys showed up at the Pan Am Champs in Ecuador talking about this movie they were making, I didn't think much of it. But they put together a movie that surpasses everything I expected. This movie transcends the cycling community and anyone who has experienced the ups and downs of chasing a dream can relate to it."

The screening, held Saturday, January 14th at 7:00pm at the Berkeley Community Theater, will include a raffle with prizes from Clif Bar, Voler, WTB, Tecnu, CamelBak, and Mountain Hardwear.

The Nor Cal High School Mountain Bike League presented by Clif Bar is a non-profit organization open to students from both public and private schools. The league provides coaching and camaraderie to help students achieve both competitive and non-competitive cross-country mountain biking goals in a safe and enjoyable manner. The next season of events begins with beginner riding camps in February, and over 20 teams will compete in the six-race series commencing in March. For more information visit www.norcalmtb.org.