Twelve months, twelve short documentaries on a long way to success. Trainings. Races. Travelling. Life.
This is TWELVE - a new project of the pro mountain biker and BMXer Michal Prokop. Rob Trnka's camera takes the past month of Michal, just as he has actually spent it. Without any adornments and planning. It doesn't aim to celebrate the leading actor; it wants to capture by its sincereness. TWELVE doesn't create dramatic situations, but it catches them if they arise. The third part of the TWELVE series was published on www.redbull.cz on April 1st, Michal’s twenty-ninth birthday.
The March part caught Michal Prokop in his last phase of the preparation before the initial race of the BMX Supercross World Cup. After several weeks spent in his second home Michal returned from California and just a little later he swapped twelve hours spent in plane for a half-day behind the wheel on his journey to the sun of the South France. The perfectly maintained track in Sainte Maxime in French Riviera becomes Mecca of European BMXers who visit it more and more frequently in winter months. It is an ideal place for the last testing of equipment before the new season. The part of the training including for example sprints against timekeeping, which is very routine, becomes by far bearable in such an environment. The permanent struggle for survival on damaged Czech roads is replaced by a travail set in amazing scenery some thirteen hundred kilometres to the south. After months of monotonous séances in sweaty gym, at last there is a time for fresh air, pedals, handlebars, and dirt. Especially, when there is the option to get away for a while from the duties to the nearby dirt paradise hidden in the forest in Peynier. Once again, for the last time, to breath in the aroma and energy of the Mediterranean Sea at the earlyevening ride through the city; the season begins!
TWELVE Crew Producer:
Red Bull Production: Polis.
Media Screenplay, camera: Rob Trnka Editor, post-production, and music: Jan Mocnak
After doing a BMX 'zine for ten years (1987 - 1996) FATBMX made it on the internet. The year was 1998. Here to stay.