A film of a legend by a legend; cult UK filmmaker Alex Rankin’s new film about Sam Hill and his old school trails is a lovely thing to watch.

>>> Watch Ratboy and Loosedog hilariously slog round the Brecon Beacons (inc. subtitles!)

A refreshingly straight and gimmick-free film sees Sam Hill showing Rankin around the trails and riding spots of Perth, the place where Hill grew up.

Remarkably, some of the dirt jumps and road gaps that Hill built back when he was pre-teen are still visible today. Some have fallen to rack and ruin, some have been damaged by bush fires but some features and trails of Hill’s are still there to be ridden.

The story behind the music choice is interesting too. Explaining just why and how he managed to get permission to use ‘Just like heaven’ by The Cure, Rankin says on the CRC blog: “I tried ’Just Like Heaven’ by The Cure not really thinking I would use it but it just stuck, the lyrics and pace are perfect and nothing else was better, not by a long shot.

“It’s probably one of the best pop songs ever written and quite impossibly I know Simon Gallup the bassist from the Cure. I knew he was a huge downhill mountain bike fan and I knew he would be into the Sam Hill thing, so I dropped him a line and he was really positive, saying about Sam: “I always thought he was the bridge between old school DH and new” –  something I had never considered but it’s so true.”

Video description

Chain Reaction Cycles: “In the first of a series of CRC Mavic rider-focussed edits, we’re excited to bring you ‘Sam Hill: My Way’ – where Sam shows us around his childhood riding spots then sessions his current trails in Perth, Australia.”