It’s hard to deny the effect road trips in movies and television have on us riders. Who hasn’t watched "Easy Rider" or the "Great Escape" and wanted to get on a bike immediately after? Or who hasn’t seen any of the "Long Way" series and seriously considered adventure riding after? There’s no shortage of epic road trips that inspire riders to replicate it in real life. However, there is one that no one has been bold enough to do, until now.
That’s the road trip featured in the 1994 movie, "Dumb and Dumber." As the title suggests, it’s not the smartest way to get from point A to B. The movie goes to great lengths to show just how long, uncomfortable, and painfully slow a trip like that would be. That hasn’t stopped two writers for motorcycle site, Revzilla: Common Tread XP from trying.
If you haven’t seen the movie, the two protagonists, Harry and Lloyd (played by Jeff Daniels and Jim Carrey) ride from Nebraska to Aspen, Colorado onboard a homemade moped powered by a small lawnmower engine in an attempt to return a lost suitcase. It’s a trip of more than 382 miles (615 km) onboard a bike that doesn’t even have suspension, with a top speed of 35 mph (56 km/h). The route is dotted with steep elevations, some going as high as 10,000 feet (3,048 meters). Needless to say, it’s quite an endeavor and is not something any rider would look forward to, considering the cold climate of the Aspen ski resort town at the end. That would be like going from Manila to Baguio and back, on a 50cc bike with a backride, only colder.
In the movie itself, the scene is only 3 minutes long and largely glosses over how long and uncomfortable it is. Still, it’s quite admirable they even attempted it. In the end, it took them about 4 days, 3 tires, and surprisingly, only US$22 (PhP1,075.50) in fuel as the bike averaged 54 mpg (23 km/L).
Check the video above to see how they did it. Impressively, they also went the extra length to recreate a few scenes from the movie. What’s another dumb road trip you think should be recreated?
