MovieChat Forums > Breaking Away (1979) Discussion > Semi truck scene (one question)

Semi truck scene (one question)

posted 11 years ago by smullen1
15 replies | jump to latest

One of my favorite scenes has always been the part where Dave has the race with that semi truck on the freeway. However, one little part always confused me. It clearly says CINZANO on the back of the semi....as in "Team Cinzano." That part I never understood. The first time I saw this I thought that was the actual team bus or something but that's obviously not the case because they would be in a bus not a produce truck, plus they wouldn't be arriving that early.

My other thought is that Dave was simply imagining the CINZANO on the back of the truck and he was projecting himself as racing against the team.

Or it could be that the entire sequence was a fantasy of sorts, since it's pretty unrealistic anyways. Although, I'm a little skeptical of that interpretation since everything else in the film is grounded in realism.

Any thoughts on this? What's the deal with the CINZANO truck?

[–] 11 years ago

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[–] smullen1 11 years ago

Ok gotcha. I didn't realize Cinzano was a company, I thought it was just the name of the Italian team.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cinzano

[–] 11 years ago

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[–] stevde2 11 years ago

Pro bike teams are usually named after the trade sponsor.

[–] osgrath-1 11 years ago

Cinzano is a line of Vermouth produced in Turino, Italy. At the time of the movie it was still family owned - now part of a mega-corporation. Obviously the company was sponsoring bike racing teams at the time.

[–] 11 years ago

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[–] harpon-1 10 years ago

Personally, as the one actually behind the truck back in '78-

I just want to state that I think the scene was more motivated by something I'd read way back in junior high about a cyclist at the turn of the Twentienth century who drafted behind a train on some planks put between the tracks, and went 60 miles an hour and became known as "Mile A Minute Murphy" It was a thing of cycling lore and probably known to Steve Tesich as well.

I will state for the record though that I would not do it again- I mean, look what happened to Meg Ryan at the end of "The City of Angels" when she hit that truck on her bicycle and died.

so don't try this at home!

http://thehearpe.tripod.com/index.html

[–] ShannonTriumphant 10 years ago

Knowing lots of racers, I get what you mean, but the ones who tell you not to do stuff like this (my crazier friends!) always said that after they'd had the thrill of doing it! Or after they crashed and broken a collar bone or suffered through acres of road rash. Know what I mean?

As for Meg Ryan...what was her character thinking, blasting down a road like that with her eyes shut?! Sex with Nicholas Cage couldn't have been THAT great! ;P

Nothing is what it seems. Everything is a test. Rule #1: Don't...get...caught.

[–] 10 years ago

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[–] jondoe888 10 years ago

My take is that it's a delivery truck, not associated with the race.
And 60mph - that truck would have a lot of wind coming underneath it. Even if the tires blocked enough - could Dave attain that speed, without special gearing? As a kid, I've gone 60 down a long, steep hill. I don't really remember if I could still pedal or not.

[–] TVholic 9 years ago

There's a lot wrong with that scene. No, he couldn't pedal to 60mph, even behind the truck. Assuming 53x12 gearing, the best he could have done was just over 40mph at 120rpm. Even forgetting the turbulence from under the truck, he would have found it almost impossible to pull out to the side to see the driver's hand, thanks to the vortices in the wake behind the truck. If he could come out of the slipstream, the high wind drag would have slowed him immediately. And at the beginning of the scene, the sign says "Bloomington 50" and the Cinzano truck is approaching. When the truck is pulled over, there's a "Welcome to Bloomington" sign. I have a hard time believing anyone can motorpace at that speed for about an hour.

But it's still a fun scene despite the complete implausibility.

[–] snowleopard 8 years ago

All true.

Another thing is that during one of the edits, if you look quickly you can see that he's in the small chain ring, but his cadence is still about 110, which means he was doing about 20mph, maybe.

[–] liscarkat (16469) 4 years ago

I have drafted behind large trucks like this, and vans, up to 60 mph with 53-12 gearing. It is possible.

[–] dannieboy20906 8 years ago

Just for the record, in case anyone misunderstands the term "semi truck."

Eighteen wheelers were originally described as 'tractor and semi-trailer rigs,' or similar terms. The "truck" is the tractor. It is called a tractor because it has the motor and pulls the semi-trailer.

Note that the use of 'semi' is in reference to the trailer. It is not a full trailer because that would require it to have wheels at the front and the back to support its weight. It would be pulled by a tow bar by a tractor. Because the front end of the freight cart rests on the back end of the tractor and depends on it for support it is a 'semi'-trailer. The tractor provides support for the front end of the trailer as well as provides the tractive force through its engine.

I agree with another poster that the scene is fantastic in its suggestion that a rider on a standard road racing bicycle could maintain sixty miles per hour, even drafting behind vehicle.

The best diplomat I know is a fully charged phaser bank.

[–] wordsatplaytoday 8 years ago

I was always under the impression that it is carrying the bicycles and other gear for the team.
Seems really big for bicycles and other things when a smaller truck, like a U-Haul, would have done the job.