Riding a bike to go see a movie isn’t too unusual, but there's a place where the bicycling plays a larger role than just getting you there. In fact, no bike, no movie.
“We have a stationary bike set up that operates a generator, which provides electricity for the movie player,” said Tom Matula, Director of Marketing for Main Plaza, which is where Cycle-In Cinema takes place. They're people-powered movies on a big screen.
"We get volunteers out of the audience, and we give them about 10-15 minutes. And they love to do it," said Matula. "We give ‘em prizes for doing it, and everybody has a great fun. We usually have more people that want to ride than can actually fit into the movie.”
Every Thursday night through August there’s a movie screen set up and a popular movie plays.
“We’ve got a huge movie screen that’s 17 feet wide that we put up every Thursday morning. And we partner with Pedal Power here in San Antonio and they bring out the bike and the projector and everything.”
This Thursday the movie is Jim Cary's odd, interesting comedy The Mask.
The movie kicks off about 8:50 or 9, once it gets close to dark. Matula described the event this way.
“The bikes come up, the people walk up with their families. They’ll put blankets down, they’ll bring munchies, and the whole family just climbs down and watches a movie. It’s laughter, it’s just such a fun atmosphere when it happens.”
There is more on Main Plaza’s Cycle-In Cinema event here.
