Spinning Southward Documentary Blog

Spinning Southward Screening at the Capoeira Mandinga Academy in Oakland on Feb 25th

2011-02-09T08:50:00.000-08:00

UPDATE: The screening was a great success, thanks to everyone who showed up and shared in the film, as well as donated to the NBTS. Was great to relive it yet again and hear all the great stories from other epic bike touring adventures.

What:
Spinning Southward Screening at the Capoeira Mandinga Academy

When:
Friday, February 25 · 7:00pm - 9:30pm

Where:
Capoeira Mandinga Academy
4137 Piedmont Ave.
Oakland, CA

"Spinning Southward is a documentary film following 3 bicyclists who traveled from the far northern shores of Prudhoe Bay, Alaska - through 13 countries - to Ushuaia, Argentina in support of the National Brain Tumor Society. The riders, brothers John and Mike Logdson and filmmaker, Nateon Ajello, were inspired by the memory of their mothers, Jean Logdson and Fran Ajello. By the end of their journey in September 2006, the cyclists raised more than $75,000 for the National Brain Tumor Society and had reached out to thousands of families both personally and through media along the way."

Doors open at 7:00 and we'll start the movie at 8:00

Tickets will be a $5-10 sliding scale, and all profits will benefit Capoeira Mandinga (www.mandinga.org) and The National Brain Tumor Society (www.braintumor.org).

For more info about the ride go to www.SpinningSouthward.com.

The event is a pot luck, so bring your favorite dish to share and come enjoy!

Spinning Southward at Camera 12 Cinemas in San Jose September 18th

2010-08-26T08:40:00.000-07:00

UPDATE: Thanks to the National Brain Tumor Society for helping us put together the San Jose screening, it was a great event and wonderful to finally see the finished product of all our hard work on Spinning Southward!

Above Nateon Ajello is featured with one of the films stars and Producer of 2 of the riders, Jimbo Logsdon.

Spinning Southward [running time 1 hour 48 minutes] premiers Saturday,
September 18th, 3:30 p.m. Camera Cinemas Camera 12, 201 South Second Street |
San Jose, CA 95113. Reception and silent auction: 3:00 p.m.

TICKETS http://bit.ly/d2mqf0

Camera Cinemas
Contact: 408-998-3300
Directions: http://www.cameracinemas.com/c12maps.shtml

Spinning Southward trailer :: www.spinningsouthward.com

National Brain Tumor Society, Silicon Valley Brain Tumor Ride, Sep. 19, 2010
http://www.braintumorcommunity.org/site/PageServer?pagename=BTR_SV_Homepage

MEDIA CONTACT
Lisa McEvoy
The National Brain Tumor Society : office: 617-924-9997 ext 1410
Cell: 617-312-1740

Pamela Bennett for Mello Ajello Media :
Cell: 510-501-5768
spinningsouthward@gmail.com

July 5th, 2009 . . . Looking back by Mike Logsdon

2009-07-05T07:45:00.000-07:00

...It has been 3 years now since all parted ways in Ushuaia. John left and sped home to New York and a long neglected and amazingly patient girlfriend. He took up work where he is today, at Malaria No More.

Nate hitched a ride to Chile to make good on a promise he made with a beautiful girl he had met a month before. After enjoying the differences between a woman and his adopted brothers (John and myself) he eventually headed north and settled back in Santa Rosa, California.

I staid in Ushuaia for a week and wait for my girlfriend to met me. We spent 3 months civilizing me and getting reaquaited with one another. We backpacked 10,000 miles through every country in South America and finally caught a flight from Colombia to the US. We ended up in San Francisco in February of 2007.

A lot happened during that 13 months on the road and though I cannot fully explain what exactly that means, we were all changed by the experience.

What I can tell you is that the trip saved my relationship with my brother. Though 3000 miles now separates us, living on opposite coast, John and I are now closer than we have ever been at any point in our lives. Growing up I never believed my Mother when she said one day we would be the best of friends, not even in her final days of life. I am glad she was right and I was wrong.

As for Nate, he has earned what he deserved and hoped, he is a well respected and acclaimed film maker. His documentary is set for release in the coming months and the depth of his skills have attracted new project offers in such far flung places as Kenya, Rwanda and Iran. I see him now and again when he comes to San Francisco but will likely see him less and less having taken a new job in Chicago.

Though it shouldn't be strange, the three of us haven't rode a single mile together since that day the trip ended. We all talk about a life that now seems more and more distant. Thankfully we all continue to dream big. Perhaps if we can keep the complications of life in proper perspective someday we'll find our way back on the road again.

Spinning Southward Second Trailer

2009-05-10T08:53:00.000-07:00

Here's the second trailer for the Spinning Southward Documentary, a special version focused on our mothers and released on mothers day.

Jan 6th 2008 - Dirt Rag Diaries Video

2008-01-06T08:49:00.000-08:00

Acclaimed outdoor photographer Blake Gordon sat down with Dirt Rag to give his account of life on the road with Spinning Southward. Hear him talk about what it was like to push his skills to new heights and search for a defining shot.

Teaser Trailer for Spinning Southward Bike Touring Documentary Complete

2007-01-15T12:37:00.000-08:00

A first look at footage from the Spinning Southward bike tour we completed on September 10th last year. This should give you glimpse of what our trip from Alaska to Argentina was like!

September 10th, 2006 - The End

2006-09-10T09:03:00.000-07:00

by Mike Logsdon

The legs stopped but the crisp rush of air, chilled by a Patagonian winter, continued to bite our weathered faces. Wheels clicked and hummed in their familiar rhythm as we descended Garibaldi pass. Ahead, about an hour was something we knew well from imaginings. The road, once endless, filled with excitement and even dread, was finally running out.

Where once we rode with miles separating each of us, we now closed in to only inches from one another. Each of us, scanning ahead expectantly, took turns making awkward commentary or poorly timed jokes. Soon, however, we quieted.
Lacking any reasonable expression to suit the gravity of this 16,000 mile conclusion, we let silence and inertia carry us forward.

The light was harsh, reflecting off the icy dregs of the Andes, was only broken by the twisted bare limbs of the subpolar forest.

As the sign came into view, a mixture of fear and apprehension ran through me and I physically recoiled in the saddle. This was the finish line. It was the grand finale of a hard fought adventure; a journey that carried with it profound meaning... and yet not one of us felt like celebrating. It was somehow tragic. It was as if our forward momentum was the final throws of a dying dream... but that wasn't complete it. It was a day that felt largely unremarkable. It seems impossible to believe but it felt that way. Everyday had led to this but and we waited for some great release and it never never came. There was no great joy, no great sorrow and no great epiphany.

The breaks squeaked, the wheels slowed and our shoes unclicked from the pedals and dully dragged along the rough concrete. “Welcome to the Southern Most City in the World”.

On September 10th, 2006, at 2:26PM we reached Ushuaia and the end.

Later that day we laid the bikes down, took them apart and boxed them up. It was 3am when we finished packing. John was set to leave for New York the next day. Ushuaia was dark and we didn't need to tell one another what we had been through. We convinced the hotel to sell us a bottle of champagne and we drank the bottle in the empty hotel bar, surrounded by upturned stools.

Streets of Ushuaia