Malcolm Smith told this author that Steve McQueen crashed so often during the final few days of shooting that his seating position in this photo was no accident . “ He was bruised everywhere ,” Malcolm said .
“... a feeling of freedom , a feeling of joy … that really can ’ t be put into words . It can only be shared by someone who ’ s done it …”
— Bruce Brown ing the trails and woods on my first motorcycle just days after I got it , or winning my first motocross race on that XR75 , or riding with my Mom on the back for the first time , or winning at Daytona with my Dad watching , motorcycling has provided me with some truly epic moments , ones I will treasure until the day I die . The feelings of freedom , fun and excitement cannot be measured .
“ There ’ s something about going riding with your friends ,” Bruce voices in the movie ’ s final scenes , “ a feeling of freedom , a feeling of joy … that really can ’ t be put into words . It can only be shared by someone who ’ s done it …”
There ’ s Big Truth there , and a lot of that feeling is captured in those last ten minutes . It all starts with the cowtrailing scene on Bruce ’ s ranch above Dana Point , obviously staged but funny nonetheless . Not so with the water-crossing bit , however , which the riders knew about , but which Steve wasn ’ t quite ready for on the first pass . Mc- Queen thought they were gonna all ride through slowly , but Malcolm and Mert had other ideas , blasting him good and hoping Bruce got the shot . He did . They did more takes , but Bruce ended up using the first one . “ Steve had been had , and good !” Malcolm told me .
The sand dune footage everyone likes so much was filmed on the Cantamar sand dunes in Baja , overlooking the Pacific Ocean , with Malcolm , Mert and Steve just basically ripping around for fun . Mert , by the way , was aboard an open-class
28 | JANUARY 2021 | THUNDERPRESS . NET