Mountain bike films are about capturing a lot of action, but often it’s the people we meet along the way that really make the project rewarding. When we traveled to different riding destinations across the world while filming Return to Earth in 2018 and 2019, there were five of these folks that stood out to us in particular. Local leaders, fixers, ambassadors… Call them what you will, they were (and still are) instrumental to mountain biking flourishing in their communities. Some we had known since the days we first started shooting mountain biking, others we met just as we arrived to film in their towns. But these people all had one big thing in common; they give so much to their mountain bike communities and ask for so little in return.
Available exclusively on Outside TV, Return to Earth: The Series pays homage to five of these difference makers, how integral they were to the success of the film and how much they have benefited both their communities and the sport of mountain biking as a whole. The first episode, “The Doctor,” takes us to Bariloche, Argentina. When we were scouting for filming locations in Patagonia, one name kept coming up among our mountain bike peers: Cepi. Martin “Cepi” Raffo still gets between the tape for the occasional downhill and enduro race, but now he organizes more competitions than he competes in. He builds trails, lobbies for recreational land use and is the point man for pretty much any mountain bike photo or film shoot that passes through Bariloche. He’s also a trained medical doctor and a search and rescue volunteer. Cepi is credited with building and maintaining much of the mountain bike scene in Bariloche.
Doctor Cepi in his preferred work environment
In “The Doctor,” we get to know Cepi and learn about the positive impact his work has had on his hometown and how important he was to the Patagonia segment in Return to Earth. Watch the full 22-minute episode now on the Outside TV app.*
Just some of the film equipment that was hauled across the Patagonian backcountry
Return to Earth: The Series was developed in partnership with Freehub Magazine. Animation by the talented Taj Mihelich. Photos by Margus Riga and Anthill Films.
*Outside TV app is available in Canada and USA only.