STAGE & SCREEN Keep The Bike Moving to premiere at the Panida BY THE NUMBERS

Keep The Bike Moving, a locally-produced adventure film about the North Idaho Racers taking on the 2023 Baja 1000, will premiere at Sandpoint’s Panida Theater on Sunday, March 26.

Doors open at 6 p.m. with a social hour, and the film will show at 7 p.m. with a question-and-answer session to follow. Tickets are $10 and available in advance at panida.org or at the door the night of the show.

This is the second year Hyphen Productions has brought a motorsport film to the big screen, which follows the complex rigors of trying to move two teams, their riders and support units to the finish of the famous Baja 1000, which takes place annually in the Baja California Peninsula of Mexico.

Keep The Bike Moving chronicles the journey of the North Idaho Racers, who committed themselves to race an event more than 1,000 miles away from the Northwest. The NIR team are all privateers that raised the funds themselves to race alongside professional teams that are backed by tens of thousands of dollars.

Keep the Bike Moving premiere

Sunday, March 26; doors at 6 p.m., film at 7 p.m.; $10. Panida Theater, 300 N.First Ave., 208-2639191. Get tickets at the door or at panida.org.

Riders from both teams, along with the bikes used in the race, will be on hand at the theater for the event, which is presented by Mountain Fever Productions.

The filmmaker, Nick Harper-Johnston, of Hyphen Productions, produced his first movie about Baja in 2022, titled Baja 1000, La Paz or Bust, which also premiered at the Panida Theater. Harper-Johnston lives in the Sandpoint area and works for Schweitzer Ski Patrol, in addition to working as a wildland firefighter in the summer months. He received cinematography support from fellow local Maddie Albertson on Keep the Bike Moving.

The prestigious Baja 1000 first ran in the mid 1960s and has captured the imag- ination of riders from all over the world who wanted to see if they were strong enough to put up with the Baja California Peninsula. Sanctioned now by SCORE International, it attracts competitors from six continents and is considered one of the premier off-road races in the world.

Competitors who have competed in the Baja 1000 include Steve McQueen, Glen Plake, Paul Newman and James Garner.