How far would you ride your bike to visit a girl who may or may not want to see you? Tom Schroeder's adorable and funny animated 2000 short Bike Ride tells the seemingly simple tale of a man’s 50-mile bike journey to pay a surprise visit to his girlfriend. Schroeder’s line drawings illustrate both James Petersen’s freewheeling narration and Dave King’s improvised jazz soundtrack. The result is a dreamlike, dizzying head trip. Now in its eighth year, The Bicycle Film Festival is a traveling showcase that journeys to seventeen cities to show films that celebrate the ability of bicycling “to transport us in many ways,” none of which cost $5 a gallon. —Bilge Ebiri