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Somewhere on the Navajo Nation, a line of mountain bikers coast over burnt dirt and stone. The branches of juniper trees whip their arms and the clear sky warms their backs, but they pay no mind.

Cool air passes through the straps of their helmets and gives them life. They pedal faster and faster down the trail, across the land and toward the end. With each click of their gears, each beat of their hearts, they come closer together—a family, a tribe, a culture. In moments like these, in both speed and silence, they feel free.

This experience is common and unmatched among mountain bikers, but for many years it was hard to attain for those who lived on the reservation.

Navajo Nation is 27,000 square miles large, and there’s not a single bike shop on it. That doesn’t mean people don’t ride, but if someone’s on a remote trail and their tire pops, they’re out a bike. In spite of this lack of resources, there is a group of Diné riders that is providing services and creating new mountain biking programs to help young people get in touch with the land and their heritage in unexpected ways.

These stories are the foundation of a brand new documentary called “In the Dirt�, which will be shown at the Flagstaff Mountain Film Festival on Mar. 30. In it, the director, T.C. Johnstone, takes a look at this emerging culture and the ripple effect that many are witnessing in real time, but at first, the idea for this film had an entirely different shape.

Nearly two decades before, Johnstone began working on a documentary film about a group of Rwandan genocide survivors who wanted to become professional cyclists and go to the Olympics. The film, “Rising from Ashes�, took seven years to complete, but when it was finally released, audiences raved and Johnstone broke through, sending him on a mission to tell stories that entertain, educate, inspire and invite people into a bigger story.

While he was filming “Rising from Ashes�, Johnstone met Scott Nydam, a professional cyclist who briefly served as an assistant coach on the Rwandan cycling team. Their paths crossed a few times after, but no story came of it. Their journeys were taking them in different directions.

Eventually, a mutual friend told Johnstone that Nydam had founded a nonprofit in Gallup, NM called Silver Stallion Bicycle & Coffee—a coffee and bike shop that aims to engage and empower young cyclists across Navajo Nation.

“He met these guys and built relationships and said, ‘How can I serve other people?’� Johnstone said. “So I took a flyer, went down and saw a story, and five years later, there was a film. I could have never dreamt up what this movie is about. It was so much more than what I originally thought it would be.�

Through Nydam, he met an incredible cast of Diné riders who had dreams and a vision for what they could do and be.

Franklin Cook, a certified mechanic and youth mentor with Silver Stallion, was one of those riders.

He had been called to riding since he was a young boy, and when he was around 3-years-old, his mom got him a bike. At first, Cook admits, he was afraid of it. He didn’t want to crash or get made fun of, but his mom encouraged him to get on it and try anyway. He pedaled cautiously, learning and gaining speed with each revolution; until one day, Cook rode his bike into a bush and flew over the handlebars. His friends laughed, and surprisingly, he found himself laughing too. The crashing, the laughing, it set him free he said. “It connected me with the land that I was on, you know. I felt connection to where I wanted to go, where I wanted to be.�

Johnstone said that connection, that direction, is what separates the cast of “In the Dirt� from those in his other films.

“The difference between dreamers and visionaries is that dreamers have an idea; visionaries have a plan on how to get there,� he said. “[This cast has] a vision of where they're gonna go, and they also plan to get there.�

They were an inspiration to Johnstone, and they only grew in his estimation as he began to learn more about some of the historical and daily challenges they faced as a community and culture.

In the film, Albert Avery, a social worker with the Gallup-McKinley County Schools, explains that Indigenous people have been facing the tide of state-sanctioned violence for generations. Both of his parents were sent to boarding schools—his dad to Fort Wingate. Avery remembers his dad talking about the atrocities, the abuse that he and other young boys and girls endured.

These experiences were common in the boarding schools and the government relocation programs, and their impact rippled forward through time, tearing people and their families apart. However, Avery sees mountain biking as a way to reach a new generation of Diné children and show that they are a community that does not need saving.

“I get mad at people that think that our people are powerless or helpless, that they’re pathetic or need help. They don’t need help,� he said. “They need some support, they need some encouragement, they need some love, some compassion� They need someone to believe in them, truly believe.�

Johnstone gained a lot of clarity from these conversations. He found himself looking at the cast with a deeper admiration as the weight of responsibility began to settle. He felt the pressure to get their story right, so halfway through production, he gathered the cast and crew for a screening to get their impressions on an early draft.

After the screening, he thought that he was in for a one hour discussion, but the cast was eager to talk more.

“It was an all-day, eight hour discussion. Probably 10 hours…� Johnstone said. “That room was one of the most powerful moments of the whole process because we talked together and we cried together and we laughed together, and the truth came out and relationships got galvanized and we realized that we were all growing together in the process of making this film.�

And the culture grows too. In the film, the viewer witnesses that growth through the creation of trails, competitions and after-school and mentorship programs. They see the impact that this outlet is having on everyone, including the kids.

Avery said that they are just trying to tap into anything that helps with the trauma and what’s going on at home.

“Now, we have a hundred kids in these four communities riding bikes, Native kids,� he said.

During his time as a mentor, Cook has found that the work he does with kids has moved him in ways he didn’t expect. The smiles and the energy and the support that they give each other fills him with joy and hope. It’s something that he’s been looking for all his life. They all have.

After a screening of “In the Dirt� in Oregon, the cast got a three-minute standing ovation, and everyone that was there took photos and shook hands with them.

“It really humbled me and made me cry,� Cook said. “I cried after I walked off, and it made me cry because there's one thing that my dad really wanted me to do: be a leader. When he was still alive, I didn’t listen to him. You know? My dad was a medicine man, too� but I feel like I'm a healer because I'm helping people ride.�

In both speed and silence, they feel free. They heal.