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Lush music and bicycling can have a strange yet symbiotic relationship.
While watching the 1979 cycling movie, “Breaking Away,” there’s a breathtaking soundtrack featuring Felix Mendelssohn and Giachino Rossini.
Dave Stohler (played by Dennis Christopher), the lead character in “Breaking Away,” is obsessed with cycling — mainly the Italian team because he won a Masi-brand bicycle.
Stohler serenades his girlfriend, Katherine, by singing the Friedrich von Flotow area “M’Appari Tutt’Amor,” with his friend Cyril (played by Daniel Stern) accompanying on guitar. That piece also has been covered by operatic masters such as Luciano Pavrotti and Placido Domingo.
Pipestone native Peter Hansen throws up the deuces during one of his extended bicycle rides. Hansen has been able to combine his love of music and cycling together, set for a voyage from Kansas to Philadelphia to hear the music of Rachmaninoff. (Contributed photo)
Life imitates art for Pipestone Class of 1993 graduate Peter Hansen, who also fuses together a love for both bicycling and music.
A percussion instructor by trade, Hansen grew up here loving skateboarding, fitness regimens and BMX biking.
On Thursday, Hansen’s father-in-law Larry Merriman and his 14-year-old son Ira Hansen will transport Peter to Fort Scott, Kan. The journey will cover 1,215 miles, per Google maps.
It’s time for the next bicycling adventure, and Hansen will follow sections of the Race Across America trail en route to Philadelphia.
See, the Philadelphia Orchestra will be performing Hansen’s favorite piece of music — Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 3 — in a pair of performances on May 3-4
Along with his younger brother, Mark Hansen, who currently lives in the Philadelphia neighborhood of East Falls along the banks of the Schuylkill River, Peter will enjoy the 8 p.m. May 4 performance. This will serve as a 50th birthday present, of sorts.
Rachmaninoff, whose gift of piano-playing was helped by a 12-inch handspan, concocted challenging pieces with a blend of sensitivity and passion, as noted on the Philadelphia Orchestra’s website: philorch.org.
Its wide, sweeping chords will be performed by Norwegian pianist Leif Ove Andsnes.
“It’s a sensuous pleasure to play,” the musician commented in press material. Additionally, Bartok’s Concerto for Orchestra is on the performance docket.
Bicycling long distances has become second nature for Hansen, who plans on riding between 200-250 miles per day to reach Philadelphia in time for the music.
“I’ll be sleeping two to four hours per night, and resting for 10-15 minutes at a time at checkpoints,” Hansen said in a telephone interview with the Pipestone County Star.
He will pass through Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, West Virginia and Pennsylvania. Mark will be joining Peter roughly 250 miles outside of Philly. Typical checkpoints are 50 to 75 miles apart.
Hansen said he enjoys bicycling for three reasons.
“I’m a teacher,” Hansen said. “It’s what I do when I need a break, and getting outside. It pushes yourself outside your comfort zone. And I like the adventure aspect.”
New stories unfold every single time Hansen boards a bicycle, and the transformative experience serves as a “spiritual reset,” he said.
Hansen won’t have any outside help, and he’ll carry his own gear throughout the trip. Going unsupported makes the quest even more demanding.
Peter Hansen and Petr Ineman hold their bicycles over their heads in this 2020 photo after the Trans South Dakota event. (File photo)
Several years ago, former Star sports editor Kevin Kyle chronicled Hansen’s previous journeys, including the Iditarod Trail Invitational along the Denali Range in Alaska and the Trans South Dakota Race, which Peter has won.
After graduating from Pipestone, Hansen met and married his wife, Sarah, and the couple resides in Sioux Falls, S.D., with their children Madison (22), Oscar (20), Ira and Archer (12).
Bicycling became Hansen’s passion thanks, in part, to a hybrid vessel. Hybrids can be both sporty or used for longer tours on gravel paths; they have flat handlebars which put the rider in a more upright position.
He also read up on long-distance bicycling after purchasing a book from Barnes & Noble.
Rides grew in distance. It wasn’t enough simply to ride his bicycle from Sioux Falls to Pipestone and back. Hansen reported biking once for more than 26 hours — covering 414 miles in such time.
These days, Hansen serves as the founder and executive director of the percussion academy Groove, Inc. He wears many hats, ranging from bus driver to instructor to show designer.
Hansen provides private lessons and serves as a touring clinician at several high schools throughout the Tri-State region, including Edgerton, Southwest Minnesota Christian and his alma mater. More than 100 of his students have made all-state honor bands.
Groove, Inc., performed twice during halftime of a Pipestone Area Schools’ boys-girls varsity doubleheader versus Windom on Feb. 13.
Last week, the Groove Pursuit ensemble competed at the Winter Guard International percussion world championships in Dayton, Ohio, reaching Friday’s finals and finishing sixth overall in the category of Percussion Independent “A.”
Groove Pursuit finished sixth in its division at a Winter Guard International last week in Dayton, Ohio. (Contributed photo)
The group will return to Pipestone on Saturday, June 29, for the Water Tower Festival.
The ensemble features more than 100 performers.
Saying it again for effect, life does imitate art.
Editor’s Note: This column doesn’t necessarily reflect the views of the Pipestone County Star or Pipestone Publishing, Inc.
