How to Download Our Movies & Books

This page provides information about downloading our films. To skip directly to the “common problems” section, click here.

What file types are available?

All of our movies are in MP4 format. MP4 is a popular video format for both Windows and Mac machines. It offers good video quality with moderate file size.

All of our books are PDF’s inside of a ZIP file. These are supported on all machines.

How big are the files?

Bicycle Dreams – 1.85GB
Bicycle Movies – 1.86GB
Moon Rider – 673MB
Race Across America – 1.84GB
Seven Deserts – 1.13GB
The Last Kilometer – 1.57GB
Why I Ride eBook – 12.3MB

How long will it take to download?

Your download time will depend on the speed of your connection. An average Cable or DSL connection will download one of our larger movies in less than 30 minutes. However, connection speeds vary quite a bit. Below is an estimate of download time based on different connection speeds.

1Mbps Connection – 3 hours 50 minutes
2 Mbps Connection – 1 hour 55 minutes
10 Mbps Connection – 25 minutes
40 Mbps Connection – 6 minutes

Where is the download link?

Each download link is created just for you at the time of your order. Your download link is valid for 3 days after your purchase and is good for 3 download attempts. (For more details about this see below.)

After purchasing a download on our site you will find a download link in 2 places:

1.) On your order confirmation page (this is displayed after your payment is made).

2.) The email address you use during checkout will receive an order confirmation email from BicycleMovies.com. In this email you will find the same link.

How do I download the file?

Some users will have good luck by simply clicking the link to download the file. However, for some users this won’t work correctly depending on how your computer is setup. Some browsers may be set to play MP4 files instead of download them, and in these cases your browser may attempt to stream the file instead of download it.

What we recommend:
On a Windows computer: Right click on the link and select “Save Link As” (or “Save Target As” depending on your browser).
On a Mac computer: Ctrl + Click on the link and select “Download Link Target”.

Using these options will ensure your browser downloads the file to your computer rather than attempting to open it. Once the download starts just sit back and wait. Depending on your connection speed the movie will download in as little as 10 minutes, but may take up to several hours. Please refer to our connection speed estimates further up the page.

How do I play the movie file?

Most computers, both Mac and Windows, will play an MP4 file without issue. On a Mac your Quicktime will play the file, and on a Windows computer Windows Media Player will play the file.

What we recommend: 
If you have difficulty playing the file, we highly recommend VLC Media Player. This is a video player available for both Mac and Windows that has very good support for a wide range of video files, including MP4s (our films). You can download VLC Media Player HERE.

Common Problems

Sometimes our customers have a problem downloading a movie. Here are some common issues and their solutions.

When I click the link I see a strange error!
Your download link is created specifically for you at the time of your order. Your link is active for 3 days, and for 3 download attempts during that time. Each time you click the link, this counts as 1 attempt. If your download does not complete due to a poor connection or another issue you may run out of attempts. If this is the case you will see an error message when you click the link.

What if I run out of download attempts?
If your link becomes inactive due to too many download attempts, or the download link has expired, let us know! We want everyone who purchases a download to successfully get the file. If you have had some issues just send us an email (contact@bicyclemovies.com) and we will promptly send you an updated link.

My download doesn’t finish or gets disconnected?
Because the movie files are large and can sometimes take a long time to download, occasionally the connection may be lost at some point during the download process. When this happens it can be very frustrating. This is generally more common with users who have slower connections, or who live outside the United States. A way to remedy this is to use a download manager. A download manager will allow you to resume a download if it is interrupted instead of having to start over. There are many freely available download managers out there. If you use Firefox, Down Them All is a very popular add-on download manager with great features. On a Mac, iGetter is a popular download manager.

I downloaded the movie but it won’t play!
All of our movies are in MP4 format. This is a common video type and should be available by default on most computers. However, if it is not supported on your machine it can easily be added.
On a Mac: Apple QuickTime suports MP4. If you have an older version, or for whatever reason QuickTime won’t open the file, you can upgrade your Quicktime to the latest version.
On a PC: Windows Media Player sometimes does not have the MP4 codec available to play the file. This can be downloaded and installed.
What we recommend: We  recommend VLC Media Player, which is available for both Mac and PC. This video player has very good support for a wide range of video files, including MP4s (our films). You can download VLC Media Player HERE.

I have a different problem!
If you are having another issue, or the solutions above haven’t helped, please send us an email (contact@bicyclemovies.com) and we will do our best to get things straightened out!