BICYCLES
A few years ago (Okay, a lot of years ago) a granddaughter asked for a column about her favorite vehicle- bicycles. Ah, well- anything to please a lady!
And since it just happens that four of the five movies in this article are in a lot of people’s all-time Top Ten, I am indeed happy to oblige.
Breaking Away (1979) is about a high school kid so enamored of the Italian bicycle racing team that he goes around speaking in Italian phrases and copying everything he can about that team. When they come to his home town some of the shine fades from their halos. Dennis Christopher (whatever happened to him?) is endearing and quite good as the wannabe bike racer. Paul Dooley and Barbara Barrie are letter-perfect as his bewildered parents. 
It seems odd to us nowadays that a bicycle could almost be the difference between survival and extinction, but that is the exact situation in the legendary Bicycle Thief (Italy,1947). The plot is simple: A poor family depends upon a bicycle for the father to work. It is stolen and the Dad and a son spend most of the rest of the movie just trying to find the bike. The talented cast and the famous Italian director Vittorio di Sica not only sell us this premise but rivet our attention to the story. So- is this classic as good as you’ve always heard? Yes.
American Flyers (1985) features Kevin Costner and Rae Dawn Chong in a story about two brothers, one critically ill, who enter a grueling bicycle marathon race. It was written by Steve Tesich, the guy who wrote Breaking Away, and if it isn’t quite up to its more famous predecessor, its still a very good pull-for-the-underdog movie.
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969) has a wonderfully whimsical sequence where the main characters take up one of the very newest things- bicycle riding. Paul Newman, Robert Redford and Katherine Ross look like they’re enjoying the newfangled contraption as much as we are enjoying watching them!
ET: The Extra-Terrestrial (1982) certainly contains plenty of magic. But perhaps the most magical sequence is when Henry Thomas and his friends outrun the villainous government forces and then mount to the sky as they escape with ET in tow so he can go HOME. Who will ever forget seeing those bicycles outlined against the full moon? 
All of the movies in this article are available on DVD and for streaming. All are fine for 12 and over.