JOURNEY - Arno Billard

In mid-April 2024, I suffered a lower back injury with two herniated discs. This scenario felt nightmarish. I had been hammering time on my Yalla! and my physical condition was at my all-time peak, I was more than ever eager to compete and perform.

The months following the injury were gruelling. Doctors warned me it could take a year to recover and get back on my bike. As time passed, I watched my physical condition decline and my mental approach to competition wavered. Although I was lucky enough to reach a manageable level of pain four months post-injury and therefore be back on the bike, this felt like forever.

Such events put a lot of stress on me to perform and shifted my once calm and confident attitude into a stressed-out, weak one. However, as I worked my way back to riding, I began to rediscover the mindset that fuels my performance: ride your bike, have fun, enjoy the process and steeze it out. That’s my way of performing.

JOURNEY captures this chapter of my story. Serious injuries are undeniably tough to face, but they shape us in ways we can’t foresee. Rainy days are the reason flowers can bloom.

I hope you will enjoy this short film as much as I did creating it.