Cryo Viscera | Jacob Leonard: Ice Climber

Logline

At 75 years old, one man risks everything, his time, money, and body, to build a motorcycle that can break 300 miles per hour. Chasing Excellence is a visceral portrait of obsession, art and engineering, and the unrelenting human spirit that refuses to slow down.

Synopsis

Steve Wellman isn’t your average retiree. While his peers are settling into golf courses and grandkids, Steve is wrenching late into the night in a cluttered workshop in Wenatchee Washington, chasing a dream he’s carried since he was a child: to design, build, and ride a motorcycle that can go 300 miles per hour.

This documentary follows Steve in the final stretch of his lifelong quest. Part inventor, part daredevil, and entirely relentless, Steve has dedicated his golden years to building a bike that defies physics, expectations, and even common sense. With the Bonneville Salt Flats as his proving ground and time ticking away, Steve pushes against the limitations of age, engineering, and money to accomplish what few younger men would even dare attempt.

The film examines what drives a man to risk it all for a number on a speedometer. Is it legacy, redemption, rebellion—or something deeper?

ACT I – THE MAN AND THE MACHINE

We meet Steve: a seasoned designer and moto enthusiast with decades of grease under his fingernails and a deep, unwavering gaze. We enter his garage-turned-laboratory, filled with blueprints, hand-machined parts, and a monstrous prototype—the 300 MPH dream in progress. We explore his background: High
School Art Teacher, Motorcycle outlaw, and self-taught aerodynamicist.

ACT II – THE GRIND AND THE COST

As Steve fine-tunes the bike for Bonneville Salt Flats, the toll of this life long project sets in. Financial stress mounts and time become a real threat. This section captures the beauty and brutality of testing, failure, rebuilding, and resolve.

ACT III – THE RUN

After decades of dreaming and years of building, Steve takes the machine to the Salt Flats. The pressure is immense. The moment is real. We follow every second of the attempt—will the machine hold? Will his body hold? Will he survive, let alone succeed?