Weekday Diversions #6: Women in Rampage, Backflips and more.

It’s Wednesday, you’ve (almost) made it! The work week is halfway done, and the prospect of big weekend rides is beckoning. Until then, here’s a roundup of the best bike (and non-bike) content that’s caught our eye this week.

Ariel Kazunas

WOMEN ARE IN RAMPAGE

I literally could not stop grinning yesterday. There’s so much to be said about why the addition of a women's category at Red Bull Rampage is so important (and I’ll try to do so later today in a longer article) but for now, here's my take from the #letthemride archives about why this matters as much as it does:

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And also these gems from Katie Lo’s archives for the visual learners amongst us (swipe till the end on both, it's worth it):

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Chelsea Kimball Solidifies Backies as Part of Her Repertoire

Chelsea Kimball didn’t start biking till she was in her twenties, which, as someone who was almost thirty when she took her first MTB ride, really resonates with me. The fact that she’s stomping back flips now is the f*cking tits and some seriously rad motivation.

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Cy Whitling

THE WOMEN ARE IN RAMPAGE

Yeah, I know, Ariel already mentioned this one, and wrote an article about it, but I’m still so stoked to see what they throw down in the desert this fall. Here are a couple faves I re-watched recently:

Brage Vestevik’s 2021 Hardline Run

I watched this year’s Hardline with some friends, and afterwards, someone pulled up the video of our favorite Norwegian freerider’s race run from 2021. I’m a sucker for anything Vestavik does on the bike, and this Hardline lap is something else. The berm detonation is nothing short of majestic.

Darren Berrecloth’s ROAM Segment

RJD2 is coming to town next month, which sent me down a spiral of early 2000’s bike movie soundtracks. This segment is a classic, and it made me miss the days when I’d watch a bike movie, and then go through the arduous process of getting all my favorite songs from it onto a CD, or my old sketchy off-brand MP3 player.

If you want to keep that nostalgia train running, this Spotify playlist manages to include almost all my favorite bike movie songs, it’s a great listen to keep the stoke high as you head out on a riding trip.

We’re in a weird time period in terms of online access to classic, if niche, bike movies, but a surprising number are currently on “alternative” streaming apps like Tubi and Roku. So if you want to blow an evening on bike film nostalgia, and didn’t keep all your old VHS tapes and DVDs, you can still track down some classics.

Hild | Nicola Griffith

Ha! Another completely non-bike-related entry! I’m a sucker for pseudo-historical fiction, and the “Hild” sequence is a great example. Book one, “Hild” is excellent, lots of political scheming and an interesting commentary on how the spread of Christianity, and maybe more importantly, the written word, shaped post-Roman Britain.

But, while book one was a fun read, Book two, “Menewood” really hooked me. There’s plenty of action, if that’s what you’re looking for, but the book ends up centering around the idea of leadership, what it takes to lead people, to make them feel safe and heard, and what that responsibility requires from a leader. It left me asking “what sort of people do I want to follow, and what sort of leader do I aspire to be.” I absolutely hate the genre of smug Linkedin “management culture” posting, and “Menewood” does a really good job of exploring the most important themes those facile posts scratch at, while also being an engaging romp.

Zander Lingelbach-Pierce

Slopestyle on a…normal trail?

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One thing that pro riders are good at is finding a unique way to ride a trail. Dylan Stark and Erik Fedco may have just set the bar for this when they turned a Bentonville trail into a slopestyle course.

On a tiny step down, Dylan somehow managed to sneak in a backflip while Erik was able to throw a 360 bar spin. Crazy!

These clips were part of a longer film called “Villin” where the pair explored Bentonville.

Jack Moir’s track walk in Leogang

This Friday, the third round of the Enduro World Cup will be held in Leogang, Austria. Jack Moir and some friends took the opportunity to walk the track ahead of practice on Thursday. As you can see, the conditions are spicy.

In addition to low visibility, the dirt looks quite wet. The weather forecast for Leogang says that there will be a chance of rain each day this weekend. It could get spicy at the weekend's Enduro and Downhill World Cup races.