Gloria Hwang rode her bike to work every day for years without a helmet. She thought it looked goofy. Then her career mentor died from a head injury sustained in a bike crash鈥攕ans helmet. Committed to shifting habits, she merged style and safety in a design that overcame all her reasons for not wanting to wear one. Thousand is the result.

Observe

鈥淐ommuting around Los Angeles, I would count how many riders were wearing helmets. It was only about 10 to 15 percent. For people riding a hundred miles a week, wearing a helmet is standard. For the recreational community, less so.鈥�

Identify Problems

鈥淒esign isn鈥檛 just supposed to be beautiful. It鈥檚 supposed to solve problems. For example, people hate carrying helmets around, but they also worry about leaving them behind. So we designed a feature that lets you thread your bike鈥檚 U-lock through the helmet.鈥�

Follow Through

鈥淚f your lid gets stolen when it鈥檚 stashed outside with our Pop-Lock system, we鈥檒l replace it. We also have an accident replacement policy. If you鈥檙e ever in a crash, we鈥檒l send you a new helmet for free. Since 2016, we鈥檝e replaced 389.鈥�

Embrace Change

鈥淚 believe there is an authentic desire among people in the bike industry to attract diverse riders. But that requires more than a pipeline or good marketing. It means creating a culture that鈥檚 equitable and inclusive, where people feel valued and safe. Women, or the BIPOC and queer communities, might enjoy cycling. But if they always feel like outsiders, they won鈥檛 stay.鈥�

Stand Out

鈥淎s a woman of color in the bike industry, I鈥檇 go to a trade show and never see anyone who looked like me. In the beginning, I tried to blend in. Later, though, a mentor told me that my otherness was the reason Thousand was succeeding. I had a different perspective on what the market wanted. Now I believe that outsider perspective is the most valuable thing I can offer to an industry I鈥檝e really come to love.鈥澨�

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A wheelie is the bicycling equivalent of hanging ten on a surfboard or spinning a basketball on your finger鈥攁 skill as profoundly cool as it is functionally irrelevant. Pedaling around with one wheel in the air won鈥檛 help you win a race or bomb a gnarly descent. Unlike a front-wheel lift or a bunny hop, it has no business on a trail.

What the wheelie lacks in utility it makes up for with pure, unfiltered radness. There鈥檚 something thrilling about a skill that isn鈥檛 a means to an end but the end itself, whose value in doing it is just doing it, simply because you can. Yet it鈥檚 more than showing off. It鈥檚 about seeking an elusive, almost mystical state of precarious, dynamic balance. You鈥檙e chasing a sweet spot, a moving target that鈥檚 constantly shifting in every dimension, including the one inside your head.

In 20 years of mountain biking, this skill has always eluded me. So in January 2020, I hatch a plan: 100 wheelies per day for 30 days鈥�3,000 attempts, all told鈥攕pread out over two or three months. I鈥檒l consult some experts about technique, but mostly I鈥檒l just put in the work. And I鈥檓 willing to fail prodigiously.

How will I define success? The ability to wheelie indefinitely, until I choose to put the wheel down. I鈥檒l simultaneously tackle the manual鈥攁 different method of one-wheeled cruise control鈥攂ecause maybe the moves will inform each another. And also because: Why not?

It鈥檚 a juvenile pursuit for a professional writer with a mortgage and a 12-year-old boy. There are more productive uses of my time. But maybe, just maybe, there鈥檚 some value in tilting at your own quixotic windmill.

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Ask mountain biker听 the trick to whipping gap jumps, bunny-hopping up boulders, and landing a backflip (as听, no less), and he鈥檒l happily share his secret: a workout that can be done in your living room with nothing more than duct tape.听

鈥淚 need short bursts of power and speed to shoot up a climb, clear a gap, or pump through a rhythm section,鈥� says the听30-year-old from Boise, Idaho. 鈥淭his type of workout develops that strength.鈥� The former听BMX racer and All-American pole vaulter has spent years developing explosive power with plyometric training. Also known as jump training, plyometric exercises鈥攍ike box jumps鈥攃ondition听your muscles to produce maximum force in the shortest possible time, explains Jim Walker, director of the sports science department at , a Utah-based medical network.听

The coronavirus pandemic听led to the closure of the bike parks where Bringhurst typically trains, so he developed a short, effective plyometrics workout he can do at home.听The series of rapid-fire jumps that progress in magnitude and intensity听take听less than half an hour听and may feel deceptively easy. 鈥淵ou鈥檙e not going to sweat a ton or听walk away feeling like you鈥檝e done a ton of work,鈥� Bringhurst听says. But this technique is remarkably efficient, thanks to a load-explode pattern that trains your muscles to produce more force more rapidly.听The key is minimizing the amount of time your feet spend on the ground between jumps to create a superfast rebound.听

鈥淭hey call it the stretch-shortening cycle,鈥� says Greg Myer, director of sports-medicine research at the Children鈥檚 Hospital in Cincinnati and a coauthor of . 鈥淵ou鈥檙e lengthening a muscle prior to initiating a rapid contraction.鈥� Plyometrics trains your muscular reflexes to respond quickly, Myer explains. That neuromuscular control improves coordination, balance, and proprioception鈥攖he awareness of where your body is in space. For athletes who do low-impact sports like cycling or swimming,听plyometrics听听in increasing . 鈥淲e tend to think of impact as a bad thing. But high-impact, weight-bearing exercise is what makes our bones strong,鈥� says Walker. These types of exercises also strengthen听the muscles that stabilize your ankles and knees, which helps guard against joint injury.听

To set up for your workout, on the ground, make a plus sign that鈥檚 two feet squared听using duct tape or painter鈥檚 tape, and move any nearby furniture two or three feet away.听Warm up with a quick jog around the block or five to ten minutes on a听trainer, followed by dynamic stretches focusing on your听quads and hamstrings.听鈥淲hen you鈥檙e jumping and landing, really focus on proper technique,鈥� says Myer. Keep听your knees aligned with your toes鈥攏ot buckling inward鈥攁nd land听lightly听on the balls of your feet.听Do this workout twice a week when your muscles are fresh, not after a long ride or run. It鈥檚 also important to be mentally engaged,听as you鈥檒l need to focus to accurately nail each move.听

The Moves

Two-Legged Circle Hops听

What it does:听Gets your calf muscles firing with quick, precise movements and prepares your quads and hamstrings for progressively bigger, more dynamic jumps. It also warms up your reflexes by engaging your nervous system.听

How to do it: Stand in one of the quadrants. With your feet an inch or two apart, make quick, small hops (about two听inches off the ground) in a clockwise pattern, moving听quadrant to听quadrant with each hop,听for 30 seconds. Make sure to land light-footed and rebound as quickly as possible without losing accuracy. After your first effort, rest for 30 to 60 seconds, until your muscles are fully recovered. Repeat for a total of three clockwise听sets, resting between each set.

Single-Leg听Circle Hops

What it does: In addition to the benefits of the two-legged circle hops, doing this move on one leg develops proprioception and neuromuscular control.

How to do it: Stand on your right foot in one of the quadrants. With small, rapid jumps, hop counterclockwise听through the quadrants for 30 seconds. Make sure to land on the ball of your foot or midfoot, not flat-footed or on your heel. After your first effort, rest for 30 to 60 seconds, until your muscles are fully recovered. Complete three sets on your right leg, resting to full recovery between sets. Then repeat the sequence on your left leg, also going counterclockwise.

Two-Legged Depth Jumps听

What it does: This high-intensity, dynamic move builds explosive power and speed, which helps with dirt jumps, bunny hops, and other big moves on a bike.听

How to do it: With your feet shoulder-distance apart, perform听a series of controlled, explosive vertical jumps, aiming for knee height. When your feet come down, land on the balls of your feet and rebound into the next jump with as much power and speed as possible. Do ten consecutive jumps,听minimizing the time your feet touch the ground. Rest听a full two minutes between each set, until your muscles are fully recovered. Repeat for a total of three sets.

Single-Leg听Depth Jumps

What it does: Depth jumps on one leg take things up a notch by doubling the load. They also build听strength in the core and听the muscles stabilizing your knees and ankles.听

How to do it: Don鈥檛 attempt these until you鈥檝e mastered the two-legged version. Stand on your right leg, with your left foot a few inches off the ground. On one foot, do a series of controlled, explosive vertical听jumps, aiming for knee height or a little lower. When you land, rebound as quickly as possible. Do five consecutive jumps, making sure your knee stays aligned over your toes. Land on the ball of your foot or听midfoot听as quietly as possible. Complete three sets, resting a full two minutes between each set. Repeat the same sequence on the left leg.

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Getting dialed on a mountain bike requires a combination of fitness and bike-handling skills. Unlike road riding, where most of a ride is spent in the aerobic zone, mountain biking requires frequent bursts into the red. 鈥淢ost mountain-bike trails are on varied terrain,鈥� says , USA Cycling鈥檚听performance director for mountain biking. 鈥淵ou have steep climbs or technical features that require you to put power into the pedals.鈥� It鈥檚 also a discipline where strong technical skills can save a ton of energy. The strongest rider is not necessarily the fittest听but the one who combines a solid endurance base with the technical skills that translate to more efficient riding.

We asked Gullickson and , skills coach for the USA Cycling and Olympic mountain-bike teams, to share some tips for beginners that will make you a strong, fast rider.

Build a Base听

Before working on speed or intensity, it鈥檚 important to develop听a basic level of fitness and endurance. 鈥淚t builds the body up and allows you to handle higher-intensity workouts,鈥� says Gullickson. If you鈥檙e coming off the couch, aim to spend four to six weeks in base-building mode鈥攆requent, consistent, low-intensity effort鈥攂efore adding speed and intensity. Ride three or four times a week for one to two hours at a time. The key here is restraint: 鈥淚f you feel good, get longer rides in, but don鈥檛 go so hard that you can鈥檛 repeat the effort in a couple of days,鈥� he says. Make sure you鈥檙e fueling your rides with high-quality food: fresh veggies and fruits, whole grains, and minimally processed foods. 鈥淚t鈥檚 also important to hydrate with an electrolyte drink during the ride,鈥� Gullickson says. 鈥淚f the ride is longer than an hour, bring a gel,听Bloks, or energy bar to supplement the hydration.鈥�

Add Intervals听

After about four weeks of base building (followed by one dialed-back recovery week), incorporate intervals on one or two rides a week. During the first two weeks, intervals might look like this: ride for 30 minutes to warm up, then add five-second intervals of intense effort followed by 10 or 20 seconds of rest. Do five reps followed by a longer break. In later weeks, work up to : 20 seconds of all-out effort followed by ten听seconds of rest. Shoot for eight reps. In lieu of timed intervals, you can borrow the runner鈥檚 concept of ,听using power lines, trees, or other landmarks as visual goals for short, intense efforts. After two or three weeks, swap one short-interval workout for longer : five-to-ten-minute efforts at a pace that you can hold for up to 20 minutes.听鈥淣ot so hard that you can鈥檛 maintain the pace,鈥澨鼼ullickson says.

Burn Through Turns

No matter what level of rider you are, cornering is a skill you can never stop improving. 鈥淚t鈥檚 the number-one听place where riders kill their speed,鈥� says March. 鈥淵ou can use less energy by holding your momentum through the turns.鈥� Set up early, in a wide, crouched stance on equally weighted pedals, opening the knees so the bike can lean beneath you. Important: make sure to lean the bike, not your body. 鈥淲hen you lean the bike, you鈥檙e able to get those side knobs on your tires to grab traction and hold the edge,鈥� March says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 like carving on skis.鈥� Braking in the turn can cause skidding, so try to brake before the turn, easing off the brakes as you carve. Make sure you鈥檙e looking through to the exit, turning your body. 鈥淚magine your belly button is a laser, and point it toward the exit,鈥� he says.

Float Over Rocks and Roots

Many obstacles in the trail鈥攔oots, rocks, and bumps鈥攁re small enough to ride over with good form and a little momentum. Standing on equally weighted pedals, with elbows out and a nice bend in your knees and ankles, approach the obstacle at jogging speed. Keep your eyes focused as far down the trail as possible (don鈥檛 look down), using your peripheral vision to hold your line. Avoid leaning on the handlebars, which weights your front wheel and could cause it to snag. 鈥淗eavy feet, light hands,鈥� is a good mantra, March says. Think of your arms and legs as shock absorbers as you ride over the obstacle.

Master the Basic Front-Wheel Lift

For midsize听obstacles (like a log, or anything hub height or lower) on level or downhill slopes, use the basic front-wheel lift. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a three-part move,鈥� March says. 鈥淟oad. Explode. Lift.鈥� Approach the obstacle in a 鈥渞eady鈥� position: standing on equally weighted pedals, looking ahead, elbows and knees actively bent.

Step 1: Load

Compress your front shock by loading听the handlebars with your upper body, aggressively bending your elbows.

Step 2: Explode

As the shock rebounds, straighten your arms explosively. (It should feel kind of like a clapping push-up.)

Step 3: Lift

As your front wheel leaves the ground, bend your arms and lift the handlebars, raising the wheel even higher. The timing of this move is essential and depends on the speed at which you鈥檙e approaching the obstacle. Once the front wheel is over, the rear wheel鈥攗nweighted鈥攚ill follow. This a perfect move to practice on curbs in the parking lot while you鈥檙e waiting around for that riding buddy who鈥檚 always running late.

Crush Uphill Obstacles

Getting over uphill obstacles can be exhausting unless you use an energy-saving technique: the pedaling front-wheel lift. Use it when you鈥檙e seated and climbing and need to get over an uphill rock or root. 鈥淪tart with your dominant foot at the top of the pedal stroke鈥攐ne o鈥檆lock鈥攁nd give the pedal a hard punch to six o鈥檆lock,鈥� March says. At the same time, lean back with your shoulders, straightening your arms, and feel your front wheel rise. 鈥淵ou鈥檙e not pulling up on your hands so much,鈥� March says. 鈥淭he power from the pedals is what鈥檚 bringing the bike up.鈥� As soon as your front wheel clears the obstacle and lands, stand on the pedals in a crouched position, with bent arms. Give the handlebars a forceful shove, lunging the rear wheel over the obstacle. This method works best in an easy-to-moderate gear.

Rest Hard

Recovery is just as important as training鈥攊t鈥檚 when your body rebuilds itself.听This starts the second you get off the bike: 鈥淢ake sure to take in a recovery drink mix or healthy snack within 20 minutes of completing the ride, to jump-start recovery,鈥� Gullickson says. 鈥淎 lot of our riders use protein mix with almond milk, but any mix of protein and carbohydrate is fine.鈥� Incorporate easy, unstructured rides between longer rides and shorter, higher-intensity rides. 鈥淚t flushes blood through fatigued muscles and can speed up recovery,鈥� Gullickson says. 鈥淧sychologically, it鈥檚 nice to get on your bike and know you鈥檙e not going out to suffer.鈥� He recommends one or two days completely off the bike per week. 鈥淢aybe one of those days is a cross-training day, just to mix it up.鈥�

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On September 5, the World Surf League announced a major milestone: equal prize money for male and female surfers at every WSL event in 2019 and beyond. It was a watershed moment for a sport with a history of treating women as second-class athletes.

鈥淏ravo to the WSL for their commitment to equal pay,鈥� says Bianca Valenti, a San Francisco鈥揵ased pro who conquered 20-foot waves to win Latin America鈥檚 first big-wave surf competition this summer. There, she won $1,750鈥攁 quarter of the $7,000 men鈥檚 purse. 鈥淢aybe we鈥檒l find we have created equity not just in surfing, but for all sports.鈥�

So where do other sports stand? Surprisingly, when it comes to prize money, a great number have reached parity鈥攁s high as 83 percent, according to one . But prize money isn鈥檛 the whole story, and because it鈥檚 a public-facing number, organizations have a considerable PR incentive to make purses equal. Harder-to-quantify issues like salaries, sponsorships, representation, and opportunities often still lag behind for women athletes.

When Title IX passed, in 1972, rewarded men and women equally. Tennis became the first, in 1973, after Billie Jean King and eight other female pros pressured the U.S. Open. By 2004, sports like volleyball, marathon running, and skating were awarding equal prize money. In the past four years, according to , at least 12 more sports joined the club. Climbing, alpine skiing, cross-country skiing, freestyle skiing, snowboarding, BMX, mountain biking, triathlon, and track and field pay men and women equal prize purses at the world championship level. Sports that haven鈥檛 closed the gap include cliff diving, ski jumping (in 2017鈥�2018, the sport鈥檚 raked in more than twice as much as the ), and many cycling events.

Road cycling is a particularly egregious offender: a UCI-sanctioned World Tour one-day road race pays the male winner than the female victor. But recently, the sport has taken some significant steps forward. This March, the Tour of Britain for the women鈥檚 race by more than $60,000 to match the prize purse for the men, making the most lucrative event in women鈥檚 cycling even more rewarding. Also this year, the Tour Down Under to match the men鈥檚. In 2014, Le Tour de France introduced La Course, a women鈥檚 race with prize money equal to what a man wins for winning a stage of the Tour.

However, these events are still several stages shorter than the men鈥檚 races, and other elements, such as media coverage, remain unequal. This year鈥檚 La Course delivered a thrilling race but fell short of delivering the audience it deserved. Only the last kilometer was televised in the United states, and the rest required a $50 streaming subscription. Still, it was considered a victory after years of women fighting to have any event, with little success.

On the other hand, younger sports are more likely to have reached gender parity than historically male-dominated sports. The International Triathlon Union, for example, has paid equal prize money to men and women in since its 1989 inception鈥攎ore than a decade before triathlon became an Olympic sport, in 2000. (Triathlon is indeed a more progressive sport for gender equality, but one of the sport鈥檚 biggest events, the Ironman World Championship in Kona, offered more qualifying spots for male pros than for women .) The International Federation of Sport Climbing has also offered equal pay from the start.

There鈥檚 now a push from the highest echelons of sport鈥攖he 鈥攖o get all sports paying equally and paying attention to harder-to-quantify factors of equality. On International Women鈥檚 Day in March 2018, the IOC announced the results of its , including 25 recommendations for promoting gender equality in sports. Three of them related to funding, and one specifically called out financial rewards, urging international sport federations to 鈥渆stablish mechanisms to address inequalities between genders in prize money or other athlete payments.鈥�

As with so many other watershed moments of progress, this Olympic push is being led by a woman: Marisol Casado, president of the International Triathlon Union since 2008 and a rare example of a woman elected to the top post of a sport鈥檚 highest governing agency. (Of 40 Olympic International Federation presidents, Casado is one of two women.) As the chair of the IOC Gender Equality Review Project, she has pushed for not only equal prize money but also equal media portrayal and gender balance in leadership鈥攑erhaps the next frontier in the quest for gender parity in sports.

Speaking of leadership, it鈥檚 worth noting that surfing鈥檚 rise to equal prizes is happening under the WSL鈥檚 first female president, Sophie Goldschmidt. But it didn鈥檛 happen without an external push from a vocal group of women, including Valenti and other pros, San Mateo County Harbor Commissioner Sabrina Brennan, and a pro bono attorney, who formed the . The committee demanded that a women鈥檚 division be added to the Mavericks Challenge, a big-wave competition that for decades was open only to men.

The women prevailed. Mavericks added a women鈥檚 competition. But it took government involvement to push things forward. By excluding women, the contest was violating anti-discrimination laws that apply to events held on state lands, and the state of California mandated the inclusion of women as a condition of issuing an event permit. The resulting publicity put a spotlight on the inequality that pervaded other areas of the sport鈥攍ike prize money. And the听victory for women's surfing could have larger implications for other sports that play out in publicly funded venues.听

鈥淓very time I drive by one of those ginormous sports stadiums, I鈥檝e always thought about how much public funding goes into them,鈥� Brennan says. 鈥淪o now we鈥檙e looking at what can this do for other sports?鈥�

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Four years ago on a sunny July day in Paris, former pro cyclist Kathryn Bertine wheeled up to the starting line of La Course by Le Tour de France. She still remembers feeling the energy on the Champs 脡lys茅es听that day and hearing the scrape of cleats on cobblestones. She鈥檇 spent years negotiating, petitioning, and organizing to bring about the event and finally she鈥檇 arrived, along with a roster听of the best women cyclists in the world.听

La Course was the latest attempt in a decades-long fight to create a lasting, prestigious women鈥檚 stage race to run alongside the Tour de France. Such events have come and gone through the decades, beset by financial struggles, organizational roadblocks, lack of media coverage, and good old-fashioned sexism. But Bertine thought that this time, she could make it stick.听

The first attempt at a women鈥檚 Tour took place in 1955, when 41 women competed in the five-day , put on听by French journalist and race director Jean Leulliot. Despite mockery from the press and photographers, who allegedly tried to surprise competitors in their dormitories, the women finished the race. But without stable financial backing, the race disappeared听the following听year.

The Tour de France F茅minin returned in 1984, this time organized by the group behind the men鈥檚听Tour de France. The idea was to create a truly equal event: during the three-week tour, women rode the same routes as their male counterparts, albeit slightly shortened to ensure they finished ahead of the men鈥檚 peloton. But a听lack of prime-time attention hurt the race: cycling publications largely ignored the women. After two years of a full-length tour, organizers cut the Tour de France F茅minin down to two weeks.

By that point, the business of professional cycling had started to change dramatically. TV coverage of the Tour de France increased, turning sponsorships and ads into a lucrative business. In 1989, the Tour organizers dropped the women鈥檚 race entirely in order to capitalize on the much larger men鈥檚 audience. 鈥淲e could have been watching women since 1989,” says Bertine. “But instead they sold the TV rights for the men and got rid of the women.鈥�

There were other attempts from other organizers: the Tour de l鈥橝ude Cycliste F茅minin, a women鈥檚 stage race held in south-central France that was founded in 1985听as a four-day event听and grew into a multi-day tour that by 2006 had ten stages; the 1992听La Grand Boucle F茅minin听Internationale (so named听because organizers of the Tour de France prohibited any reference to 鈥渢he Tour鈥� on the grounds of trademark infringement), which lasted for 12 years and linked epic stages; the 2004 Grand Boucle F茅minin, which lasted till 2010; and the 2006 Route de France F茅minine, which became one of France鈥檚 most prestigious women鈥檚 races until it was听canceled in 2017 due to a scheduling conflict and the UCI鈥檚 decision not to give the race WorldTour status.听

Over and over again, the same fatal cycle听repeated itself: Without robust media coverage, the audience wasn鈥檛 big enough to attract sponsors to fund big events. Without big events, no sponsors were interested. After all, people can鈥檛 want what they cannot see鈥攏or can advertisers buy it.

That was听the problem La Course, which was the result of years of lobbying the UCI,听sought to address. It would piggyback on the infrastructure and media attention of the Tour de France. Live on 24 channels, the race was watched by millions of viewers in at least 150 countries. Dutch phenom Marianne Vos听would go on to sprint for the win and earn part of the $30,500 purse鈥攁 prize equal to the amount men receive for winning just one听stage of the Tour.

Lots of people hailed La Course as a massive step forward for women鈥檚 cycling. But critics called it a token event听to quell the increasingly vocal complaints about gender inequality in cycling. It was only a one-day race instead of a multi-day tour鈥攁 curtain raiser for the men, who were still very much the main event, they said. The 55-mile race lasted just over two hours and covered 2.5 percent of the Tour de France course.

鈥淲e intended the race initially be three to seven days the first year, and it would grow incrementally from there as the financial structure of women鈥檚 cycling grew,鈥� says Bertine. 鈥淲e saw it as getting our foot in the door.鈥�

The UCI, the sport鈥檚 international governing body, seemed to echo this thought. 鈥淥ur job now,鈥� , then newly minted president of the UCI, in 2014 鈥渋s鈥o make sure that women鈥檚 road cycling develops in a way that is sustainable, that builds on each successive step with another successful step.鈥�

That never happened. After repeating the one-day event on the Champs-Elysees in 2015 and 2016, the Amaury Sports Organization (ASO), which puts on the Tour de France, added a second day to La Course in 2017. But the format changed. Day one was a mountain stage, a climb to the Col d鈥橧zoard鈥攖he men鈥檚 final mountain stage in the Tour. But while the men rode 103 miles, the women鈥檚 stage was a paltry 41. And only the top 20 finishers听of this stage were allowed to participate in day two, an unorthodox pursuit-style individual time trial. 鈥淚f you follow cycling, that鈥檚 ridiculous!鈥� Bertine says. 鈥淲hy would you take the top 20 climbers and put them in a time trial? It鈥檚 a totally different event. It was a show pony event.鈥�

The disappointment was evident. 鈥淲e took it as seriously as听we felt the organizers took us,鈥� sats听British rider Lizzie Deignan, who pointed out that she couldn鈥檛 even find a women鈥檚 toilet at the race start. 鈥淭o warm up for a time trial not knowing where the closest bathroom is鈥攊f there is one at all鈥擨t鈥檚 difficult to take that seriously.鈥� Retired German cyclist Judith Arndt, two-time winner of the Tour de l鈥橝ude, was more blunt. She called the new format 鈥減athetic and humiliating.鈥�

This year, the event was once again shortened. The one-day race was another truncated version of the men鈥檚 Stage 10 of the Tour de France, a 159 kilometer听ascent in the Alps with four major climbs. La Course covered 118 kilometers听of that route, omitting two of the four climbs.

鈥淚 did get the feeling from ASO that they were annoyed by the hassle of having to deal with women wanting a race and then having to arrange a women鈥檚 race,鈥� British World Champion Emma Pooley told VeloNews. She pointed to the OVO Women鈥檚 Tour, a five-day, 650-kilometer听women鈥檚 stage race in the United Kingdom as a model that shows the audience does exist for women鈥檚 events. VeloNews reported that the 2017 race, according to organizers, attracted 500,000 spectators and 1.4 million UK TV viewers.

At this year鈥檚 La Course, the women delivered a thrilling show with a hold-your-breath ending. After a high-speed descent from the Col de la Colombiere, Anna van der Breggen, the Dutch Olympic gold medalist who won the women鈥檚 road race at the 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro, appeared to have won the race. Then, in the final 300 meters, fellow Dutchwoman Annemiek van Vleuten (who led the race in Rio before a horrific crash that knocked her out cold) began closing the gap. Just 50 meters from the finish line, van Vleuten passed van der Breggan, winning La Course by one second.

It was yet another reminder of how exciting women鈥檚 pro cycling can be. And yet, the live TV coverage in the United States was a joke wrapped in an insult and deep-fried in indignity. 鈥淥nly the last kilometer was televised,鈥� Bertine says. 鈥淚n the States, the only way to see the whole race was to buy a subscription to NBC Sports Gold [a stand-alone online streaming service for $49.99. Why do we have to pay 50 bucks to see the women?鈥�

鈥淚f we want to rise above the inequality, it鈥檚 the women who have to rise up together and say, 鈥楴o more. This is not okay. I deserve exactly what the men have,鈥欌�� she says. 鈥淪tanding on that start line [in 2014] gave me the hope that yes, we have the power to effect change. You know, I鈥檓 not famous. I鈥檓 not wealthy. I鈥檓 not an Olympic medalist. But if I helped make this happen, then we all have the power to make change happen.鈥�

The post The Real Reason There’s No Tour de France for Women appeared first on 国产吃瓜黑料 Online.

During the final laps of the 2017 Dutch National Road Championships, in Montferland, the peloton surged through a fine June rain. Helicopters thundered overhead, broadcasting the race live throughout the Netherlands. Thousands of spectators lined the course, which looped through corn and wheat fields. More than a hundred women were racing for the Dutch title, and their country was paying attention. Yet the race鈥檚 four-time champion, Marianne Vos, was nowhere to be seen. She was not pushing the pace or launching attacks. Instead she was behind the pack, riding shotgun in the WM3 Pro Cycling team car. Vos was nursing a broken collarbone, the result of a crash two weeks prior on the Women鈥檚 Tour. Less than a thousand yards from the finish in Royal Leamington Spa, England, a rider went down while traveling at 37 miles per hour, causing a pileup that slammed Vos into a metal barrier. (She still finished the race.)

If Vos was feeling crushed to have to sit this one out, it didn鈥檛 show. Leaning in for a photo with her coach and mechanic, she beamed her signature dimpled grin. 鈥淒utch National [road race] on the way,鈥� she typed on her phone, posting the shot on Instagram. 鈥淣ot in the bunch, but in the car @WM3pro-cycling today. Let鈥檚 see what it brings!鈥�

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Vos is one of the finest cyclists in the history of the sport. Winner of more than 300 races across four disciplines鈥攔oad, track, mountain, and cyclocross鈥攕he excels at every distance, from hourlong criteriums to multi-day tours. 鈥淢arianne Vos is the rider of her generation,鈥� British commentator Anthony McCrossan told me last spring. At 18, she earned her first rainbow-stripe jersey (the exclusive badge of world champions) in cyclocross. At 19, she earned one in road. Two years later, in 2008, she was an Olympic favorite in Beijing. After a disappointing sixth-place finish in the road event, eight days later she refocused on the velodrome, where she didn鈥檛 just win鈥攕he lapped the competition in the track points race. Her trophies stacked up as she systematically conquered every major women鈥檚 event, from one-day spring classics to the Giro Rosa, a ten-day stage race through Italy.

Vos considers the Olympic gold medal that she won in the 2012 London Games road race to be the pinnacle of her career. That event is often held up as proof of how exciting women鈥檚 cycling can be. As Vos wheeled up to the starting line, she heard Eminem鈥檚 鈥淟ose Yourself鈥� playing over the loudspeaker. She has a habit of singing aloud on her bike, something she says annoys fellow riders, and this, her favorite psych-up song, felt special. When the 87-mile race started, she was ready. Her final sprint down the waterlogged Mall in central London, beating Britain鈥檚 Lizzie Armistead by about a bike length, was one of the sport鈥檚 most breathtaking moments. In the photos of Vos at the finish, you can see goosebumps on her arms. The memory of the crowd鈥檚 roar still gives her chills. 鈥淭hat sound. I can still hear it,鈥� she .

That same year, Vos again won the Road World Championships, the UCI Road World Cup, the Giro Rosa, and a half-dozen classics. Velo magazine named her the 鈥攐ver Bradley Wiggins, winner of the Tour de France and the Olympic time trial. 鈥淭here is no one like her, man or woman, who has ever pinned on a number,鈥� Velo declared. 鈥淢erckx was not this accomplished at 25.鈥� Vos鈥檚 competitors consider a runner-up finish behind her a victory. 鈥淪econd to Marianne isn鈥檛 too shabby,鈥� Katie Compton said after winning silver in the 2013 Cyclocross World Championships. 鈥淚 can鈥檛 think of anyone who is as talented as she is, as hardworking as she is, as motivated as she is. But it only makes everyone better.鈥�

Vos, 31, is a natural and gifted athlete, with some of the biggest VO2-max and threshold-power numbers in the women鈥檚 peloton. But she credits her success to her work ethic. She almost always skips rest days in favor of more time on the bike, and she logs hour after hour of base miles during the off-season. All of which is to say that she was in rare form last June, sitting in the team car. 鈥淕utted to be out for a while and not be able to race,鈥� she posted to her fans on social media after an outpouring of beterschap, Dutch for 鈥済et well soon.鈥� 鈥淭hank you all for the well wishes; I鈥檒l be fine!鈥�

Still, while the broken collarbone was an annoyance, her fans knew that it wasn鈥檛 the only thing that was holding Vos back. In 2015, after almost a decade of dominance, she鈥檇 started losing races, finishing well behind the leaders, confounding her coaches and herself. It was as if her body had gone on strike, with zero explanation. Vos, who had practically lived on two wheels since the age of five, was forced to stop riding for six months, confronting her hardest challenge yet鈥攕tepping off the bike.

When I met听up with Vos for coffee at the Hotel De Buunderkamp, a small inn in Wolfheze where she and her WM3 team were staying before nationals, there were no photographers or fans. Delivered by a handler who reappeared just once, only to be waved away, Vos was a model of Dutch understatement, wearing jeans and a team shirt, modest jewelry, and a touch of mascara. She鈥檚 five foot six, with brown hair framing green eyes. A beast in the saddle, she鈥檚 shy and laid-back out of it, that rare pro you鈥檒l see washing her own bike after a muddy cyclocross race. Most of her trophies are under a plastic tarp in a shed at her home in Babyloni毛nbroek. She鈥檚 a household name in the Netherlands, where cycling is a national obsession and the sport鈥檚 superstars carry as much clout as Tom Brady. 鈥淚 never wanted to be famous,鈥� Vos said. 鈥淚 just wanted to ride my bike.鈥�

So when doctors told her in 2015 that she needed to stop riding indefinitely, it felt like a prison sentence. In the first major cyclocross race of that year, she鈥檇 finished 12th. She wasn鈥檛 out of shape, sick, or hurt. But the harder she trained, the worse she felt. 鈥淵our body at some point says, 鈥楾hat is enough. I don鈥檛 work anymore,鈥欌�夆�� she says. There was no specific diagnosis beyond overtraining. The doctors鈥� prescription was equally vague: Stop. Rest. As long as you need. Vos had never been seriously injured. In the past, a shattered collarbone hadn鈥檛 kept her from finishing a race. But this wasn鈥檛 like a fracture鈥攕ix weeks and good as new. This was like swimming toward the offing with no land in sight. 鈥淵ou don鈥檛 know if it is ever coming back,鈥� she said, as six of her teammates settle around a nearby table. 鈥淢aybe it was the end of my career.鈥�

Finally, in May 2015, she agreed to take a break. 鈥淚 got my identity from results, not from being a good human,鈥� she said. 鈥淏eing at home only resting and trying to fill my days with recovery, I had no identity, because I didn鈥檛 win races.鈥� She needed normalcy, which wasn鈥檛 easy for her. 鈥淪he鈥檚 special in that she really enjoys training,鈥� says Vos鈥檚 current team manager, Eric van den Boom. 鈥淥f course, she can be very angry and disappointed if the performance does not work as she planned or hoped. Her intense sports mentality is unique.鈥� But for six months, she tried to become less intense. Vos threw out her fitness and diet regimens. She stopped training entirely, though she allowed herself to spin around town on her cruiser. She napped, read a lot, and went shopping with her mom. She learned to ride a moped. She sought normalcy. Finally, Vos had an epiphany: sometimes a weakness is a strength driven to the extreme. 鈥淚 had to accept that my injury might be caused by the same thing that got me so far鈥擨 push myself very hard,鈥� she says. 鈥淚 learned to accept myself for who I am, apart from the bike.鈥�

She became more accessible, even to her own teammates. 鈥淎fter all these invincible years, she turned out to be a human being,鈥� observed Marijn de Vries, a journalist and retired pro. 鈥淗er teammates, who always put her on a pedestal, perhaps not even consciously, suddenly dared to talk to her about doubts and uncertainties. And Marianne slowly learned that vulnerability is not weakness, but something very powerful.鈥�

After six months off the bike, Vos鈥檚 body started responding to the rest. In late 2015, she began a careful comeback. She focused on the Rio Olympic Games, in August, where she competed in the road race. This time, instead of rolling up to the start as the team superstar, Vos took on the role of tactical leader and domestique, dropping back to the support car to stuff her jersey with water bottles for her teammates. Later she launched a counterattack that looked like a possible race-winning move. It wasn鈥檛鈥擵os placed ninth鈥攂ut her fellow Rabobank racer Anna van der Breggen got the gold. 鈥淧eople say, 鈥楴ow you have some age. You have to settle,鈥欌�夆�� Vos says. 鈥淎ctually, I am pretty happy with what I do now with the team and just riding the bike.鈥�

She鈥檚 still hungry for victories, though, and still capable of them. Since returning, Vos has won several big races, including the 2017 European Championships, her first international title since her recovery began. 鈥淲ith sports, you have your ups and downs,鈥� she says. 鈥淥ver the past couple of years, there have been a lot of downs. But there are also highs when everything comes together.鈥�

Those highs no longer come just from wins. Vos has turned the podium into a platform, advocating for gender equality with an unassuming Dutchness. Since 2015, she has become a leading advocate for expanding the international women鈥檚 road-race calendar, and she started a nonprofit to connect amateur and professional riders. The result is a different kind of triumph. 鈥淲henever we would speak up about the fact that we鈥檙e not getting paid much or that our races are too short, it came across as whining,鈥� says Meredith Miller, a former pro cyclist who leads the Boulder, Colorado, chapter of the Rapha Cycle Club. 鈥淢arianne turned the tone around and made it sound less like complaining. She added purpose and momentum鈥攁nd a voice that people listen to.鈥�

Three days after听the Dutch National Road Championships, on a blustery morning, I go to see Vos鈥檚 home in Babyloni毛nbroek, a village of about 400 residents. She isn鈥檛 there鈥攄espite the collarbone injury, she鈥檚 headed to a team camp in Italy鈥攂ut her brother, Anton, has agreed to take me on a 31-mile ride to see Marianne鈥檚 local turf. A photographer with a sunny disposition, Anton is four years older and a head taller than his sister. Together with their parents, they share a thatched-roof home that Vos bought with her winnings. Over the course of her 12-year professional career, she鈥檚 been able to comfortably support herself and is currently sponsored by several major companies, including Oakley, Shimano, and Volvo.

The house overlooks the marshy lowlands that connect the seven villages of Aalburg, a rural community not far from the Belgian border. Most of Vos鈥檚 training rides start in her driveway, from which she has access to a countrywide network of paved bike paths that mostly prevent her from having to contend with traffic. Vos started riding after she watched Anton race at the local cycling club. When she was five, her father, Henk, bought her a tiny road bike. She couldn鈥檛 reach the pedals, so Henk, a carpenter, removed the seatpost and clamped the saddle directly to the lime green frame. Three years later she entered her first race. At the starting line, the shy schoolgirl vanished. The bike awakened a fierce hunger to win. 鈥淲e couldn鈥檛 even play board games,鈥� Anton says. 鈥淪he really hated losing.鈥� Once, after crossing the finish in third, she just kept on riding. 鈥淚 was so angry, I didn鈥檛 want to stop鈥� she told me, cringing at the memory. She rode another half-mile and missed the podium ceremony.

We stop by the street where Marianne and Anton grew up racing each other on the neighborhood鈥檚 only 鈥渉ill鈥濃�攁 highway overpass. Anton shows me one of the monuments honoring Vos鈥檚 12 world titles. It鈥檚 very Dutch: a simple wooden bench with a modest engraving. There鈥檚 a similar bench in each of Aalburg鈥檚 six other villages. 鈥淭hey ran out of villages,鈥� Anton says. 鈥淪o they added a table and a couple of statues.鈥� One of the statues, a giant metal sculpture, rises from the middle of a roundabout. Taller than Anton and at least 15 feet wide, Marianne鈥檚 Crown is a collage of bike silhouettes, each symbolizing a stage of her journey, from her little green bike to the one she raced to Olympic gold in 2012.

As glorious as that year was for Vos, it was also a turning point for professional cycling. Months after the London Games, Lance Armstrong was stripped of his trophies, triggering the biggest doping scandal in the history of the sport. One hero after another鈥攎ostly men鈥攍ost their titles and were sanctioned. Brands withdrew, including Vos鈥檚 then team sponsor Rabobank, which was 鈥渘o longer convinced that the international professional world of cycling can make this a clean and fair sport.鈥� Vos tweeted that Rabobank鈥檚 choice was 鈥渦nderstandable鈥� but unfortunately this hurts many innocent [riders] in our sport.鈥� The company ultimately amended its decision. In the end, Rabobank ended up dropping the men but agreed to sponsor the women through 2016. Women have been caught doping, too, but in much smaller numbers, and none of the Rabobank women had ever produced a positive test. In 2017, Vos cofounded a new team sponsored by WM3, a Dutch green-energy consulting firm. For the 2018 season, WaowDeals, a smartphone payment app, stepped up as the title brand.

The doping scandals got Vos talking seriously about how to make women鈥檚 cycling a financially viable profession for more than just a handful of elite riders. Professional road cycling is perhaps the most inequitable sport on the planet: women鈥檚 races are shorter, the riders鈥� salaries (if they exist at all) are much lower, and the prize money is a fraction of the men鈥檚. According to , a women鈥檚 union created in 2017, half of all female professionals earn less than $12,300 per year, and 17 percent don鈥檛 get paid at all. By contrast, male cyclists on WorldTour teams have a minimum salary of around $47,000 and can make six figures through sponsorships and prize money, with a few at the top awarded multimillion-dollar annual contracts.

In 2006, when Vos began her elite career, she was the rare female pro who wasn鈥檛 holding down a second job to get by. She wanted to change that. 鈥淚n professional cycling, we saw limits in organization, development of teams, salary, and professionalization of the riders,鈥� she says. 鈥淥f course, it has to do with money, but also with…鈥� she pauses, searching for the right phrase, 鈥渄aring to make a difference. The UCI is a great organization, but it is big, it is old-fashioned. It is difficult to change big things.鈥�

After the 2012 doping fallout, Vos began speaking up for women鈥檚 cycling. More coverage would build a bigger audience, which would attract more sponsors; more sponsors meant better salaries, which would attract more talent and grow the sport. Everything would have to start with visibility. Advertisers can鈥檛 buy into what people can鈥檛 see. In interviews, Vos contended that every major men鈥檚 race should have a women鈥檚 equivalent, with the same broadcast schedule. 鈥淚鈥檇 like to see the Tour de France [for women],鈥� she told Cycling Weekly in early 2013. 鈥淲e need a platform. The Tour de France is what people watch, that鈥檚 where the world of cycling鈥攎edia, fans, spectators鈥攊s.鈥�

That year, between winning two more world titles, she teamed up with three other cyclists and called on the Amaury Sport Organisation, the organizer of the Tour de France, to create a women鈥檚 race. In 2014, the ASO launched , a women鈥檚 race held in Paris a few hours before the men made their victory laps. The 55-mile competition included 13 laps on the Champs-脡lys茅es. The winner would receive $30,500鈥攖he same amount the men get for winning a stage of the Tour.

In July 2014, as the sun shone on Paris, 119 of the world鈥檚 best female athletes stormed the Champs-脡lys茅es in front of millions of viewers from 190 countries. In the final stretch, it came down to four riders. With her usual impeccable timing, Vos sprung out of the bunch, nailed the sprint, and won the race she helped create. 鈥淟a Course is really something awesome for women鈥檚 cycling, but it鈥檚 just one step toward the recognition we deserve,鈥� she told Cycling News. 鈥淚 hope everyone who saw us today realized the peloton鈥檚 getting stronger and stronger.鈥�

Though La Course was a significant milestone, it was still just one day tacked onto a 21-day race for men. So in 2015, during her break from the bike, Vos launched her second attack: to grow the number of women riders in the professional and amateur ranks by connecting pros with everyday rides. The pros would develop a fan base for the sport while the amateurs learned from them. More women. More bikes. More power. 鈥淲e had an idea to improve grassroots cycling, because that鈥檚 where everything starts,鈥� Marit Huisman, one of Vos鈥檚 collaborators and a former pro cyclist, told me. 鈥淚 can learn a lot from a beginner, and a beginner can learn a lot from us as well.鈥�

Vos and Huisman envisioned a worldwide platform. 鈥淲e wanted to create some buzz and events,鈥� Vos says. It began with the Road Trip to Paris, a small group ride from Holland to watch the debut of La Course. The next year it was a festival in the Netherlands called We Own Yellow, held a week after the 2015 Grand D茅part, the first stage of the Tour de France. There were bike-handling clinics, women-led rides, and evening socials. Around 1,000 women, ages 16 to 80, showed up. About two weeks later was the second Road Trip to Paris for La Course. This time, Vos came as a spectator.

Near the end of her six months off, Vos also launched , an online community for women cyclists. 鈥淪trongher links pro athletes and -grassroots riders,鈥� she says. The launch party, in London, unveiled her hand-picked team of Sheroes鈥攆emale ambassadors from cycling鈥檚 various disciplines, including world downhill mountain-biking champ Manon Carpenter. Today, Strongher has 300 ambassadors leading rides and hosting events around the world. In early 2018, it launched the Strongher app, which connects female cyclists of similar riding style and ability.

Growing the sport鈥檚 fan base, Vos hopes, will lead to more mainstream coverage of women鈥檚 races, which slowly seems to be happening. Last year, before the -women鈥檚 Tour of Flanders, Belgian rider Jolien D鈥檋oore tweeted, 鈥淲e ride the same day as the [male] pros. A live broadcast is also welcome.鈥� Retweeted more than 200 times, the message jump-started the #wewantrvvlive campaign. A few days later, the event organ-izers tweeted back. 鈥淟et鈥檚 make this official! There鈥檒l be live broadcasting of the Ronde for Women, thanks to @proximus and @sporza!鈥�

Vos has returned to full-time racing. She鈥檚 currently the leader of the , though she still doesn鈥檛 feel 100 percent. She is committed to resting more and focusing on a few major races.

The rest of her 2017 season was marked by the highs and lows she鈥檚 now grown accustomed to. After winning the European Championships in August, she came down with a serious cold and struggled in many of the major winter races. In February, she competed in the Cyclocross World Championships in the Netherlands, where she placed 18th. Her first win of 2018 came a few days later, in the C2 Parkcross cyclocross race in Maldegem, Belgium. In March, Vos and her team turned to the season鈥檚 second major road event, the Netherlands鈥� Ronde Van Drenthe, where she placed fifth. She plans to compete in the other Women鈥檚 World Tour events this summer, targeting the Road World Championships in September.

Last summer in Montferland, as the National Road Championships neared the finish, Vos hopped out of the team car for an interview, then joined her sponsors inside the viewing tent to watch the end of the race. At the finish line, the crowd clustered near a beer truck, glued to a screen showing live footage. As the riders swung into the final lap, the leaders jockeying for position, the announcer鈥檚 pitch rose two octaves: 鈥淒it is een typische vrouwenkoers!鈥�

鈥淗e was saying, 鈥業t is a typical women鈥檚 race,鈥欌�夆�� said Inge Neijenhuis, a 45-year-old Dutch high school teacher and amateur racer who I met on the sidelines. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a compliment. That means it is constantly moving and changing鈥攁nything can happen. 鈥榃omen鈥檚 race鈥� is synonymous with 鈥榠nteresting.鈥欌�夆��

As the peloton crossed the finish, my pulse raced. Still, I was skeptical that more coverage would get more women on bikes. I鈥檓 a believer in the grassroots cycling groups that have popped up all over the world in the past five years. I founded one in 2011 to meet other women to ride with in Alabama, one of the least bike-friendly states in the country. Today we have over 1,000 members on Facebook, and a few hundred show up for rides and clinics, including some who drive from nearby states for the camaraderie. Few of us follow pro racing. I have seven bikes but no cable TV.

Then, at the podium ceremony鈥攚here the medals were bestowed by fresh-faced podium boys in white button-down shirts鈥擨 met Kayleigh, an eight-year-old cyclocross racer who came to watch the women race. Her dad, Norbert, scrolled through photo after photo of Kayleigh mugging with her idols, Olympic road cyclists Annemiek van Vleuten and Anna van der Breggen, Vos鈥檚 gold-medal-winning teammate.

I asked Kayleigh what made her want to race bikes. Her father translated.

鈥淚 saw the women,鈥� she said.

鈥淲hat women?鈥�

鈥淭he ones on TV.鈥�

I asked what her cycling dream is. She cocked her head and thought for a moment.

鈥淭o be world champion.鈥�

Kim Cross () is the author of听听. This is her first feature for 国产吃瓜黑料. James Cannon is an听国产吃瓜黑料听contributing photographer.

The post Marianne Vos Is the Boss appeared first on 国产吃瓜黑料 Online.

Last spring, 听 outsprinted the world鈥檚 best cyclists, becoming the first American to , Belgium鈥檚 prestigious 95-mile cobblestoned classic. The 25-year-old Southern Californian began racing pro at age 16 and has claimed 71 national titles across four disciplines鈥� road, track, cyclocross, and mountain biking. But recently she became a major threat in Europe, winning two events in 2017. This spring she鈥檚 focusing on road cycling and has her eye on the World Championships. With so much keeping her busy, we asked Rivera how she balances the essentials: training, rest, recovery, and food.

鈥�My morning ritual is pour-over coffee. I grind my own beans, weigh everything, let it bloom for a minute鈥攁ll that stuff. I have a Hario V60 size-one dripper鈥攊t鈥檚 small and great for traveling.鈥�

鈥�I do a resting-heart-rate reading every morning using an app on my phone called Ithlete. It clues me in to whether I鈥檓 tired, getting sick, have overtrained, or am not getting enough sleep.鈥�

鈥淎fter a crash, I use hydrogen peroxide to wash off all the road grime. It hurts like heck. When it鈥檚 dry, Tegaderm, a wound dressing, is great, but if you鈥檙e training, your sweat pools under-neath it. Hydrocolloid bandages soak up any moisture.鈥�

鈥淎fter a hard ride or race, I like Greek yogurt or skyr for ^–protein. I might add some granola or goji berries.鈥澨�

鈥�I don鈥檛 have any special diet.听I eat what tastes good.鈥�

鈥�Diversify. Track cycling builds leg speed that can improve your sprints. Mountain biking and cyclocross build bike-handling skills that can save you if you get pushed off the road.鈥澨�

鈥淏uilding endurance is all about time in the saddle. I go long and steady early in the season. My endurance rides are at least three hours. I keep it pretty low-key, just cruising around and taking in the sights.鈥澨�

鈥�I wear compression socks on long flights. It helps circulation, so when you get off the plane your feet aren鈥檛 swollen and sore.鈥�

鈥淓veryone handles pressure differently. I鈥檓 laid-back. In a race there are things you can鈥檛 control. You just have to be ready to encounter some obstacles.鈥澨�

鈥淩ecovery is just as important as the training you put in. When I have a rest day, I鈥檒l sleep in as long as I can. European blinds that block out all light help me sleep longer.鈥�

鈥淲hen I鈥檓 racing I run a lot on instinct, and I try not to overthink things. Once you hesitate, you miss the moment.鈥�

The post How Pro Cyclist Coryn Rivera Balances the Essentials appeared first on 国产吃瓜黑料 Online.

It only took nineteen years, countless advocates, dozens of letters,听a bankruptcy and change of ownership,听plus听one particularly tenacious public official, but women鈥攆or the first time ever鈥攈ave been invited to compete at one of the world鈥檚 most famous big-wave breaks: Mavericks. After intense lobbying, political maneuvering, and negative press, the historically all-male contest has invited six female pros to compete in a single women鈥檚 heat, which will take place sometime between now and the middle of February, conditions permitting.听

鈥淭his is a huge step forward,鈥� says Bianca Valenti, a San Francisco-based big-wave surfer slated to compete in this year's event. 鈥淔inally, we鈥檝e got a foot in the door. But we have a long way to go.鈥�

The ferocious wave, off the coast of Half Moon Bay in northern California, has long been an icon of big-wave surfing. It has also become a focal point in the growing fight for gender equality in a sport with a long and colorful history of machismo. 鈥淭here鈥檚 nothing more beautiful than a well-shaped girl riding a six-foot wave with the wind blowing through her hair,鈥� wrote . 鈥淏ut one thing I can鈥檛 stand is girls riding (or attempting to ride) big waves.鈥�

Flash-forward 45 years. While that attitude has eroded, it鈥檚 far from gone.

鈥淪urfing is 20 years behind other sports,鈥� Valenti says on a drive home from surfing Mavericks. 鈥淥ne day a guy told me, 鈥楾his is a man鈥檚 playground. I don鈥檛 want to see you out here, unless I鈥檓 going out on a date with you, 鈥榗ause you鈥檙e kinda cute.鈥欌��

Big-wave contests have run at Mavericks since 1999, when the made fliers promoting the event and the 鈥淢en Who Ride Mountains.鈥� That was the same year that became the first woman to surf the monstrous wave, five years after bodyboarder Sarah Lucas busted the gender barrier. But competition was strictly open to dudes, who were the only ones getting invites. Contest founder Jeff Clark, a big-wave pioneer who surfed Mavericks alone for 15 years before anyone would join him, didn鈥檛 think women were good enough. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not a gender thing. It鈥檚 a performance thing,鈥� Clark told CBS鈥攊n 2016. 鈥淲omen just aren鈥檛 there yet.鈥澨齛 year after Keala Kennelly won Barrel of the Year at the WSL Big Wave听Awards, the so-called Oscars of big-wave surfing. She was chosen鈥攐ver hundreds of men鈥攊n a season with a historic number of supersized rides, barrels, and wipeouts. In her acceptance speech, Kennelly thanked “…. Because that drove me to dedicate my life to proving you wrong, and it's been so damn fun.”

As if women aren鈥檛听already out there with men in the lineup for any big swell. 鈥淥n any given day, we鈥檙e competing with the men,鈥� Valenti says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not like a tennis court.鈥�

The simple truth is, women have been surfing big waves for decades, despite the cultural undertow of a brotherhood that really would rather they didn鈥檛. 鈥淲omen have been expected to look good on the beach and hand the boy his towel when he gets out of the water,鈥� says Matt Warshaw, author of the . 鈥淲omen were not encouraged to go out and surf big waves during the 1960s. But there were women who did.鈥�

In 1959, as Joan Cleaver was still cleaning the house in a dress and pearls, Linda Benson, who would later be called the , became the first woman听to surf Waimea.听Around the same time, Marge Calhoun, a mother of two who didn鈥檛 pick up a surfboard until she was almost听30, was winning the Makaha International, on the west side of Oahu, Hawaii. 鈥淚 loved a wave that was dramatic,鈥� Calhoun said. 鈥淚 wanted something that could knock me around.鈥�

In the 1970s, Margo Oberg, often credited as the original female big-wave surfer, became a regular on the monstrous winter swells at Sunset Beach on Oahu鈥檚 North Shore. She raised the ante to 15-foot waves. After winning four world championships, she fell just shy of a fifth, placing second in 1982鈥攖hree months after giving birth. Then came Phyllis Dameron, one of the most fearless bodyboarders (of either gender) in the history of the sport. She paddled into waves higher than 20 feet and bounced down them like a skipping stone, often passing the men below her. 鈥淚鈥檒l go right over them, in the air if I have to,鈥� she said.听

In the 1990s, Layne Beachley听and听Sarah Gerhardt became tow-in pioneers. After mastering 20-footers at a North Shore break called Phantoms, Beachley听had a Jet Ski sling-shot her into 25-foot waves in Todos Santos, in Baja California, and 国产吃瓜黑料 Log Cabins, in Hawaii. She became the first woman to conquer the 鈥渄eath slab鈥� barrels at a freakish Sydney break, which pounds into a rocky shelf.听

Yet during all that time, invite-only contests were closed to women. Finally, in 2010, Oregon鈥檚 Nelscott Reef Big Wave Classic became the first major event to invite听women to compete. But even then there was a catch: it was only an exhibition,听. Three women surfed听in a one-hour heat, in conditions that blew out one male competitor鈥檚 eardrum and sent him staggering to shore, warning about the conditions. Keala Kennelly took home the win鈥攁nd a prize purse of…$0.听

Finally, in 2016, the first paying women鈥檚 division was added to a big-wave contest. The Peahi Challenge, one of three stops on the , invited women to compete on the 30-foot-plus waves at the Maui break听Jaws. It was a bona-fide division: 12 women, plus six alternates, competing in three heats鈥攖wo semi-finals and a final. Hawaii鈥檚 Paige Alms, who does construction and ding repair to supplement her pro-surfer income, landed air-drops in the howling wind and became the first women鈥檚 big-wave champion. She won . (The men鈥檚 champ bagged .)

The world of big-wave surfing appeared to be shifting, with many male pro surfers expressing support for their female counterparts. But the Mavericks door remained slammed shut. It took a politically savvy local official to pry that one open.

Sabrina Brennan, an elected member of the San Mateo County Harbor Commission, which also grants event permits, teamed up with several female pros, including Bianca Valenti and Keala Kennelly, to form the . She argued that public resources could not be used for discriminatory activities鈥攁 key legal point. In response to their lobbying efforts, the California Coastal Commission required Titans of Mavericks to include women competitors as a condition for renewal of the event's permit.

Here鈥檚 how Titans founder Jeff Clark responded to that news in a TV interview: 鈥淚 understand what the Coastal Commission wants is more women involved in Mavericks. We鈥檝e had women judges, we鈥檝e had women in our water patrol, and water rescue鈥︹�� Actually, no. They want to see women on the board鈥攏ot the board of directors.

The contest organizer, Cartel Management, grudgingly responded by agreeing to 鈥渞each out鈥� to female pros and allow them to compete鈥攚ith the men, if they qualified. Four women made the 56-person first cut. Days later, not a single woman made the 38-surfer second cut, selected by an all-male committee. Calling B.S. on Cartel鈥檚 pseudo-meritocracy, the Committee for Equity in Women鈥檚 Surfing demanded that women compete against women, as they do in pretty much every other sport. They asked for a standard women鈥檚 division: six women, three heats.听

To make a long story short, Cartel was then sued by sponsors and . The 2016-2017 Titans of Mavericks never happened.听The next season, the event was picked up by the World Surf League, which invited six women to compete鈥攁gainst each other鈥攊n the 2017-2018 contest, renamed the Mavericks Challenge. This added a second women鈥檚 contest鈥攁nd a fourth event鈥攖o the Big Wave Tour. 鈥淭he timing was right,鈥� says CEO Sophie Goldschmidt, who has held executive roles with the NBA, Adidas, and several mainstream sports. She expects the WSL to add more women鈥檚 big-wave surfing events鈥攇radually. 鈥淲e鈥檙e not going to rush. We鈥檙e going to be very thoughtful about this. Over time, I expect us to add further events as the women and the sport are ready for it, from a performance and a safety standpoint.鈥�

The female pros say they鈥檙e stoked to compete at Mavericks, but they wish it was a legitimate multi-heat division. It鈥檚 six women and one heat鈥攐ne golden hour on the waves. Compared to the three-heat, 24-man contest, it feels to some like a footnote. What they鈥檇 like to see is a multi-heat competition, where women have to surf against one another to make it to the finals.听As听it is, 鈥渋t鈥檚听a token,鈥� Brennan says. 鈥淪ix women, one heat? That鈥檚 nowhere near equality.鈥�

Given the sport鈥檚 history of machismo, that should surprise no one.听

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You knew Bo Jackson could hit back-to-back home runs. You鈥檝e seen him bust through a wall of linemen like a Mack-truck through a picket fence. You might recall his 40-yard dash clocking in among the fastest in NFL history. And if you remember the 鈥淏o Knows鈥� commercials of the 鈥�80s, you don鈥檛 need to be reminded that Bo was freakishly good at more sports than should be humanly possible.听

But did you know that Bo knows cycling?听

Every spring, you鈥檒l find Jackson pedaling through Alabama, launching from Auburn and leading a peloton packed with superstars: Lance Armstrong, Ken Griffey Jr., Picabo Street, and even Bo鈥檚 former football nemesis Brian 鈥渢he Boz鈥� Bosworth. They鈥檙e mixed into a motley assortment of riders, from racers astride $10,000 bikes to fans on clunkers excavated from dusty back-yard sheds.

It鈥檚 like this every year at . Proceeds from the annual charity ride鈥攖he fourth one was held earlier this month鈥攇o toward the construction of community tornado shelters in Alabama,听which leads the nation in tornado deaths. Bo created the ride after watching 62 tornados ravage his home state on April 27, 2011. More than 250 Alabamians died, and many small towns suffered. 鈥淚 felt I needed to do something,鈥� Jackson says. It would not be a race, or even a ride that takes itself too seriously. 鈥淚t is what I call a celebration ride. You can have kids from their early teens to senior citizens, and everyone is having fun.鈥澨�

At six foot one, 275 pounds, Bo is the physiological antithesis of the archetypical cyclist: a skinny guy with the quads-to-biceps ratio of a Tyrannosaurus Rex. After hip surgery, he discovered cycling not so much as a sport but as a way to stay fit without the pounding of running. He is not the fastest rider in the pack, or the strongest climber鈥攄on鈥檛 even think about trying to chat with him on a hill.

But he may just be the best advocate for cycling in the nation鈥檚 least bike-friendly state. Last year, Mississippi bumped Alabama from #49 to dead last on the League of American Bicyclists鈥� . Alabama remained in dead last this year.听Infrastructure and laws for cycling are poor to nonexistent. Bike lanes are scarce. There鈥檚 no three-foot law. Drivers unaccustomed to seeing bikes on the road are, at best, unsure how to pass, and at worst, . But many of them are also football fans.

鈥淵ou couldn鈥檛 ask for anyone better than Bo to do this in our football-crazed state,鈥� says Faris Malki, owner of Cahaba Cycles, a Birmingham bike shop.

For the inaugural Bo Bikes Bama, Jackson rode nearly 300 miles across the state, from town to tornado-torn town, drawing cameras and donations to places forgotten when the media circus moved on. He got Trek and Nike and other sponsors on board, and invited his fans to donate and ride, with the goal of raising $1 million for the Governor鈥檚 Relief Fund. After that first year, he changed it to a one-day event, with a 60-mile course and a 20-mile option. After four years, the ride has grown to around 900 cyclists and raised an estimated total of $960,000, says event director Rebecca Falls, an employee of Trek Travel who hails from Tuscaloosa. 鈥淣ext year we鈥檒l easily pass the $1 million mark.鈥�

As celebrity rides go, Bo Bikes Bama isn鈥檛 the first or the largest. Levi Leipheimer鈥檚 GranFondo, set in the hills of northern California, draws around 7,000 riders a year. George Hincapie鈥檚 Gran Fondo counted 1,300 riders last fall, in only its second year.听By comparison, the four-year total number of riders in Bo Bikes Bama is around 2,400. But Bo Bikes Bama is a tight-knit, intimate group, with devotees returning year after year from 28 states.

Certain celebrities also come back every year. Armstrong rode this year and in 2012. Street, the Olympic gold medalist alpine skier, and Griffey Jr., 13-time MLB All-Star, have ridden all four years. Olympic triple-jumper Al Joyner rode the first three. Riding shoulder-to-shoulder with them feels like the Gods of Sport have come down from Mount Olympus to walk among the mortals.听

Except, on a bike, they are mortals too. They don鈥檛 train for this. Their butts get just as sore. They struggle up hills like the rest of us. is still fit, still a legend, but he is not built for climbs. After four or five days of cycling foothills during the first ride in 2011, Bo drank pickle juice for cramps, walked his bike up at least one hill, and endured Armstrong quipping, 鈥淏o don鈥檛 know hills!鈥�

This year got interesting when Bosworth asked to join. The former Seattle Seahawks wrecking ball, known for his swagger and Max Headroom hair, was a big-time rival of Bo鈥檚 when the two were star rookies in the NFL. They clashed famously on November 30, 1987, when Bo blew right through the tackling arms of the Boz, scoring a touchdown for the Raiders. 鈥淣ext time,鈥� Bo told Bosworth in the end zone, 鈥淏ring bus fare.鈥�

Bosworth, who takes his wife鈥檚 indoor cycling classes, has not spent much time riding a bike outdoors. But he easily hung with the lead pack on last Saturday鈥檚 60-miler. That group included Armstrong and Christian听Vande Velde, a former member of the U.S. Postal team. When the pace grew frisky (by social-ride standards), Bosworth and Bo both rode strong. The competition was friendly, but palpable. Vande Velde gave Bo a friendly hand-on-back push up a hill. But the descents belonged to Bo.

鈥淭his is where my 275 pounds works in my favor,鈥� Bo shouted, passing Vande Velde on a downhill, 鈥渁nd your 150-soaking-wet does not!鈥�

And then, around mile ten, Bo got a flat. Samaritans swarmed him like flies on butter, falling all over themselves to help. Riders rubber-necking as they passed him by very nearly caused a pileup. 鈥淲hat are you looking at?鈥� he said, smiling and waving them on.听Having fixed the flat and continued on, Bo pulled back into Auburn on his custom pink Trek Madone, which bore on its top tube the names of 252 Alabamians who died in the storm. As riders streamed into the after-party and tucked into BBQ sandwiches, he stood for two hours signing autographs for fans.

One of them was Ashley Mims, who lost her 21-year-old daughter, Loryn Brown, to the EF4 tornado that devastated Tuscaloosa four years ago. Mims tackled the 20-mile ride鈥攈er longest ever鈥攐n the back of a tandem bike, with a photograph of Loryn pinned to the back. Bo put his arm around her for a photo and said, 鈥淚鈥檓 so sorry.鈥�

Ashley Mims is the reason Bo Bikes Bama matters so much to this state and the people who live here. At least 50 community tornado shelters have been built with the money Bo raised. The ride now seems as much a part of the Bo Jackson legacy as the Heisman trophies and MVP awards. How long will it continue? Just ask听Bo.

鈥淎s long as a bike can hold me,鈥� he replied.

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