waki, got a 9 year old rescue ex racer greyhound that can still scrub a bmx track at full speed.

thanks, Ian for clarifying the mud bunnies. My comment in regards to the calendar was with the knowledge that Mud Bunnies are a strong group of women, in every sense, who ride, and from my view, bring awareness for women in this sport on their own terms. I maybe assumed people would know who the MUD BUNNIES were. It was a show of support and a compliment and not meant as a deragatory comparison in any way whatsoever. you are right redrook, there is no need for gender generalities but as it was being adressed in the article I made a reference that was unclear. fair play.

redrook- my 2nd comment about the calendar was to suggest that women are confident when they do that and they know what they are doing and yes, what men react to, that's all and nothing more. I'm glad you agree with my first comment as it relates to the article. being a husband and father for a long time and I'm only starting to barely figure women out! haha

redrook, with that line of thinking I'm gonna assume that you think marketing people had also "figured" these women out, yes? these "marketing people" you speak of what gender are they? Hey, I'm not gonna lie and say mass media and marketing doesn't affect me in any way but I can think on my own sometimes(atleast that's what my wife tells me).

Women have us figured out, which explains mud bunnies calendars and no men of dh/free ride calendars.

Little boys probably show more respect towards women than men do. Little grooms go to the beach to play in the water and build sandcastles 100% of the time. If riding looks appealing to someone then they'll try it if not they won't. Tough enough? I wouldn't wanna give birth. The article ends up objectifying women by talking about bikinis and scratches instead of talking about their strengths as women that we men don't have that would be perfect for the mindset of our sport. Rad dudes with cool chicks? You couldn't get a girl interested if you let them read this article. It sounds like it's speaking about and to little girls instead of women. Would be interesting to read a woman's take on this subject. Cuz as I guys we're probably missing something to begin with here

you definitely get people talking, Waki. You need your own site and i mean that in a good constructive way. allthingswaki.com or wackitangents.com. you should make it happen. i'm always amazed when you write something off-topic it instantly creates its own legs and starts runnin'. always entertaining. who woulda thought I'd learn about dogs after that edit. brilliant.

great to see Fabien enjoying life and riding with pure enjoyment after all those years on the dh circuit.

Wow.It's like staring at perfect sets rolling in before you paddle out. Beautiful.

For decades elite middle and long distance runners from Kenya growing up probably never had proper running shoes till much later in their teens and competed just to get shoes. now I see people wanting to run barefoot. Sometimes technology does make it easier to go backwards, which is usually a good thing.