Weekday Diversions #1: Books, Movies, and Clips for Your Wednesday

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.

Cy Whitling's Picks:

“TODAY” - Jason Borosky Street Moto

This edit is the opposite of a slow burn. If the first 5 seconds don’t resonate with you, well, that’s fine I guess. If you’re like me though, you’ll be sucked all the way in immediately. Big hits, all killer, no filler. I might not completely understand what’s going on in the world of street moto right now, but I absolutely love watching it.

I spent enough time in my youth shoveling steps to slide urban rails on skis, and chasing my friends around on rollerblades with a handycam and a fisheye to have a little appreciation for the amount of work that goes into hitting features in the city. But I can’t imagine how the time crunch of prepping a spot, getting the shot, and getting out of there before you get in trouble is compressed by having a loud motor, and needing to build or bring actual ramps.

The Player of Games - Ian M. Banks

This one is not hot and new, or directly bike-related so let me explain. There’s a never-ending conversation in mountain biking about what counts, what’s “real”. Is it inherently “lesser” to run gears, instead of relying on a singlespeed? What if those gears are shifted wirelessly? What if your suspension is controlled by an algorithm? What about ebikes? At what point do we just plug directly into the cloud and send our bikes out to do the riding for us while we enjoy an optimized experience at home?

I’m not terribly captivated by those questions, but The Player of Games does a good job of exploring them indirectly. What are we, as humans, trying to get out of our leisure activities, and does it change their intrinsic value when we make them “easier”?

There’s a common reaction to AI generated writing or image generation that’s something along the lines of “teach the computers to do the dishes, and all the other menial tasks I don’t enjoy, in order to give humans more space to tell stories and make art.” I get that, especially as an illustrator, but I think that leaves a lot of interesting questions unasked. The Player of Games doesn’t exactly answer those questions, but it gives us a unique perspective to examine them through. It’s also well-written, and super engaging. Credit to Chris Mandell, who initially recommended Banks’s Culture series to me!

Julia Tellman's Picks:

Challengers and the General Experience of Going to the Movies

I went to the theater to see Challengers (i.e. the sexy tennis movie) opening weekend, which is very uncharacteristic of me, but I’ve gotten back into the cinematic experience. I think it’s even more pleasurable now that it used to be, because it’s a forced respite from phone time. And when a movie clocks in at over two hours and I don’t glance at my stupid pocket computer even once, that really enhances the feeling of escape.

Challengers was a lot of things - kinetic, visually striking, and yeah, sexy - but in the end it was actually just a sports movie. And I think one of my favorite things about it is that Zendaya’s character has a discomfortingly ruthless competitiveness that you see a lot in real life, type-A athletes but is rarely depicted in women onscreen.

Life Time Grand Prix Sea Otter Classic

In a similar vein (great production values plus sports) I have been loving the past few seasons of coverage for the Life Time Grand Prix endurance race series. It turns out when you pour buckets of money into on-course and aerial cinematography AND offer (relatively) huge purses for both the men’s and women’s field, you get really exciting off-road racing that’s well-edited into a compelling product. I don’t watch team sports but I used to be addicted to UCI World Cup live streams. Since World Cup streaming is gone from Red Bull TV now, I have to look elsewhere to get that suspenseful race energy, and Life Time Grand Prix nails it.

I can’t imagine that it has good enough ROI to stick around but the race coverage sure is fun to binge in the meantime.

Dylan Russell's Picks:

Vinny T GoPro DH+Trials Moto

I will preface this by admitting: I am a simp for any content with Vinny T. He rides with a certain looseness that keeps your eyes glued to the screen, but his riding is still somewhat relatable. Bombing steep trails, hanging off the back of the downhill bike, an aspirational feeling in a sense. These GoPro clips he posted on instagram deliver some spiciness on both his downhill bike and trials moto. To no surprise, it seems he has found the perfect combo to be pinned on both the ascent and descent.

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RAW AM’s Lost Part - Kieran Wooley

Growing up skating for many years has left me with a deep love for skateboarding videos. No matter if I skate once a year or less, I can always get sucked into a good skate video. This week I stumbled upon a singular clip from a video, with no idea of the rider or anything. After a bit of an internet scramble I found the whole video, RAW AM’s: Lost Part. The video definitely resonated with me as Keiran’s riding style shined through in a wide variety of skate disciplines. I won't spoil the video, but if you stay for the ender, you will understand why I hunted for this video.

Zander Lingelbach-Pierce's Picks:

Mark Wallace Shreds Mount Prevost

Mount Prevost is the most popular spot for downhill racers on Vancouver Island. In the winter it becomes pretty appealing to mainlanders as well! Ahead of the first World Cup at Fort William, Mark Wallace filmed an edit on the steep motorway tracks at Prevost.

As someone who has ridden there (and left with pants a darker shade of brown), the video does SOME justice to how absolutely gnarly the Prevost tracks are.

Mark Wallace, an island local, is riding for the We Are One Momentum Project on their prototype downhill bike.

Related: We Are One "Momentum Project" Web Series Documents Team Camp In British Columbia

DJ Brandt's Step Up Session

Virgin, Utah is a canvas for freeriders to paint their mark. This week, rampage veteran DJ Brandt added a new one to the hillside. Brandt and his buddies got their first hits on it.

It doesn't look like much until the video pans to the angle from the run-in. The fellas certainly had to boost to get over that thing.

Building new features in Virgin is a tale as old as time.

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