Innholdsfortegnelse for August/September 2023 i The Red Bulletin

Why do we love sports? Passionate fans know the answer is deeper than highlight clips or the final numbers on a scoreboard. They’re drawn to the human drama that invariably plays out as committed athletes strive, amid genuine struggles, to fulfill their dreams and potential. That’s certainly the case with our cover story—a deep dive on soccer star Trinity Rodman. She plays the game with a remarkable mixture of joy, artistry and tenacity—qualities that reflect her life experiences and the manner in which she is successfully authoring her own story. This issue explores the human side of sports. There’s an essay by former world champion mountain biker Kate Courtney on her quest to reclaim confidence. Supercross racer turned freerider Tyler Beremen shares his dream of a competition where creativity is…

When the COVID-imposed lockdowns of early 2020 made self-isolation mandatory, people were crawling up the walls—in a literal sense at photographer Ben Herndon’s home in the Idaho Panhandle, which has a climbing setup in the garage. On his Instagram, Herndon acknowledged the importance of avoiding risky outdoor activities that might burden local emergency services. “The good news,” he observed, “is there are plenty of ways to get hurt from home!” benherndon.com; redbullillume.com…

“The only way to discover the limits of the possible is to go beyond them into the impossible.”Arthur C. Clarke Wout van Aert is somehow not tired. He recently clambered off his bike after a five-hour ride in Spain’s Sierra Nevada mountains, spinning and churning up 11,500 feet of climbing in summerlike heat. But let’s not get dramatic; for the Belgian pro, this is an unremarkable training effort, a seemingly inconsequential building block. Yet these sorts of rides, piled together with intention, enable him to be a central figure at the most consequential races. It is the middle of May—roughly a month after van Aert completed a campaign in the storied Spring Classics, a series of one-day European road races among the most prestigious on the international cycling calendar. But…

3 August LOLLAPALOOZA Back in 2018, when a 16-year-old Billie Eilish made her debut at Lollapalooza, she was listed on the 10th line of the festival lineup and all the headliners were dudes. What a difference five years makes. Today, the 21-year-old is one of the best-selling artists in the world, with seven Grammys and an Academy Award under her belt. This year, she’s headlining the first day of this four-day festival in Grant Park in Chicago. The other artist headlining day one is Karol G, another powerhouse singer-songwriter who won a Latin Grammy for Best New Artist in 2018. It’s a long-overdue change of pace. Thru August 6; lollapalooza.com 26 August RED BULL BC ONE NATIONAL FINAL Get ready as the Red Bull BC One USA Cypher season returns for…

When Brazil’s Letícia Bufoni began skating at the age of 9, she was the only girl on a board in her São Paulo neighborhood. During her tour of South Africa in March of this year—“Letícia Pushes Mzansi”—the six-time X Games gold medalist, who became an American citizen in 2021, passed on her knowledge to the next generation via clinics and workshops. In between, she found time to ride at Cape Town’s stunning Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa, an appropriate venue to showcase her own unique artistry in motion. redbullcontentpool.com…

I feel an odd sense of calm as I peer over the edge of the rock, down toward the steep ribbon of dirt that would serve as a landing over 6 feet below. Closing my eyes, I visualize myself riding off it. Heels down, eyes up, weight centered. I know what I need to do. Yet a part of me still wonders if I will be able to do it when it counts. Before I can let the doubt creep in, I hear Jill’s matter-of-fact voice shouting up at me. “If you think you can do it, just do it,” she says. Jill doesn’t buy into the drama for even a moment; doesn’t let her imagination fixate on what could go wrong. For her, the calculation is simple. If you…

GRAVEL RACING CERVELO ASPERO As the gravel riding scene has evolved, many riders have realized they’re less interested in a burly rig with tons of mounts for bags and bottles for bikepacking adventures and instead just want a really quick off-road bike. Fittingly, Cervelo markets the Aspero to those who want to haul ass, not cargo. Anchored by a relatively lightweight, stiff and aero carbon-fiber frame and with a geometry akin to that of a road racing bike, the Aspero is lively and built to go fast on or off pavement. Available with a broad range of component packages, each configuration comes equipped with supple Panaracer 38c tires and a nifty fork that can flip to accommodate 700c or 650c wheels. $3,100 to $6,500; cervelo.com Don’t be fooled by the…

On a weeknight in April 2018, Jenny Nguyen went to a sports bar with friends to watch Notre Dame play Mississippi State in the final game of that season’s NCAA women’s basketball tournament. It was the only championship game being aired that night, but none of the 32 screens in the bar was showing it. Nguyen’s sizable group asked to see it and were given one TV in the back of the bar. They ordered food, drank beers and witnessed one of the greatest finishes in NCAA history, with the team from Indiana hitting a last-second 3-pointer to clinch the title. “I remember throwing my hat across the bar as we all screamed and lost it,” Nguyen says. “That’s when we realized no one else in the bar knew why…

About 100 miles south of Kansas City and a mile west of the Missouri border, there’s a sprawling cattle ranch in the Osage Plains where dreams come true. The land’s heavy clay soil can be sculpted into a dirt bike course unlike any other, turning it into a mecca for freeriders seeking the ultimate playground. A few years ago, pro rider Tyler Bereman had a vision. After building a career in supercross racing, he found he was happiest when he rode his dirt bike through the rolling hills of Southern California during his spare time. That natural terrain was where he could discover novel jumps and execute them with creativity. But what if he could build a course that combined all these features in one place? When Bereman met Jason…

“I DON’T DO WHAT I DO TO SHOVE IT IN ANYONE’S FACE… YOU EITHER TREAT ME LIKE AN EQUAL OR YOU DON’T.” Driving north on L.A.’s 5 freeway, Emelia Hartford’s glimmering teal Ferrari 458 on a Tuesday afternoon doesn’t exactly blend in with the other cars. So it’s unsurprising when, less than five miles from her starting point, a highway patrolman finds a reason to pull her over. He keeps her for several minutes, chatting with her through the window, then lets her leave. An hour later, on the side of a desolate road in the San Gabriel Mountains, Hartford, who’s in her late 20s, swings a denim-clad leg out of the low-slung vehicle and explains that the stop was all a misunderstanding. Plus, the cop got a little starstruck.…

When David Kilgore started competing in trail running, he didn’t realize that shorter races existed. He went straight into ultrarunning, and then it was too late to turn back. The adventurous courses appealed to him, reminding him of playing outside during his Florida childhood. Of course, back then Kilgore didn’t run 100 miles in a day or cross multiple mountain passes. An accomplished track and cross-country racer, Kilgore expected to stop running after he graduated college. But ultrarunning soon hooked him. “Ultras are not the funnest when you’re in the pain cave from running so far,” he says. “That’s how I realized that I truly loved it. Even when it was truly sucking, I thought, ‘This is really sick.’” Now a member of the U.S. World Trail and Ultra Team, Kilgore…