Video: Blake Hansen on How Biking Gave Her Freedom to Be Herself

 no

 @crysvb: why??

 @krumpdancer101: the whole effing point is to INCLUDE said person and accept them as they want to be accepted. NOT separate them.

 @crysvb: but it is clearly not fair, in one direction. That is the rub here....

 @crysvb: I am including them. I’m even talking about giving them there own class.

 Obviously fair is not the goal

 Pretend this is your sister. Then read your comment again.

 @drunknride: better phrased as “pretend this was your sibling.”

 @drunknride: go be a bigot somewhere else

 @KalkhoffKiller: you are trolling wich goes against Pinkbike and Outside’s terms of use.

 Yeah they should have their own class, or a unisex class maybe

 @drunknride: wow, your parents must be proud of you.

 @mariomtblt: @mariomtblt: sure. no gender classes. everyone races together.

can't see any issues here. at all. f*cking send it!!!

 @conoat: yeah why not, it would be sick

 @krumpdancer101: settle down boomer

 @KalkhoffKiller: boomer hahaha good job trying to classify me troll

 @krumpdancer101 It's an interesting point of view, but if trans people say "No, this doesn't make us feel included or considered", then your idea is not helpful to trans people. So don't characterize it as such.

I can see both points of view- assigned female @ birth women who feel like the odds are stacked against them when they have to compete against a woman who went through puberty as a man. They could see it as a situation in which their hard work and preparation is thwarted by an uneven playing field.
Trans women who want to be accepted by society and sport as women, especially if they've undergone hormonal therapy. Excluding them from being treated as women is ostracizing and a negation of their identity.

I doubt most of the people posting to this thread have enough knowledge or insight to truly say what's fair/just and what's not. It's important to talk about and to explore respectfully, but I think it's a sign of hubris to claim that you know what the right thing to do is.

 @pgomez: Did you accept Rachel Dolezal being black and working for the NAACP?

All of your statements resort back to having to except TRANS competing with male and female wich is a opinion. Kids get their own class, women have there own class, men have there own class and even amateur racing is broken down into age groups(aka class). So why are TRANS special?? You seem to be saying that if I don’t let trans people race in the category that they feel they classify in then I am no accepting them or holding them back which is the furthest from the truth statement you could make. If anything I am trying to open the door for them. Sure it might sound great to be a trans woman racing in women’s sports but in the long run that won’t last.

 @krumpdancer101: for an old dude who this doesn't affect, you sure have a lot to say.

 @crysvb: Age is nothing but a number troll!! Mmwwaahh

 @krumpdancer101: your argument is so confusing. how many trans people do you know race bikes to have a class of their own? a trans person has TRANSITIONED into the gender that they feel they are. if a trans woman wants to race me? let's go. they're taking hormone therapies to be the people they want to be, separating them causes further divide.

the whole point of this video has been missed by all of these angry commenters.

 Ross Tucker did a really interesting podcast on this.

Worth a listen to whichever way you look at it.

podcasts.apple.com/za/podcast/why-transgender-athletes-threaten-fairness-in-womens/id1461719225?i=1000522515770

 @crysvb: The only angry illogical opinion on here is yours. You don’t know who I know and or what they want to do. Because one or two people tell you their opinion and that’s the opinion of everybody? You have a lot to learn little girl

 @krumpdancer101: ok, LOL

 Some local races already have something like you describe. The Summer Classic Team enduro in Oregon has a Men’s, women’s, and more! Category.
“ MORE! embraces all genders and is inclusive of people who are trans, non-binary, gender fluid etc. Race Cascadia is a welcoming space for everybody! ” - their website

 @Dragonfly-: Amen!! Case closed.

 @krumpdancer101: First off, use your words. I'm pretty sure you meant to use accept instead of except. And you don't really seem to know what the difference is between their, there, and there. That alone tells me I'm talking to someone who can't discern critically.

What I said was that it's a complex issue with different interests that all need to be taken into account in a considerate way. And that dumb-dumbs like you don't get to call the shots. Plain and simple. You get to have an opinion. If you want to share your opinion, you're not entitled to sharing it with a closed mind.

I don't have a firm stance on this because I'm open to the fact that it's not a binary issue and because I don't know enough about it/am not close enough to it. But I do know that it's not a clear cut issue, and that to simplify it just so one can take a stance on it is counterproductive.

 @krumpdancer101: thanks for saying what any reasonable person is thinking...

 @pgomez: aaahhhh name calling!!! Now we know who is both physically and mentally the week person. I could easily dedicate all of my syllables, pronouns, verbs and adjectives to destroy you but hey I’m just chilling today. Keep sucking the sheep juice down your throat or up your #?$. It’s Merica so you are free to choose.

 @pgomez: pretty simple, it isn’t fair. See how easy that was? Don’t need much insight, just a few brain cells really.

 @Muzled: that’s because they’re scared of the truth and they follow what they consider science. Remember though this is the same science people that can’t tell you when a baby begins “life” or where humans even came from.

 Another issue with this idea is that signing up in a trans (or nonbinary/intersex/whatever) class would mean outing yourself to the entire planet, which isn't desirable or even safe for some people. And it's gonna be a really small field since only some fraction of a percent of the population is trans. Not to say I don't think there should be a trans/'other' class, but I don't think forcing all trans/'other' humans to use it is the silver-bullet solution to a complicated issue.

 @ryetoast: ok so I can just call myself a woman and enter a race no questions asked. Does that sound ok to you?

 @mariomtblt: At a grassroots level, yeah, sure. You know why? Because you won't do that if you're not trans. You have some modicum of integrity, don't you? And if you are trans, and if you win--congrats! Enjoy this box of weird flavored Clif bars donated by the LBS!

And at the professional level--no, and that's not how it works. There are requirements for hormone levels and how long you've been undergoing hormone therapy before you can compete in the women's class. You probably know this and are just trollin' - and also, I doubt anyone commenting here is qualified to assess whether the current requirements are fair. There aren't a lot of trans athletes, human performance studies are complex, I'm sure this topic will be generating debate for years to come. Hopefully some of it is respectful and intelligent.

 @ryetoast: it doesn't work like that.

The athlete has had male hormones their entire lives and you can't undo that pysiological change by upping the estrogen levels.

Have a listen to this and let me know if you still think the same

podcasts.apple.com/za/podcast/why-transgender-athletes-threaten-fairness-in-womens/id1461719225?i=1000522515770

 @krumpdancer101: I get it's a touchy subject but I'd be interested to hear what those 7 downvoters had to say if one of their daughters turned up to compete against someone like Laurel Hubbard in weightlifting and got beaten because Laurel Hubbard had all the advantages of developing as a male whereas their daughters didn't.

It's really quite a cut and dry situation.

I've nothing against anyone that is trans or whatever, but when it comes to competeing against female opposition it's a not an equal comparison.

 @Muzled: they don’t wanna debate, that requires actual reality. Follow or be cancelled is there motto.

 @Muzled: Will do. But in the meantime, - it does 'work like that'. Those are the requirements for medical transition that are currently in place from the UCI. Are they unfair? Maybe, maybe not. I recognize that testosterone blockers and estrogen don't totally erase male puberty and most trans women will carry some advantages from that. However, cis women aren't all built the same either - having some unearned, built-in advantage is what makes a 'naturally gifted athlete'. I guess it comes down to whether or not you're comfortable with some of those advantages stemming from being trans.

 @ryetoast: cis women, that was the term i was looking for!

No one will disagree that some people have a built in advantage and that makes them natually gifted, however you can't compare non cis women with cis women, that's the whole argument.

If my memory serves me correctly world rugby has banned trans atheletes in womens comps because it's downright dangerous just because of the extra power that non cis women/trans athletes have.

In the podcast Ross Tucker says that men have 160% of the punching power of women, that's not something that you can be comfortable with when cis competes against non cis/trans, people are getting smashed because one is so much stronger than the other.

Interesting topic anyway, I'm sure it's going to cause a lot of sports admistrators a lot of consternation for years to come.

 @Muzled: Fascinating podcast. I wish they'd given it a less...decisive title, because (as your first share being below the prop threshold suggests) I think a lot of people won't listen to it because they expect it'll be some sort of alt-right rant. Hard to find fault with the safety argument against inclusion in combat sports, but cycling is less clear IMO as a sex-based advantage isn't going to physically hurt anyone. Personally, I'm not living in some sort of mental fairyland where women are the physical equals of men in every particular (like many, I was removed that fairyland in 7th grade gym class) nor where all of those inequalities can be medically erased after the fact. But I do think there's something to the 'trans women are women' argument - which is social and semantic, but... we live in a society. They mention at the end of the podcast that, at least in some sports, an athlete might have to be in the, say, top 5-10% of males to be on the same level as elite women if they were to transition. If we truly believe trans women are women, not women*, why don't we just accept that such a woman is exceptional - maybe in part due to being trans, but also because she's a good athlete anyway - and let her compete, and congratulate her if she wins? I don't think you can deny the existence of any advantages based on the current research, but there's an argument to be had about whether and to what level you want to accept that advantage. And this seems to be the track that a lot of sports organizations have taken. Will they reevaluate if trans women start winning 'too much', as happened with DSD women in running? Maybe. Whatever the case, sure would be nice if the issue wasn't a political football.

 @ryetoast: Nice one RT, glad you took the time to listen to it, like you say it's super interesting.

It'd be interesting for him to do another one and go a little deeper as they focussed on those contact and power based sports which is his field I guess.

I was wondering what he'd think on something like table tennis, or equestrian. Or is there even a need to debate that? One would think there is no advantage no matter the gender in those two. Tennis or golf might be different as even though most anyone that can hit a ball would beat me there is still a physical advantage of being able to run fast.

Maybe there are different rules for different sports? Maybe if you're trans and your sport is deemed contact or power based then as a trans athlete you need to accept you can't compete at the highest level (whatever level that might be).

It's certainly not a cookie cutter situation.

 you really need to think a little more..

 @drunknride: user name checks out, when you sober up, delete your PB account.

 @mariomtblt: cool. you've seen your last woman win any event, ever. so inclusive!

 @crysvb: it’s always the old dudes with the most to say on topics that effect them the least. it must be years of their own friends and family slowly avoiding them and their painful endless opinions..

 @crysvb: 100% on the money comment, thanks.

 @mariomtblt: if you really this dumb I’m not sure you should be online using electricity.

 @crysvb: hilarious take! I love that modern western society has completely thrown the uno reverse card on the deck in regard to the knowledge of elders! it used to be that age was a marker that you might have more knowledge. Now? now it's that you have less. LMAO.

fwiw, this thinking is why we are doomed to repeat the mistakes your grandpa warned you about from his youth.

 Such an interesting term. Kind of a self-own, too, decrying someone as "awake" and consequently implying that it'd be better if all people were sleep like yourself.

Wait, who are those people that keep calling others "sheep"? I must've forgotten what political ideology they are, can you remind me?

 crawl out of your cave and read some objective science on the regulations being put into place for trans women. your statement is simply untrue

 LOL. Fortunately, it looks like every single elite female athlete on Earth has more empathy and determination than you.

 uh, you sure? Many top tier female athletes have spoken out against allowing trans to compete against women…

May want to do a wee bit of research before running your mouth sweetheart.

Humorously, the most vocal positivity comes from either nobodies (i.e. you), or the irrelevant/unsuccessful ‘pros’ who desperately want to be noticed.

 fortunately you are not a female pro racer, you are just another Dude with Opinions on the internet

 @EnsBen: Please post links to these papers we should read.

 @iamamodel: if you have the ability to type a comment on PB... You have the ability to use Google search bar for the topics discussed in this thread. Don't be lazy.

 @OlSkoolJake: If we're talking about competition, the latest I heard was males transitioning have to undergo 36 months of testosterone blocking. That After-the-fact hormone blocking cannot undo the physical advantages puberty provides the male body. It's completely unfair to the girls because of this. There are no fair & logical arguments to refute this.

 @nvranka: ok sweetheart. Back under the bridge you go

 @giantwhip: aw poor guy has to virtue signal for internet points must be a sad existence. Maybe you can discuss with your boy "JC" whom you love to refernece.

I'll just be chilling here, enjoying my priveledges.

Maybe you can get typical canadian or some of the other PB cucklings to bring enough attention to me for a temp ban again...would be nice to rid myself of this place for a few weeks again tbh. Bunch of losers, but hey...I choose to engage with ya, so can't complain!

Hilarious how many of you want to blindly argue for the rights around unfair competition. Don't worry, I won't be downvoting you, I want you to feel like your voice is heard. Opiate of the masses, so I can continue to amass wealth in the real world with minimal competiton whilst everyone is arguing about trans on the internet. HA!

 @OlSkoolJake: That's not how arguments work. He infers they exist so I want the links. I've read many papers that show born males and post pubescent males have traits that are advantageous in MTB gravity events e.g. eyesight. Some other things are self-evident like skull structure.

 @nvranka: I reference Jesus Christ in a bad way. He will never be my homie. Maybe instead of trying to get banned you can just.leave and go back to your 4chan or Reddit or wherever you get praise from. No one wants you here. You literally have nothing to contribute and you're a POS so just accept it

 @giantwhip: hey! my 9 followers would respectfully disagree.

I don't use reddit nor have I ever even visited 4chan, lol. I ride moto and race dh, thus I end up here (though PB has less and less content I care for frankly these days) and on vital...generally have a vitriolic, largely unnecessary, hatred towards social media and internet forums.

Keep getting a hook stuck in my mouth with PB comments though. Just can't help but argue with faceless losers*...I had written morons, but honestly feel bad for low intelligence folks being associated with you.

One day I'll grow up, I hope.

I will say that it is always cucks just like you who will go around voicing how important it is to accept everyone and be tender towards others, and then turn around tell someone else NO ONE WANTS YOU HERE! Gives me a good laugh.

Hope you're enjoying being a beta loser with nothing to show for your pathetic existence. Suppose I am making some assumptions here, but based on my brief interaction with you...I can't imagine I'm far off.

Good luck out there champ! I know I'll be resting easy That is, after I go for my nightly ride on some incredible trails some buddies just finished building. If they read my comments on here I'd never hear the end of it ha!

 @EnsBen: The regulations being put into place are based on breathtakingly bad "science". One "study" was interviewing 7 joggers before/after transition and asking how they felt about their jogging performance. That was specifically used by the IOC to determine testosterone level caps.

Its not just male puberty that gives men a physical advantage in mountain biking. There are geospatial visual processing, reaction times, risk assessment, visual acuity, etc advantages that can be measured in male fetuses before we are even born.

Even before puberty, boys have more upper body strength, weigh more, are taller, have longer limbs, higher bone density, narrower hips, and on and on and on.

 @hamncheez: Arguing with children and old hippies gets you nowhere. They believe "science" is based on whether or not it hurts someone's feelings.

 @nvranka: pb has really gone down the tubes. THis is the age of the trail clones now XD

 @ryetoast: are you trying to insult me? Looooooooool

 @EnsBen: ah thankfully you are here to provide this lecture on objectivity for me. Sport participants have historically been categorized by gender for the sake of keeping competition close. This logic would carry on to say that another class would be created when another gender is introduced. Trans athletes have destroyed the women's division in terms of having actual competition amongst biological women due to having the muscle mass of a male. It's a mess. Women's weightlifting records are being smashed this year

 wtf do you mean?

 @crysvb: This article suggests that Blake Hansen competes as a woman in Enduro and in womens freeride events. If men continue to compete in the womens category in various sports, no one will watch womens sports anymore.

 @hamncheez: LOL get the hell outta here. this thinking is so archaic i'm not even going to debate this with you. sad. i feel bad for your daughters growing up with such a closed minded/hateful dad

 @crysvb: I guess biology is archaic now.

 Oh common - you sound like there are millions of transgender athletes out there and that it is a trend which people choose to be part of. Accept, respect, move on.

 @danielson-01: so when that transgender athlete wins the women's Olympic weightlifting, we should just "accept" and move on? What about contact sports?

 @hamncheez: what if for example, one of your family members came out as transgender. would you still feel this way? there are literal people at the end of your pointed words. they wake up every day not feeling like they are the person they display on the outside so they do something about it. they BRAVELY transition, think about the courage it takes. imagine coming out to someone in their family with the same mindset as you? these are humans we're talking about. maybe show a little compassion and understanding.

 @crysvb: I have only mentioned sports. It is unfair to compete with unfair advantage. Not only is this harmful to women directly when they are out competed, it means no one will watch. That is not a moral judgement, but an observation. No one wants to watch an uncompetitive event. Where I will insert my moral judgement is on how selfish it is to destroy womens sports.

 @hamncheez: LOL well i'm a woman and i'm not worried about it so i don't think you should be.

 @crysvb: "Some road cyclists don't worry about PEDs so I don't think you should be"

 @hamncheez: if you are so worried, distracted and upset that this could happen, then you might better join the UCI, MMA, UOC etc. and bring in your votum instead of complaining in a thread where the person in question has been interviewed and reads the comments!

Or do you think anyone will get something positive for their life out of such comments?

 @danielson-01: I hope people who compete unfairly will consider the consequences of their actions

 @hamncheez:

1: this is not how a conversation goes if you never stay on the subject or discuss the points.
2: if an athlete competes within the regulations a UCI or any organization made, the athlete does not take the responsibility for that.

Better argue about doping and stuff of you want to argue about fairness.

 @danielson-01: I want women's sports to continue to exist as my daughter's grow up. If men continue to compete in the women's division, this will not happen.

 @danielson-01: please point out where I'm not staying on subject

 Quote exactly where anyone is telling you that? I'm really curious.

Also, the company that bought PB is called Outside, not "Outdoor" and is a different entity from Outside Magazine (although it does own the magazine).

 @bananowy: same shit different bag.

 @zstover: No, not really, considering "Outdoor Magazine" is not even a thing from what I've been able to find

But never mind getting names right or wrong. I'm more interested in your answer to my first question if you find a minute to answer.

 No one's telling you to think anything and no one cares what you have to say anyway

 I do.

 I sure don’t!

 @AZRyder: yet here you are