zonaec

I'm on the spectrum and you have no idea to happy it makes me to read this story. Thank you so much pinkbike! Representation matters so much!

Please, I beg you, all of you, to do your research before commenting on this. It's not as easy as that and it doesn't have to do with hate but with lack of information. 1. If a transgender person goes through puberty, yes, this person has the advantages of a developed male body (the bone density and muscle mass you're all preaching). But reality is, most people of the transgender community start taking hormone blockers the moment they notice puberty changes because the physical changes are the one thing they DON'T want, before they can start the real hormone therapy (like Kate did). 2. The difference of power-driven sports (lifting, soccer, and mtb too) and endurance-driven sports (running) is the key factor here, because the advantage shows the most in power-driven disciplines. This is I why I (imho) disagree with transgender athletes in powerlifting, who already went through puberty. But in mountainbiking, those athletes would be automatically excluded with this new ruling, as they won't go under the 5 n/mol mark. 3. I agree with the change of the rule, like Kate already stated, natural hormone levels are under the planned rule of 5 n/mol and hormone levels of transitioned athletes, who didn't hut puberty, as well 4. All the information aside, one emotional point: I am a cis gender female so this shouldn't bother me, but taking away a desire or dream of a person who did not choose to be born in the wrong body is dicrimination and this is why this solution is not expedient. Imagine having to compete in the female category because you were born with a vagina, and you don't get a chance to prove that you don't belong here. That is discrimination. Educate, don't hate. Here are the sources: Interview Kate: https://www.wideopenmountainbike.com/2019/07/kate-weatherly-new-zealand-downhill-mountain-biker-interview Real Clear Science's article on typical male and female testosterone levels: https://www.realclearscience.com/articles/2019/04/19/what_is_a_normal_level_of_testosterone_110949.html Serum androgen levels and their relation to performance in track and field: mass spectrometry results from 2127 observations in male and female elite athletes: https://bjsm.bmj.com/content/51/17/1309 Testosterone dose-response relationships in hysterectomized women with or without oophorectomy: effects on sexual function, body composition, muscle performance and physical function in a randomized trial: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24281237 Effects of sex steroid hormones on regional fat depots as assessed by magnetic resonance imaging in transsexuals: https://www.physiology.org/doi/pdf/10.1152/ajpendo.1999.276.2.E317 Body composition, bone turnover, and bone mass in trans men during testosterone treatment: 1-year follow-up data from a prospective case-controlled study (ENIGI): https://www.sigmaaldrich.com/catalog/papers/25550352 NHS guide to hormone therapy for trans people: http://www.teni.ie/attachments/9ea50d6e-1148-4c26-be0d-9def980047db.PDF Fiber Type Composition of the Vastus Lateralis Muscle of Young Men and Womenhttps://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/002215540004800506 Morphometric analysis of normal skeletal muscles in infancy, childhood and adolescence: https://www.jns-journal.com/article/0022-510X(88)90227-4/pdf Interpreting laboratory results in transgender patients on hormone therapy: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24332725 Transsexuals and competitive sports, Gooren & Bunck: https://eje.bioscientifica.com/downloadpdf/journals/eje/151/4/425.pdf Preservation of volumetric bone density and geometry in trans women during cross-sex hormonal therapy: a prospective observational study: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25377496 Or the short version in a video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=02FCYz8bOo8

If you want to buy a mountainbike, you're gonna spend a sh*t ton of money, so you better be informed. And if you're informed, you find out pretty quickly that you don't need a women's specific bike – you just need a bike that fits. Women are (just like e bikes) a new market with fast growing buying power and if the industry wants to keep their new customer, they need to match their needs. And it makes me really happy to see that they take no shit, just want proper bikes and get them.

only scrolled for this comment

Went through ta similar situation – right collarbone broken 3 times, had 6 surgeries in 2 years and I was so mentally drained after the third one...it haunted me for years. So BIG props to Brannigan for managing to come back from this to racing worldclass again!! All the best for your future.

I'm only here for the comments

Oh boy, 2020 is gonna be so exciting!!

JVK is out too (concussion)

Weird? That vid is hilarious!

@vhdh666: it's corrected now, there was "ROXIT?????" written in the "I'd rather meet Ken Roczen than Beyonce"-sentence previously