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UK EDITION MARCH 2021, £3.50 BEYOND THE ORDINARY SUBSCRIBE: GETREDBULLETIN.COM THE MINT 400 Desert drama at the iconic American off-road race ROAR OF THE ROSES England rugby’s women on the push for sporting glory CORAL CRUSADE How freediver GUILLAUME NÉRY and a group of young Polynesian innovators are fighting to save our underwater world FORD RANGER RAPTOR LET NOTHING STAND IN YOUR WAY. CONQUER ALL WITH TERRAIN MANAGEMENT FEATURING FOX RACING SUSPENSION. #NoObstacles ford.co.uk Editor’s letter CONTRIBUTORS BIG IDEAS THIS ISSUE In this month’s issue of The Red Bulletin, we meet inspiring characters who remind us that we don’t need to possess all the answers to have a plan. When Titouan Bernicot gave up his place at business school in France and moved back to Mo’orea, the small island in French Polynesia where he’d grown up, he wasn’t exactly sure how he was going to achieve his goal – to GAVIN BOND The British snapper is more help save the coral reefs around his island. He only knew that used to fashion shoots than trying to do it was the only way he could be happy. Bernicot motorsports, but somehow found himself at US off-road has since founded the Coral Gardeners (page 30), a group of race The Mint 400. “It was surfers, fishermen and freedivers who are working to save not three dusty days in the desert I won’t forget,” he says. “It only the reefs around Mo’orea, but around the world. was my last shoot before the And in our feature Think Bigger (page 41) we discover the pandemic hit, but dodging trucks and wearing a mask to athletes who used 2020 not as a year to stay at home, but as avoid the inhaling the dust one in which to push themselves further than ever, using new did not prepare me for what followed in 2020.” Page 50 training grounds, methods and contacts to do it. Then we speak to three of the Red Roses (page 68), the England women’s rugby team, who all successfully fought for a place in the squad despite having to study or work full-time alongside their sporting JESSICA HAYDEN career. Since winning The London-based rugby professional contracts in journalist and women’s rugby columnist wrote our feature 2019, the team’s victories on the England women’s have multiplied, and rugby team. “The Red Roses are a fun, hard-working and we find out why their awe-inspiring group of best still lies ahead. athletes,” says Hayden, who also writes for The Times and We hope you enjoy The Guardian among others. the issue. “This is a monumental year for women’s rugby. It’s the best time to start watching.” Page 68 Out on patrol with the Coral Gardeners, as shot by filmmaker/photographer and crew member Ryan Borne. GARDENERS CORAL (COVER), BORNE RYAN Page 30 04 THE RED BULLETIN The Classic Base Layer from howies. Made from 100% pure Merino wool, it feels great next to your skin, naturally. www.howies.co.uk 50 Sands of time: 53 years on from inception, The Mint 400 endures 08 Gallery: autumnal mountain- biking in the forests of France; cliff diving in a former salt mine in Romania; ice-cool surfing in small-town Alaska 15 Rap royalty Common captures the spirit of social revolution in just four songs CONTENTSMarch 2021 16 TouchMe: the musical device that transforms skin into a whole 24 Joe Joyce 75 Mountain excitement: ride, sail different kind of organ Zen and the art of boxing and hike through the Norwegian fjords for a spectacular and 18 The self-cultured Ouroboros exhilarating experience Steak makes biting your nails 26 Ben Buddy Slack Committing memories to music feel like an appetiser 80 Keep the frost at bay in the best cold-weather cycling garb 21 Channel Iron Man in the 28 Bolanle Tajudeen workplace with the Guardian XO Putting diversity in the picture 82 Inspiring life lessons from full-body exoskeleton suit 30 Coral Gardeners para-athlete Claire Danson 22 Throwing popcorn is still possible Reef rescue with Polynesia’s 84 ThruDark: next-level mountain kit with OMA Cinema’s viewing pods, defenders of the deep 86 Step back in time: the return of the Nintendo Game & Watch but only if you perfect your aim 41 Think bigger 87 Gaming: become a stealth expert Lockdown needn’t be a hurdle to success – here’s the proof 88 Our pick of the hottest hiking gear 50 The Mint 400 94 Essential dates for your calendar Eating dust on the trail of 98 Wingsuited wonders in Norway America’s oldest desert rally 62 Monki The London DJ playing for kicks 68 Red Roses The England women’s rugby GAVIN BOND GAVIN team are ready to rule 2021 THE RED BULLETIN 07 BRIOUDE, FRANCE Falling into place In life, sometimes everything just comes together. Take Jean-Baptiste Liautard’s last-minute assignment to shoot mountain biker Amaury Pierron. Following a flight from Vancouver, then a long drive, the photographer arrived in south-central France tired and short of ideas. Enter a sudden snowstorm. “I remember running in every direction, trying to figure out the shot I should do and the lighting needed,” he says, “but I’m glad I had time to set up everything before it stopped snowing. We were even lucky with the fall tones of the trees perfectly matching Amaury's kit and bike.” Bless you, Mother Nature... jbliautard.com JB LIAUTARD JB 09 TURDA, ROMANIA Deep dive A former salt mine turned tourist attraction, Romania’s Salina Turda is a subterranean wonderland with structures that glow like mutant sea anemones in the gloom. But Red Bull Cliff Diving ace Rhiannan Iffland was only here for the lake, 112m below ground. “We ticked a ‘world’s first’ box: the first-ever underground dive into a salt mine,” says the Australian of her October 2020 plunge. “The water is 17 per cent more dense than seawater, so the impact is different. It pushes you straight up to the surface.” joergmitter.com; Instagram: @rhiannan_iffland JOERG MITTER/RED BULL CONTENT POOL CONTENT MITTER/RED BULL JOERG 11 YAKUTAT, ALASKA Chill wave Action sports photographer Dom Daher was working at the Freeride World Tour in Haines, Alaska, when he received a text from former freeride medallist Anne-Flore Marxer. “She said it was pumping in Yakutat and we should go right after the event,” recalls the Frenchman. “So, the next day, we flew there – in a very small plane.” Yukutat in south-east Alaska has a population of just 600 – “the town cop knows everyone’s home phone number by heart,” reports Daher – and a wave that local surfers keep a fiercely guarded secret. Nevertheless, resident teacher Andrew (pictured) was on hand to add a human element to this dramatic shot. domdaher.com DOM DAHER 13 COMMON Sing the changes The US rapper, actor and activist shares four songs that embody the sound of revolution Social activism and promoting positivity have long been trademarks of Lonnie Rashid Lynn Jr, best known as rapper and actor Common. The Chicagoan, a regular on the frontlines of protest in 2020, is the author of two best-selling books, has appeared in films including 2014’s Selma – for which he co-penned the Academy Award-winning song Glory and starred as civil rights leader James Bevel – and has recorded 13 albums. With his latest, A Beautiful Revolution Pt.1 (out now), the 48-year-old Oscar, Emmy and Grammy winner wants to heal and inspire those affected by racial and social injustice. Here, he lists four classic tracks with the power to change the world… thinkcommon.com John Lennon Queen Latifah Yasiin Bey (fka Mos Def) Gil Scott-Heron Imagine (1971) UNITY (1993) Umi Says (1999) The Revolution Will Not Be Televised (1971) “This song has always “The end result of revolution “Mos played this to me before resonated with me because I’m should be unity. Throughout it came out, and I remember “I was really young when I first a dreamer and I really believe history there’s been an telling him, ‘This is one of the heard this song. It was unique in a better world, full of love, imbalance of male energy and greatest records I’ve ever to me, because I’d never heard compassion and happiness. dominance that has negatively heard.’ It felt so soulful and spoken word on a song before. FLORIAN OBKIRCHERFLORIAN Imagination is a powerful tool. affected the world. Queen uplifting. When I think of this As I got older, I really took heed So many things we create start Latifah is empowering women, song – especially the lyric ‘My of what he was saying. Gil Scott- off as an imagined thought or telling them they’re queens and Umi [‘mother’ in Arabic] said Heron represents the true hopeful feeling. John’s inspiring they should demand respect. shine your light on the world’ – core, heart and purity of what words make me feel like change The revolution is nothing without I see it as an act of revolution. revolution is: being unafraid, can happen. That, to me, is one women in power, in leadership If you’re shining your light on courageous, clever, and having MARK LEIBOWITZMARK of the seeds of revolution.” roles, with respect and honour.” the world, that’s part of it.” power in what you say.” THE RED BULLETIN 15 “And for my values between contact areas; encore, some this data is then sent as a Diana Ross… MIDI signal to your computer TouchMe in the Morning” where it is converted into sounds that are played via an online interface.