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Ten years ago, Mikaela Shiffrin, a 17-year-old high school student, won her first World Cup ski race. Standing at the bottom of the course in Sweden as her name flashed atop the scoreboard standings, she had an expression of unmitigated disbelief.

This week in Austria, Shiffrin won World Cup races in three consecutive days to boost her career victory total to 80. With three months remaining this season, she is only two victories behind Lindsey Vonn’s women’s record for career victories and in reach of the all-time record of 86 Alpine World Cup wins set by Ingemar Stenmark of Sweden.

On Friday, Shiffrin described how she would have reacted on that 2012 night in Sweden if she had been told she would have 80 victories a decade later.

“I would not have believed it, and I’m grateful to still be in disbelief after 80 victories,” she said in a video interview. “I’ve preferred to live my whole career in disbelief of whatever has been accomplished. It keeps you working because I still feel like it’s not real.

“And it’s way more exciting to be constantly in disbelief than expecting to win. That never works anyway.”

At 27, Shiffrin, the wunderkind who is also the rare ski racer to avoid serious injury, is on a path that could obliterate a multitude of World Cup records. Versatile and durable — she is the only racer with victories in each of the six World Cup disciplines (slalom, downhill, super-G, giant slalom, combined and parallel) — Shiffrin has won nearly 35 percent of the 230 races she has entered. If Shiffrin races six more seasons (Vonn ended her last full season at 33) and wins at even half the victory pace she has set in the last decade, she would win 104 World Cup races.

That feat would be roughly equivalent to someone breaking Barry Bonds’s major league career home run record of 762 by hitting 922 home runs.

Shiffrin is not familiar with many sports records outside of ski racing other than tennis, one of her off-season pursuits.

“So I haven’t done the math,” she said with a laugh when told of the Bonds comparison. “But I do realize that the likelihood of anyone getting to where I’ve gotten in my career, it just takes so many things to align just right. Especially in ski racing where there are so many variables outside your control. You need spectacular coaches, the right equipment, ski service, the right weather and years of hard work. And then you still have to show up on a race day that is a nine-hour ball of stress and nerves and somehow make it happen in the two minutes you’re actually racing.

“I don’t know how anybody has ever gotten to 80 victories, let alone three of us. If I think about it too much, I might start crying. Because it’s hard. And yet, sometimes it goes right. And for me, it’s happened. Like a lot. And I’m not sure why.”

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Credit…Christophe Pallot/Agence Zoom/Getty Images

In the 10 months since she fell in three races at the Beijing Olympics and shockingly did not add to her total of three Olympic medals, Shiffrin rebounded by winning her fourth overall World Cup title. Only three ski racers have won more. As she concluded that season, and for months afterward, Shiffrin gave countless interviews trying to explain what went wrong in Beijing. She never truly found a complete answer, but some time this summer while training in the winter conditions of Chile she concluded this much: “I’ve dissected Beijing and said just about everything I can say about those Olympics.”

This fall, Shiffrin launched a YouTube series called “Moving Right Along.”

The title summarizes her post-Olympics perspective and may signal how Shiffrin has overpowered a new ski-racing season with six victories in 12 races, including four wins since Dec. 18.

“The Olympics feel so long ago now,” Shiffrin said Friday. “I’m not forgetting them, I acknowledge it, but then you move forward. It is the same with my victories or my records; I don’t think that dwelling on things is good, healthy or productive.

“So, yeah, moving right along. And I had a lot of great off-season training thinking about that motto for life.”

Shiffrin concedes that the approach may have contributed to her blazing start on the World Cup.

“Your mind is kind of clear, and at the same time it feels like the fans have been so significantly supportive this year,” she said. “I walked through a crowd to get to the gondola on Thursday, and every single person said something encouraging about how I was going to win three in a row and get closer to the record.

“I know people are excited about the record, and I appreciate that.”

Shiffrin said she has somewhat recalibrated her attitude as she prepares to push out of the start gate. That new perspective may not bode well for opponents trying to keep her from the all-time victory record.

“Yesterday, I was not thinking about any records, I was just trying to make the absolute fastest turns at every gate for however long I could do it,” she said. “If I made a mistake, I didn’t care. If it throws me off the course, I don’t care.

“Of course, I’d be disappointed, but it’s my only chance to win the race. So, you know, there was a lesson in that. Because it worked, like the stars aligned.”

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By: Bill Pennington
Title: Mikaela Shiffrin Has Moved On From Beijing and Moved Closer to History
Sourced From: www.nytimes.com/2022/12/31/sports/skiing/shiffrin-vonn-world-cup.html
Published Date: Sat, 31 Dec 2022 08:00:06 +0000

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Frontier Adventure

ARABSAT BADR-8 Mission Control Audio

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This is the vehicle trajectory and mission control audio without any additional commentary. There may be very long periods of silence. For our full hosted webcast, visit

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Above & Beyond’s Blazing ‘Tranquility Base Vol. 1’ EP

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Five instrumental singles, all arranged by your favourite Trance trio, and all out now.

Happy release day everyone! Happy release Above & Beyond, too. At last, their highly anticipated Tranquility Base Vol. 1 EP has seen the light of day, which means we get to enjoy their five new tracks, in full, and on all platforms. No more ABGT500 ID ripping, yo.

The first product of their extra time in the studio, Tranquility Base Vol. 1 comes as a collection of heavy-hitting club records, all calling back to their instrumental roots. These tracks have been played around the world ever since their Los Angeles Group Therapy milestone show, and, until yesterday, two singles had seen the light of day: ‘Angry JP8‘, and ‘500‘. The other three have just seen their official release today.

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(Left to right) Paavo Siljamäki, Tony McGuinness, Jono Grant.

Tranquility Base Vol. 1

The name of the EP series references A&B’s beloved Tranquility Base alias, a staple of the noughties Trance sound, with tracks like ‘Oceanic‘, ‘Razorfish‘, and more. The collection released today features an entire range of techniques and feelings portrayed, from absolutely moving melodies, to uplifting progressions, to dark Techno vibes.

Above & Beyond – Tranquility Base Vol. 1 Tracklist

  1. Angry JP8
  2. Wasp
  3. 500
  4. VLEKNO
  5. Spin Off

Angry JP8

A very interesting track, ‘Angry JP8’ sends you on a journey towards darkness, to ultimately find Above & Beyond’s unmistakeable recent sound with tons of fast saws signaling dynamism on the drops, and the same saws being used differently to add a whole mysterious atmosphere during the break. Part of the singles lifted earlily from the EP, you can read our article about this track right here.

Wasp

A warm aura of piano, historic Trance pads, and even a little reference to the 90s House scene in the form of a square pluck arpeggio, all of this will surround you and slowly ascend you towards the drop, a very melodic one for sure. The drop, by the way, features the same arpeggio from the break, but much more open. ‘Wasp’ truly is a vibe.

500

Also released ahead of time, this track was named after the trio’s milestone ABGT500 show. A piano line once again drives you from the crowded drop to the calmer break, just before an arpeggio decides to move the whole song forward — and your arms to the sky. Don’t believe me? Give it a listen. Oh, and do read our article on the track, by clicking here.

VLEKNO

Arguably the darkest of the bunch — and labeled as ‘Techno‘ by Beatport —, ‘VLEKNO’ distances itself from the others straight away with its playful kick-bass combo. It certainly nods to Trance, though, as you’ll hear an appearance of the era-defining voice pluck made famous by Binary Finary in ‘1998‘. Like his brother coming first on this EP, the break is very mystery-inducing, but you can’t really worry too much about it, since the drop makes you forget it all and dance your analysis away.

Spin Off

Closing Above & Beyond’s Tranquility Base Vol. 1 EP, this track seems much happier and jumpier than others present in the collection. Fake trumpet leads will welcome you to quite the Trancy break, I’d say the most intense one of the bunch in terms of how deep it goes into the roots of the genre. Then, the drop is, as A&B know, a blend of melody, arpeggios, a driving bassline in the background, and a Progressive Trance percussion selection.

Enough said, probably! I can’t describe these tracks more than you can feel and hear if you give the EP a listen. Click below to stream Above & Beyond’s Tranquility Base Vol. 1 EP on Spotify, or rather, click here to be redirected to the Continuous Mix over at YouTube. Lastly, click here to support the EP in any way you like.

The post Above & Beyond’s Blazing ‘Tranquility Base Vol. 1’ EP appeared first on EDMTunes.

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By: Felipe Latorre Cabello
Title: Above & Beyond’s Blazing ‘Tranquility Base Vol. 1’ EP
Sourced From: www.edmtunes.com/2023/05/above-beyonds-blazing-tranquility-base-vol-1-ep/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=above-beyonds-blazing-tranquility-base-vol-1-ep
Published Date: Thu, 25 May 2023 14:53:21 +0000

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Giddy up: Colt Wrangler’s prizewinning Harley Sportster

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Custom Harley-Davidson Sportster by Colt Wrangler
With a name like Colt Wrangler, it’s safe to assume that the man is from Texas and probably a bit of a cowboy. Hot dang if you aren’t right on both counts—Colt has been riding broncos and bulls competitively since he was a kid. But what you’re less likely to guess, is that this young cowpoke is also one of the most impressive motorcycle builders to emerge from the US custom scene in recent years.

Since Colt Wrangler Motorcycles was founded in 2015, Colt has established a distinct design language of his own. Recognizable by their high-level sheet-metal work, his builds exist in perfect proportion and hold high-performance details for those that know what they’re looking at—or even better, for those lucky enough to ride them.

Custom Harley-Davidson Sportster by Colt Wrangler

We have featured Cole’s bikes before. But with more time to work on his latest project—a 1999 Harley-Davidson Sportster—he’s taken his personal style to new heights.

Colt had just started the Harley Sportster project, working in collaboration with local Texas truck builders Vintage Vendetta Garage, when Roland Sands Design announced the Dream Build-Off. This was a competition for local shops and backyard builders, with new motorcycles from BMW, Indian, and Royal Enfield as prizes. The Sportster was originally supposed to be a street-ready scrambler, but with this added motivation, Colt went

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By: Morgan Gales
Title: Giddy up: Colt Wrangler’s prizewinning Harley Sportster
Sourced From: www.bikeexif.com/custom-harley-sportster-colt-wrangler
Published Date: Fri, 19 May 2023 17:01:46 +0000

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