Heroes of the Tour de France have a few things in common. Most are white men, and they tend to hail from European nations with strong cycling cultures and robust infrastructure for developing professional racers. Over the event’s 121-year history, riders from France, Belgium, Spain, and Italy have dominated. 　　Perhaps that’s why fans of the sport were so enthralled by...

　　For decades, American alpinist Kitty Calhoun made a name topping out on some of the world’s highest peaks, including the West Pillar of 27,766-foot Makalu in the Himalayas. But what stayed with her more than any summit view were the alarming effects of climate change. 　　At such elevations, she often noticed melting ice, a hindrance to her ascents. But in...

　　Born into a family of subsistence farmers in the tiny village of Arughat, Nepal, Purnima Shrestha thought that the mountains around her were out of reach. Her village is a stop on the Manaslu Circuit, en route to the eponymous 8,000-meter peak, but Shrestha’s family didn’t even have running water. As a woman, she was expected to marry young, raise...

　　Learning to ride a bike can be your first taste of freedom. Suddenly, the world beyond your front door opens up, ready to be explored on two wheels. 　　But for Marley Blonsky it wasn’t that simple. Back when she was eight years old, trying to ride with her older sister and her friends, she was told she was too slow....

　　Molli Myers was pregnant with her firstborn when the salmon began to die. It was 2002, during the depths of a yearslong drought, and farmers far upstream of her community on the Yurok reservation in Northern California had pressured the George W. Bush administration to divert water from the Klamath River in Oregon to irrigate their fields. Water temperatures rose...

　　Mikaela Shiffrin’s journey toward her 100th World Cup win took an unexpected turn on Saturday when a crash during the second run of the Killington giant slalom sidelined the ski racing legend. But while Shiffrin recovered off the slopes, the U.S. Ski Team delivered one of its strongest collective performances of the season, offering a glimmer of hope and momentum...

　　A day before Thanksgiving, the motor racing world lost one of its most significant trailblazers. Mary McGee, or Motorcycle Mary, died at 87 years old last Wednesday. The Alaskan native was a pioneer in car and motorcycle racing, opening up new territory not only for women — but also for anyone trying to push the boundaries of endurance sports. 　　On...

...

　　Paige McClanahan, a journalist and travel writer, is much too diplomatic to phrase it this way, so allow me to be the grump: you’re the reason locals so often dislike tourists. 　　“Travel has become a consumerist exercise where the goal is to get our money’s worth out of a place,” McClanahan says in a phone interview from her home in...

　　In a 2015 YouTube video, an interviewer asked Gary “Laz” Cantrell why no women had finished his race, the infamous Barkley Marathons in the rugged mountains of Tennessee. “The race is too hard for women,” he replied with a sly grin. “They are simply not tough enough to do it, and I get to say that for as long as...

　　Fishing from a kayak offers a unique experience, allowing for a closer connection with nature and access to less pressured waters. There are no gas station stops or the loud revving of engines. 　　And often, kayaks are allowed on lakes and waterways that motorized boats are not, giving kayak anglers more variation in where and how they can fish. Kayak...

　　The camp chairs are set up. A cracked clipboard rests under my arm. I’m stuffed into my mom jeans. It’s showtime. 　　June gloom blankets Encinal Canyon in a lush mist. I could be in Narnia instead of Malibu, but I barely notice. My body stands in front of a marooned Airstream, waiting. But my mind is back home, wondering if...