That's GREAT! My wife really isn't interested in riding, but I toy with the idea of getting a Ural with a sidecar. I think she'd enjoy that.

Alex, I hope you thoroughly enjoy that 450. Opportunities to ride were few and far between for my son and I, but I agree...it was a great time for me just to see his enjoyment and share it. Clay, I bought my first bike while I was on active duty and it left a lastingly good aftertaste. I enjoyed it enough (and had sufficient confidence in my son's agility and balance) to accommodate his wish for a bike. Other riders laugh because I use training wheels on my machine; I ride MUCH more conservatively than I did years ago.

While I understand and support the merit of educating the public, there is the question, "What are they being taught?" We have three pods or families of orca in the Puget Sound, and there has never been a recorded attack of an orca on a diver or swimmer; however, they have harbor seals, sea lions and porpoises (their natural prey) to snack upon and humans are not on their menu. You can drop a goldfish into a glass bowl and, as long as you keep the water clean and keep the goldfish fed, it'll probably do well. An orca echolocates, knows exactly what the confines of its pen or exhibit may be. Denied the ability to hunt, to roam, to socialize with other orca, it develops a tension that it will act out. It will become very possessive of what little space it occupies, and it will manifest aggressive behavior, as this one did (and apparently has done in the past). When you work with wild animals, you tend to anthropomorphize the animal and, since we are social creatures, we presume we have a relationship with the animal. At some level, perhaps we do, but not one that overrides the animal's natural instinct. This incident is a tragedy. A well-intended professional was drowned. The orca did not eat her; it drowned her. These are powerful and impressive hunters, but it had nothing to practice upon to maintain and sharpen those skills, and has no accurate awareness of how fragile a human may be, or how long humans can hold their breath. Yes, it is impressive to see how powerful they are, what behaviors they can learn to execute on cue, and how well they interact with their trainers...but we are working against their nature, and there are consequences for that. I admire much of the research done at our major aquariums, but these orca are contained for long periods to exhibit those learned behaviors for the public. We marvel, but that tension within the creature builds and they will act out. Let research continue, but this is not a creature for circus acts; as Dave mentioned, they are the apex predators of the Sound and they are perfectly adapted to their environment. There is no malice in their hunt, just an individual effort or a coordinated attack with the intent to eat, which is a basic instinct for all creatures. As hunters, we should be able to understand. We can get hamburgers and steak at dozens of restaurants but, if you're geared to hunt, you feel a building need to do so with time. In the off-season, we may practice at the range or in the field. There are some creatures that don't respond well to confinement. This is one of them. Research has its benefits; capture them without harm, study them, and return them to their environment as soon as practically possible. Prolonged confinement or containment will result in incidents like this, and the price (for this experienced professional trainer) was too high to pay for public entertainment.

I will say these young ladies have gone to greater lengths to support their team than most Olympic athletes have gone; however, the calendar sold out, so there is something to said for effective marketing. They are attractive young women, but their pose (if this is a representative photo of the rest of the calendar) is not sexually suggestive. If we consider that a few of America's winter Olympians posed for Sports Illustrated and, in my opinion, not as tastefully as this, we have to ponder contemporary values and choices. I'm not offended by this photo, and I think it's obvious the photographer and the Canadian Olympians took pains to cover those areas that might be considered overtly provocative. I am reminded that art (and pornography) are in the minds of the beholder. How would I react if my 24 year-old daughter were a team member and made this choice? Well, I'd eventually ask, "What were you thinking?", but I would consider what I've already written: In a time when young women sunbathe in suits that seem to be constructed of dental floss, and that is accepted in the context of beachwear, the poses in this photo do not excite or appeal to prurient interests...or maybe I'm too old for a prurient or sexually obsessive thought process. I see a group of lovely, self-confident young women at the peak of their form, with what I assume is a good sense of marketing. A part of me regrets that this campaign (again, it sold out) was successfully adopted, since we can be certain that competitive spirit will raise the bar (though it won't lower the nonexistent hemline) for other fundraising efforts. I see nothing in this photo that any of the team should be embarrassed to show their children in the future, and wish them every success in their efforts, short of beating the pants off the American team.