Today during research, I took a closer look at some screenshots of @schlingmanm ‘s Wide Open Mag website from 2001.

As a designer, I appreciate old websites made with Adobe Flash. They were so personal, distinctive and highly creative. Looking at this website, you had a forum, you had a gallery where riders could submit their own images and videos, you had rider and photographer columns (like the one being shown here from @billthomasphoto), you had location maps where to ride, you had a little music player on the side and much more…

Those were the kinds of sites that built a strong community early on at a time pre Facebook, Instagram or Youtube.