¡LOS MARCOS MADNESS!

HI KRIPTONITE! THIS IS EL MARCO BUENO FROM WORLDS GREATAST POLO TEAM LOS MARCOS POLOS. ¡VIVA LOS MARCOS! SO HEY, THANKS YOU FOR SPONSOR OUR TORNAMENT WE HAVE IN NEW YORK CITY. IS SECOND YEAR NOW FOR TOURNAMENT AND WE MAKE IT TWICE AS BIG. MORE PRIZE! MORE MADNESS! MORE CHANCE FOR YOU FOR BRIBE US WITH WHAT LOS MARCOS LIKE BEST: BOOZE, WOMEN, AND FOUL PLAY. TWO DAY ONLY! OKTOBARE THREE AND 4. THEN GO HOEM AND CRY BECAUSE LOS MARCOS TOOK ALL PRIZE. YOU TRY BETTER NEXT TIME! HAHAHAHAH! HAHA IS JUST KIDDING. LOS MARCOS NO NEED MORE THINGS. WE HAS AVARYTHING WE WANT IN LOS MARCOSTAN. BUT MAYBE WE TAKE YOU WOMEN BACK AYNWAY. YOU NO SHOULD MISS LOS MARCOS MADNESS BECAUSE YOU REGREAT IT. BIKE POLO IT IS TRADITIONING SPORT OF LOS MARCOSTAN BECAUSE IT WAS INFENTED THERE, JUST LIKE OL KERNEL MARCOS INVANT BIKE FROM HALUSSINOGENIC FLAMSE OF MOUNT MARCOSTAN. NOW IT SO POPULAR EVRYWARE IT GO IN NEW YROK TIME ONCE AN WALL ST JERNEL WE THINK. IT SPORT OF FUTURE, JUST LIKE KICKPOXING. ¡VIVA!

And, now for a translation from our friend Ken Stanek, who has been a close observer of the Los Marcos Madness phenomena.... First of all, there's Bike Polo. If you've never heard of it, it's probably exactly what you think it is. It's got roots in the back lots of Seattle courier companies and 19th century Irish fields.

Then there's Los Marcos Polos. There's no rational explanation for them. They claim to have dominated the sport for somewhere between two years and two centuries. They appear infrequently, and sometimes only in rare footage captured by unknowing, camera weilding tourists. The only thing anyone knows for certain is that they throw the most ridiculous "tournament" anyone could imagine each October in New York City. Catch them and teams from as far away as Chicago, Ottawa, Richmond, East Vancouver, and Seattle this coming weekend at
Los Marcos Madness. For more information, visit http://www.losmarcospolos.com/

Where is Everyone?

Seems like the blog's been quiet for about a week. Why? Just about everyone at Kryptonite was at Interbike - the big industry trade show. I was there this year to attend one and speak on another social media panel, as well as do a live Spokesmen show. It was a great time seeing some old friends.

There's so much to see there, but here are just a few of the things that I came across.

All the Spokesmen in one place!

Tim "Masiguy"Jackson, Tim Grahl, Richard "Fritz" Masoner, Carlton Reid, David Bernstein

Karen and Don catch up with Chipps Chippendale

Jelly Belly had a cool motorcycle in their booth. And, free Jelly Bellies.

The pros were there, too. Lance in the Oakley booth.

George Hincapie was at the show, too.

But, the never-ending lines were for Tyler Hamilton newly crowned national champ!

Karen and Gustavo welcomed David Bowman from Outdoor Gear Canada to the booth

Karen was a busy lady. She also talked with Megan Tompkins from Bicycle Retailer

Oh yea, there were bikes, too...like this Masi

And the Felt Bikes

And this way cool bike!

Interbike is also about dear friends. Here are three of mine all in one place!

Russ Denny, Tim Jackson, Christian Klempp

Happy World Carfree Day!

http://www.worldcarfree.net/wcfd/

Cool organization! Check out their list of projects. Visit the site often. Think about having a carfree hour...then a carfree day...then a carfree weekend...then.....

Clean, Green, Riding Machine

You may not be able to go too far before recharging, but the Enertia electric motorcycle is a beautiful way to be kind to the environment and look good on the commute in the process. Supposed to be hitting the street early next year. Order yours in advance! Check out the site.

Perewitz Bike Night Tonight

It's a gorgeous day here in New England and promises to be a fantastic, Fall evening tonight. It's the perfect day/night for the last Perewitz Bike Night of the season.

Dave and Jody will be there. Eric will be there and I think you'll even see Tim.

Jody's got a ton of stuff to toss of the roof. I'm sure Dave will be a few folks to roll onto the burn out pad and, of course, there will be tons of bikes and people. It will be a fantastic night.

C'mon out and join the fun!

Burn After Reading Redux

Yes, now I bet our competitors REALLY wished they were us! Some still shots of Brad Pitt in "Burn After eading"....Recognize anything in these pictures?? Yes, that's our very own New York Chain. Must confess that I haven't seen the movie yet myself, to know if these shots landed on cutting room floor, but I'm really motivated to go now.

Harley’s 105th Birthday

by Jody Perewitz, Team Kryptonite


I had the liberty of attending Harley Davidson’s 105th Anniversary last month in Milwaukee. It was beautiful weekend weather wise. They could not have gotten better days. People and bikes were everywhere you went around Milwaukee.

I did a seminar with Sara Liberte at House of Harley on Friday. The crowd they had was awesome. I couldn’t believe for a Friday how busy they were. It was like a mini Sturgis. I figured with a slow economy and with numbers down at Sturgis it wouldn’t be that busy but I was proven wrong!

On Saturday and Sunday I was at Hal’s Harley-Davidson for Gina Wood’s All Women Bike Build. Sara and I joined Laura Klock and the crew from Gina Wood’s Open Road Radio to build a bike live on stage. Sara, Laura and I worked Saturday and Sunday on the rigid custom in front of a great crowd. People were asking questions, watching us, and listening to the funny antics of all of us on the microphone.

Gina, Dozer and Ideal Dave broadcasted live from Hal’s on Sunday. It was fun to listen to the chit chat with people. After the radio show the motorcycle roared to life. The motorcycle will be raffled with the proceeds the go to breast cancer.

After Sara and I were done at Hal’s we went on a drive by the factories with our great tour guides, Cindy from Biker Incite, her husband Mike and nephew Jake. We drove to one of the Harley factories in Franklin. I have to say it wasn’t what I expected but the next factory was!

We went to the Harley factory in Milwaukee. It was very cool, an old brick building with cool signs and architecture. Next we went to the HD museum. It was wicked cool! We didn’t get to go inside which I would have loved to do, because it was about 11pm but just seeing the outside and the cool sculpture by Jeff Decker was interesting. Milwaukee has a lot to offer beside Harley if you ever get a chance to go.

Overall it was a great trip to Ol’ Milwaukee, I am glad that I had the opportunity to go.

So Happy Birthday Harley-Davidson, HOG, and Hal’s!

Burn Your Computer After Reading This

He he he...I bet our competitors are all wishing they were us now. Rumor has it that the latest Cohen brothers movie "Burn After Reading" has Brad Pitt speaking a line about a Kryptonite lock and a Bic pen. Hey, Messers Cohen and Pitt, that is such old, old news...get with the program. Our locks haven't had tubular cylinders for four years now....can't say that about some of our competitors though....oh wait, that's what happened! There was a typo in the script....Pitt was supposed to say the name....oops you almost got me to say it... :-)

Remembering Colin McRae

Sir Colin McRae , August 5, 1968 ~ September 15, 2007

A year ago today, the racing world lost one of its greatest drivers. World Rally Champion Colin McRae perished in a helicopter crash with his son, Johnny and two family friends.

At the time, there were many, many tributes to Colin. My two favorites are this video and this string of photos from the X-Games. Then, of course, there is Travis Pastrana's tribute from this year's X-Games to his hero and friend.

If you are interested in Colin's racing history, I highly recommend the Colin McRae, Rally Legend DVD. There are some great clips throughout his career and commentary from Colin himself that was filmed a month before his untimely death. We watched it this weekend. It's truly wonderful.

It's hard to find the words other than to say, "You are missed, Mr. McRae."

sunday, Sunday, SUNDAY...and Saturday night

Tomorrow's the first race for the Chase at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in New Hampshire. If you don't know what I'm talking about...it's NASCAR, of course! Yes, this self-proclaimed NASCAR Nut will be at the race. As long as Mother Nature cooperates, we'll be cheering from the grandstands in Loudon, NH.

Going to the race tomorrow reminds me that there is another race coming up in the not too distant future where you can see the Kryptonite folks. Like in the Spring, Kryptonite is the Official Motorcycle Parking Area at Lowe's Motor Speedway in Concord, NC. The Bank of America 500 will be held on Saturday night October, 11 and the Kryptonite folks will be there.

If you live in the area and ride, bring your motorcycle. There's a special area in the front of the track for you to park. How do you find it? Look for the big yellow Kryptonite banners, of course.

So, cheer for your favorite driver tomorrow (and all through the Chase) and c'mon out and see the Kryptonite folks in October at LMS!

Go Hendrick Motorsports!!!

Nice Melon!

Imagine getting an email with that in the subject line...your mind can go in different directions, right?? Well, that is how our dear friend, CF, sales sheppard for Earth, Wind and Rider (terrific cycling clothes - check 'em out!) chose to get my attention so I'd read his message about a Kryptonite lock siting in Budapest. Yes....that is a real melon on the rear rack....

Well, here's where he found the picture...really cool cycling blog...bookmark it if you haven't done so already....http://www.copenhagencyclechic.com/

He's Baaaack!!!

Lance Armstrong is going to professionally ride again, folks. What has been rumored for a couple of days now has become official with today's Vanity Fair article. Lance talks about politics (a political run in 2014 is possible), The Lance Armstrong Foundation and returning to cycling. Look for him in the Tour "Day" France next year.

Wow.



Update: Video of Lance talking about his return.

Lessons Learned Updated

I shared my sad news about my house break-in a couple weeks ago. Now, I'll share an update about lessons learned...another lesson that I should have learned; my husband loves to bring home surprises. After the break-in he decided a nice big dog would be part of the home security updates. Actually, she is still a little dog. We have named her Bella, a tip of the hat to the German Shepherd we had years ago named Shayna. Both names mean Beautiful. Bella is now 9 weeks old and weighed 13.4 pounds as of last weekend. The receptionist at the Vet’s laughed at my daughter and said, “You probably won’t be carrying her next time you come”.

So, my house being broken into will end up costing us more money than what was taken, but our getting Bella will pay us back a thousand times over. R.

Cyclin' For Life

12th Annual Cycle for Life to benefit the Tufts Medical Center Floating Children's Cancer Center

by Rob Zuraski, Director of Engineering and NPD

Woke up at 4am Sat. morning to heavy downpours on the South Shore of Boston , along with news on the web site that the 50 mile ride was cancelled and everyone would do the 25 mile for safety reasons. I was drenched to the bone just loading up the bike and getting in my truck. Luckily by the time I was driving through Boston to the North Shore where the ride was scheduled, the rain let up and held off for the whole event. It was great to see past Kryptonite crew members and all the other riders and volunteers inspired to raise funds for this event. Thanks also to all the volunteers and police that helped man the route and the donors that supported us.

The ride started out at Devereaux Beach in Marblehead and wound up a beautiful coastal route to Singing Beach and back. Even more inspiring than the scenic route were the people I met along the way...
One woman I met had a daughter who lost her battle with cancer several years ago. This woman was back riding to support the hospital. Another guy I met passing each other a few times along the way told me at the end of the ride that he was a cancer survivor and had a huge section removed from his abdomen. Can't forget to mention he was riding a mountain bike and I was on my road bike! Even had a couple of kids along the way collecting for another cause in front of a store cheering me on and informed me that I was in 10th place (even thought it wasn't really a race!)...

Most of the riders and volunteers that I met seemed to be directly affected by the work done by the Floating hospital (hospital workers, cancer survivors, friends and families of children touched by the wonderful program) and have inspired me to make this an annual event..
Our team: Fast Foodies raised $7,911. So far, the web site says $127,579 total was raised for the event, but they mentioned $150k tally at the end of the event - its still not to late to donate!
www.cycleforlife.com
www.floatinghospital.org
http://www.tuftsmedicalcenter.org/

Special thanks to Peter and Ellen Zane, founding family members of Kryptonite who helped organize our team and the event.

Our Fast Foodies team consisted of previous/existing Kryptonite crew:
Peter Zane
Roby Holland
Rob Zuraski
Neil McDaid
Rosalie Garver
Eric Lightbody
Nadine Fallon
and a few other friends Peter recruited...

Get Out and Ride!

by Roby Holland, National Sales Manager

I just came back from a very relaxing local vacation. I was supposed to have my brother visiting and the plans for his visit were golf, fishing then repeat. Unfortunately he was unable to make it so I changed my plans to spend my days with my family, which is more appealing. When you live in an area that has so much to offer it is hard to decide what to do.

I had been pushing my wife to get a bike all summer and she has been reluctant to do so because she was unsure she would like it. Unexpectedly, she asked if I would be interested in going down to Brewster, MA and rent a couple of bikes, to ride the bike trail. I was in! This was a great opportunity to spend sometime with the family and do something that I really enjoy. In the morning we headed to Cape Cod Rail Trail Bike and Kayak on our adventure. It was a great morning to do this, like a perfect early fall morning. We got our bikes, a trailer for Owen, my son,(attached to dad's bike ). I did a quick review with my wife of the bike components and how to use them. I tried to keep it as simple as I could so she would get the maximum enjoyment out of the ride.

Before we took off I grabbed a lunch from The Brewster Lunch Box then we headed off along the trail. I was apprehensive that my wife was going to have a difficult time adjusting to the new technology on these bikes. The last time she was on a bike was over ten years ago, in Ireland, and the bikes were equipped with 3-speed Strurmy Archer shifters and old school breaking. For about the first half mile I was tense and constantly asking how things were going. I even asked Owen to ask Mommy how thing were going. As only Owen could say it "Mamma how doin?" Mamma how doin?". To my surprise and relief she was enjoying it! Now, I could relax and enjoy the ride.

We rode for a while, passing lakes and cranberry bogs along the way. The bike path was in great shape, smooth and wide. There were plenty of people using the trail, bikers, runners, and in-line skaters. There was a ton of families like us. Owen was a little too quite while he was sitting in the trailer and now I had a new concern, my son's enjoyment. I had to investigate whether or not he was having a good time and the best way to do this with my son was to say "Peanut, Peanut butter ". If he was in a good mood I would hear him respond "JELLY" . So I got his attention and said "Peanut, Peanut butter" with no responses. Oh no, this is going to be a short ride. I tried it again a little louder this time "PEANUT, PEANUT BUTTER" and waited. A few seconds later he popped out "JELLY" and then " jazz hands". He was having a great time! He only says "jazz hands" when he is shaking his hands, which is an indication that he is really having a good time. I know I was having a great time and now the circle was complete.

We rode for several miles and then decided it was time to turn around. We wanted to have lunch at one of the lakes that we had passed on our way. Once we arrived at our destination we broke out the lunch and sat down to eat, but that was only for a brief second or two. The next thing I heard out of my son's mouth was "DUCKY, DUCKY" and "Owen down please, Owen down please" He wanted to go play in the water with the ducks. How could I say "NO", he was having fun and so was I. So we played in the water and fed the ducks and just relaxed. We took a few photos to remember the day and headed back to the bike shop. By the way awesome sandwich from The Lunch Box!!!!! Once we got the bikes back, and our helmets and stuff in the car we headed home. As I watched my son drift off to sleep on the ride back I thought about how awesome that day was and how much fun I had with my family. I would recommend to anyone in the area, take the family to ride the trail and stop by Cape Cod Rail Trail Bike and Kayak, as well as The Lunch Box while you're at it!

And The Winner Isssssssssssssssss.....

Its Friday afternoon and time to announce the winner of our contest to help Tim Clifford figure out how to keep his new Stratocaster secure. While we heard some interesting ideas, both through the blog and around the watercooler, the winning ideas come from blogguest tom iv....He offered meaningful suggestions on how accessories that come with our R4 and L2 locks (usually used as ski locks) can be used to help Tim navigate his way through an evening at his local pub, of course along with suggestions of how to use the lock itself to keep the guitar safe. Congrats tom! Watch for your prize coming to a mailbox near you.

More Kudos to Kona

I just read the news in BikeBiz.com that this month Kona Bicycles will be donating another 100 Africabikes to the WWF's (World Wildlife Fund) water projects in Tanzania, Africa. Since 2005 Kona has been giving away thousands of bikes to African healthcare workers and others involved in humanitarian projects such as these water projects.

For more information about their program, check out http://www.konabiketown.com/.

Wasn't This Done Before??

I wonder if anyone shared the idea of the Segway with the Toyota designers?
If we can't get more bike lanes, how will we ever be able to share the roads and sidewalks with more of these?!? Well, anyway, entertain yourself for a few minutes by checking this out....

http://www.trendhunter.com/trends/personal-transport-robots-toyota-winglet/