Newbie on the Slope

Another first for our mild-mannered design engineer from a much hotter climate, JJ....last night he braved almost zero degree weather to learn how to snowboard! Why then, we can't really say, other than the fact that Rob, our crazy Engineering Director convinced him it would be a great idea! So, off they went to the Blue Hills Ski Area by the office and JJ subjected himself to the torture of sliding, falling, sliding, falling, falling, sliding. All for Rob's enjoyment, I'm sure.

JJ, we're proud of your fearlessness. Just be careful not to agree when Rob suggests you try sledding next..because he ain't talkin' down the hill on an innertube!

One More Picture From The Camera Phone

The last time Rob Z. was in Taiwan, he snapped this picture of a BMW police car - no Crown Vic's to be found there. You couldn't miss this coming up in your rear view mirror. Bet they don't have too many officers calling in sick when they have something like this to drive around...

Kids Don't Try This At Home

Those of you who know Rob Z., our Director of Engineering, know that he's a guy who is quite comfortable in the woods, spending his free time expending a lot of energy in very cold temperatures. One of his latest projects is no exception. Rob, and a few other hearty souls, agreed to help a good friend raise a barn on his NH property. This is no prefab wonder - it is the real deal post and beam...complete with pegs the size of a large man's thumbs and constructed from tools you won't find at the local orange or blue big box hardware store. Here are a few shots of the work in progress...it is going to be a thing of beauty when all done. If you wondered where Rob got the strength to maul products the way he does when he's doing destruction testing, this should give you a clue...

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...

Happy Father's Day!

We wish all of you dads a wonderful Father's Day filled with everything you like to do!

And to the Team Kryptonite dads.....Joe, Don, Rob, Roby, Gustavo, Ross, Craig, Bob and Dave....enjoy your day with your great kids!

Extreme Testing!

by Rob Zuraski, Director New Product Development

Masiguy and others have asked for a sneak peak inside our development process but as you can imagine the need for us to keep this confidential so we don’t help out the competition. However, I wanted to share some insight into the real world testing that we do on our off time from our bikes/motorcycles in the winter.

Testing our product through real world extremes helps us to get a better understanding of “test lab” data and develop better products.

Landry's Hosts Bob Roll

Friday night we were at Landry's Boston store for "An Evening with Bob Roll." Rob, Roby, Eric and I had a blast at the shop - everyone was so nice and they had everything planned perfectly. I think Bob's going to blog about it, but I thought I'd post some photos before then.

I just loved this display of the jersey and the old fashioned sign.

I might like this display just a teeny bit more, though. How could I not? It's what you see as you walk through the front door! I'm not kidding - it's right there. Have I mentioned that we love the guys and gals at Landry's?

Rob, Eric, Bob and Roby hanging out before the event

Packed house! I think there were a couple of hundred people there. Everyone had a great time.

Bob joins manager Mark Vautour and the rest of the Landry's Crew. I dig their shirts, don't you?!

After the event, Mark brought us to the Washington Square Tavern, which isn't too far from the shop. Gerry's the owner and made us feel extremely welcome all evening. He's a cyclist (if you can't tell by his shirt!)and hosts evening rides with the Landry's crew on Tuesday nights. But, better than that...yes, there is a "better than that"...the food is amazing! I've been raving about it all weekend to everyone I know in the area; both Roby and I have been telling everyone in the office today, too. It was the perfect end to a great event.

Thank you to Mark and everyone at Landry's for making us feel so welcome - and, of course, for being such a great Kryptonite partner!

The Perfect Storm

by Rob Zuraski, Director New Product Development

The planets seemed to align this past weekend to create the perfect storm this past Friday and ideal conditions to snowmobile up in northern NH. I was also surprised to come home after riding 90 miles Sunday morning to find perfect weather for an evening ride on the motorcycle.

Driving conditions were a bit rough on our trip up north and I had a first experience as a passenger in a powerslide in a truck towing a 4 place trailer after going through the Notch in northern NH. Luckily my friend Brad was able to recover after seeing the trailer on both sides of the truck. Whew!

If you are into snowmobiling or snow sports and need to get your last run in for the season there still appears to be plenty of snow up in NH but check the forecast before heading up. Here are some pictures from our trip!

Trail on way up to Stub Hill Pond

Stub Hill Pond

Perfectly groomed trails!

Unmanned gas pumps in the middle of no where just for us!

Perfect day for dog sledding too!

Devin, Brad and Tony

Super Dirt Week

by Rob Zuraski, Engineering Manager

Super Dirt Week XXXVI, snowmobile/ATV show, road trip with 3 friends to Syracuse to visit a close friend– sound like a fun weekend? You bet! I haven't been to a dirt track race in about 10 years, not since I crewed for a team in Vermont. So, this was a fun weekend for me to get back into it.

For those of you not familiar with dirt track racing there is always a lot of action (crashes) as the drivers and crews try to set up their cars for the changing track conditions throughout the weekend, especially in the qualifying races when everyone is pushing it hard trying to make the cut. Need to keep in mind they are racing on a “dirt” track so you get nice powerslides in the corners when the cars get going.

Here's my friend Tony using one of Ingersoll Rand's products at the track.....Kudos to the Club Car engineers for the durability of these vehicles as we gave them a good workout throughout the weekend. I wonder if they thought about the roof of the vehicle being used as bleacher seats in turn 1 when they designed them....

There were lots of cool sights in the infield. I couldn't believe all the different vehicles used now in the pits for hauling tires and people around- the quads, the golf carts and even this custom chopper with a 7hp engine.

Here are some photos of the BNC Motorsports Pro-Stock Championship. Most of the cars are late model Chevy’s (Monte Carlo’s etc..) with an occasional Ford and Dodge.

These are some shots from turn 4. Can you imagine how I got these photos? Had a few guys nearby standing on the back of golf carts who said I should have hung in longer for the “good” shots of the last few trailing the pack really sliding in the corners trying to catch up. But the cloud of dirt from the pack was a little too much more than I thought the camera could handle.

Special thanks to Tony Lema and the Aramark crew for a great weekend and their sponsorship for a couple of the drivers and the big race!