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."

On to the Olympics!

Now that the X-Games are behind us (sob!), it's time for the 2008 Olympic Games to start this weekend. Pretty much first up are the cycling events with the men's road race on Saturday and the women's road race on Sunday.

There's something for everyone with the road racing, time trials, individual pursuit, Keirin, team pursuit, sprints, mountain bike and even BMX.

Full schedule is here. Enjoy!

XGames Rally Today - Watch It!

We're all about Action Sports here at Kryptonite, as you know. So, the ESPN XGames are just too much fun for us to watch. We love it!

Did you see the Big Air competition on Thursday? Danny Way is crazy! What he accomplished by winning the silver medal after his crash was amazing.

And the Step Up guys? What's that about? Cool!

The new Moto X Speed and Style was good yesterday, but I have to say, I was a little disappointed in Travis Pastrana - he was pushing just a little too hard, I think. But his freestyle tricks were spot on. He's always breathtaking to watch when he's flying through the air upside down!

Today is the Rally at the XGames. Now, while you wouldn't think that would be so Kryptonite related, it is in a very special way. A very good partner and friend of ours, Jim Haraughty of Trek, was diagnosed in 2003 with Multiple Sclerosis (MS). It's a terrible, terrible disease which has hit more people I know than I like to think about.

Jim, like the other folks I know, didn't take this diagnosis as anything other than a challenge and opportunity. He went out and built an awareness campaign through racing motorcycles! He created Team MS, which has raced all over the US - you motorcycle racing enthusiasts have probably even seen them at races, the bikes adorned with "Team MS".

What does motorcycle racing have to do with the Rally at the XGames today? Well, the car of Niall McShea (2004 Production World Rally Champion) will be carrying the Team MS Logo on both doors of the car! This is national television exposure for MS awareness!

Team McShea practicing at the XGames with Team MS logo on the side

Photo by Subaru

This is a very cool thing that Niall and his team are doing to create more awareness about this terrible disease. The more people that know about it, the more chance for a cure.

The ring-leader for this great partnership is Kryptonite alum, Neil McDaid. You can read all about Jim's story, and see a photo of the car, on his website.

And, please watch the XGames this afternoon on ABC (check your local listings for times) to cheer on Team McShea as he goes against Travis Pastrana, Ken Block and Dave Mirra (yes, that Dave Mirra!). Rumor has it out of L.A. that McShea is the underdog favorite for the gold medal! Wouldn't that be great as a huge win in the fight against MS!? Go McShea!