¡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/

Dentist and Rock Racing

It's a gorgeous day here in New England. Sun is shining, spring temps and, well...it's FRIDAY!

I was going to write about how many motorcycles are cruising by my house every night (dramatic rise so it is very noticable) and some of the motorcycles I've seen. That's so appropriate and there are some cool bikes to talk about.

But, then I started my day at the dentist at 8am today. By the time I was done there and made it to the office, I've decided that I'm going to write about something I really want to - at the risk of writing about them too much - Rock Racing. Hey, you have the dentist say to you, "You need to come back and don't worry too much...it won't be bad." Then you tell me you wouldn't have stopped at Dunkin' Donuts and got a "comfort food" muffin, too, and then write about your new favorite team. Go ahead...I dare you.

So, I get to the office and see a new article about Michael Ball on Bicycling.com by Bill Gifford. Ok, tea, muffin and a good interview with the Rock Star himself. Day's getting better.

I don't know if you like Rock Racing or not. Or if you agree with the team Ball's put together. But you have to admire Michael Ball. He grew up very poor, he had some run-ins with the law and then he started a clothing company that is estimated at $100 million annually. Is that not a true rags to riches story? That's cool.

He believes in second chances (yeah!), he believes in branding (are you listening cycling world...) and he thinks he can bring his line of cycling inspired clothes to Bloomies and Neiman Marcus. What? That's interesting. But, I'll bet he will.

Michael Ball believes in doing cycling a little differently. If you haven't been paying attention, cycling does not need to be going down the same ole path it's been going down, it needs different. But, if you purists listen closely he understands cycling and truly loves it, "It's one of the last romantic sports." Yes, that surprised me, too.

Y'all might not be used to the flash, but the Rock Stars are here to stay and I'm psyched they are. If I get the chance to meet Michael, I'll shake his hand and congratulate him. And, if it's after May 20, I'll probably be wearing some Rock Racing gear when I do it.

Happy Weekend, everyone!

Locking up our boards

by Jody Perewitz

Kory, Jeff, and I have gone snowboarding for the past 2 weekends. Last weekend we went to North Conway, NH to Cranmore and this past weekend we went to Wachusett. At both mountains I did not see one lock!

I have to say I have only used my lock a couple of times. Mainly because we don’t leave our boards often and my board has the serial number 0001 on it so I don’t think it would be worth stealing!

This year though I have upgraded to a, new to me, used board. Kory gave me his old board because he got not one, but two new boards this year. One for the parks and one for the whole mountain. So all together he has about $1500 worth of boards and bindings. If they got stolen we definitely wouldn’t be able to replace them so we want to do everything we can to prevent them from being stolen.

This past weekend we decided to go into the lodge for some beer and nachos while we watched the end of the Patriots game. So you bet we locked our boards up and headed in.

When we finally left there were a lot of boards and skis still on the rack but, once again, not one locked up! I would love to know statistic on stolen boards. They cost so much money to buy and could be so easy to steal. I guess there is a lot of trust on a mountain because if you think about it people locking up bicycles that aren’t worth as much as a board seems silly.

Gone, Baby, Gone

Sorry for the quiet time. I was out taking a 4-day weekend. It was much needed and, although hectic, it was fun. I thought about blogging, but sometimes you really just need to unplug, you know? So, it never got past being thought about.

I know this site isn't about movies, but hey it's what is on my mind today. Saw a great movie this weekend, as you can guess from the title of the post. "Gone, Baby, Gone" is fantastic! If I was given a vote by the academy, I'd vote Ed Harris as best supporting actor to get the Oscar. He was that incredibly good. Scene stealer every time.

In full disclosure, I know the author of the novel and, although I haven't seen him in years, I consider him a friend. Regardless, I'd recommend this movie even if I didn't know Dennis. It's very well done. BUT, I'm warning you now - moral dilemma at the end. So much so that you won't be able to stop thinking about it. Trust me, when I read the book for the first time it stayed with me for at least a week, maybe more. The movie captures that pretty well. Actually, I'd like to see it again and probably will.

Have you seen the movie? Did you read the book? What would you do? C'mon, I want to know. I'm truly curious as to what you'd do in that situation (at the end of the movie/book) and then I'll tell you my thoughts. I just don't want to put them here to spoil it for anyone who hasn't seen the movie.

What would you do if you were Patrick and Angie at the end of the movie?

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!

End of Summer? Already?!

Do you ever find yourself saying at say 7pm on a Sunday night, "Where did the weekend go?" I do it constantly. I'm never sure how I got from 6pm on Friday night to...woosh...Sunday night. How did it happen? I don't ever get enough done or relax enough or hang out enough. Two days is just too short.

But, summer here in the US is really, in my mind, from Memorial Day to Labor Day. That's 3 months. Not two days...three months. And, I still find myself saying today on the eve of Labor Day Weekend, "Where did the summer go?" Really. The days are already getting much shorter - like an hour more of darkness than in the middle of summer. Nights are a little cool sometimes now.

Where did it go? Does anyone have an answer for that?

Fall holds great things, too. My Facebook Countdown Calendar tells me that Interbike (the bicycle trade show in the US) is in 26 days (yikes!!) so we'll be off to Vegas soon. But, before that I'm up at the NASCAR track in NH for the race September 16 (woo-hoo!). And, the Fall Foliage Run Weekend with the Perewitz Family soon after. So, there are many things to look forward to in the fall, but I'd still like to stretch out summer a little longer, just like I would every weekend of the year.

For those of you in the US - have a great long weekend. Ride safe.

New Products Debut on Kryptonite Website

It's been a process, but the new products are finally up on the new website for everyone to view. All the U-locks, cable locks, chains and even the disc locks. All there for you to see and read about.

Now you know why I didn't post earlier....I was a little busy proof reading. And, I know I missed something...always do. But, it's Friday, and it's after 5pm so it's time to stop worrying about it, right?

Psssttt...if you see any spelling mistakes, let me know. Thanks! :)

Happy Weekend, all!

3 Day Weekend!

It's just about the weekend here...a long weekend at that. We hope you all have a great weekend filled with all kinds of outdoor, action sports fun!