Back on the Grid

So the race is over, obviously. Chrissie simply killed it, and Crowie proved me wrong. The women's race was the strongest race I'd seen in a long, long time. In the time from then to now I got to watch my wife finish in Kona for the first time, which was pretty damn rewarding for both of us.

Post race, was a blast. Even with a downpour drenching the awards banquet and the post-race party at Huggos on the Rocks, there was no stopping the fun. Before the rain came, Oakley opened its rolling O-Lab, which was actually quite interesting beyond the music bumping from it every time I walked by.

After the race, a bunch of the Oakley athletes were on hand as Chrissie Wellington auctioned off her race day glasses, with the proceeds going to breast cancer charity. I ran into Torbjorn Sindballe with Marc Andre Perron, Thunderbear's man at Argon 18. He was bummed about the fact that the mercury was just a tick above what his threshhold was for race day. And just a tick over meant that the boilerroom was ready for shutdown. Which was what ultimately happened to him. Hopefully he'll have a cooler day (and great draft marshalling) at Clearwater 70.3 Worlds next weekend.

So the O-Lab showed just how wicked the optics are. Greg Welch put a couple of tech guys on myself, Thomas Hellriegel and Stephan Vuckovic as they showed us about optic curvature and impact resistance. It was really impressive.


And reassuring. Welchy noted that Kenny Souza's crash years ago on Mount Palomar left some nasty scars under his eye, and that his glasses, which stayed intact, likely saved his eye. Below, Thomas checks out a lens that they fired a BB at.

Well, gonna keep this short, got some Halloween trick or treating to do with my nephew, then a three-hour ride tomorrow. Still loving the Santa Anas here in So Cal... winter's not here yet!