Hike Up | Bike Down

So ISPO Brand New has released this years winners and runner-up and it is great. You have the completely portable bike that folds up and can be worn like a backpack, Nothing like walking up hill for hours only to cruise down in minutes. Other than the bike not having a seat the idea is simple and of course portable. To break it down once at the top unfold and go, no peddles just platforms for you feet, disk breaks and a front shock. O the fun you will have.

Light Lane - Concept

From Altitude

Can you imagine, this is great.

A close brush with a distracted driver is enough to intimidate the most avid bikers from riding at night. The problem isn’t just about visibility, as safety lights are effective at capturing the attention of a driver. However, these lights are typically constrained to the bike frame, which highlights only a fraction of the bike’s envelope. Bike lanes have proven to be an effective method of protecting cyclists on congested roads. One key is that the lane establishes a well defined boundary beyond the envelope of the bicycle, providing a greater margin of safety between the car and the cyclist. Yet, only a small fraction of streets have dedicated bike lanes, and with an installation cost of $5,000 to $50,000 per mile, we shouldn’t expect to find them everywhere anytime soon. Instead of adapting cycling to established bike lanes, the bike lane should adapt to the cyclists. This is the idea behind the LightLane. Our system projects a crisply defined virtual bike lane onto pavement, using a laser, providing the driver with a familiar boundary to avoid. With a wider margin of safety, bikers will regain their confidence to ride at night, making the bike a more viable commuting alternative.

Train like a PRO, NIKE football

Anything that changes the way that one trains is a good thing, anyway that companies like Nike can do that is even better. Nike has invested billions in football players, shoes, equipment and has some of the best coaches working for them as well. When a individual and log on to there system pick a training plan that a Pro or College athlete might use is invaluable. Almost takes the trainer out of the equation. Within minutes you can have a training plan that will build you into some sort of animal on the plaining field, or at least the office. A series bonus is that you can download to your calendar, outlook, iCal or Google, the one thing that all programs need to start to think about is being able to read the local weather and import that into your training log, now that would up the anti.

POCKET GRAPPLING HOOK

Anything that can be used outside to help you or someone is always a good thing. Now many will think that the Pocket Grappling Hook is for breaking out of prison, the uses however are greater than that. Use this for throwing a line around a branch, rescuing someone that has fallen through the ice or pulling down broken branches. The device is great can be taken apart and can be stored in the glove compartment or pack while you run. The Pocket Grappling Hook Was Originally Built By EOD Robotics, Inc. At The Request Of A Desert Warfare Operator. He Explained His Need For A Light Weight, Reusable Grappling Hook That Could Be Used To Snag Trip Wires Or Command Detonation Wires on IEDs In A Combat Environment. Soon Other Members Of The Military Saw How Useful They Were And Ordered Another Production Run.

GameRunner, Something to do while on the treadmill!

It is that time of year CES is running and cool gadgets are a plenty. The health and fitness market always has demo's at CES. So it's no surprise that GameRunner has developed a better way to be in the game (virtually of course), first person and able to run/walk/sprint after your opponent. This changes how one react to being in a war situation, instead of thinking you are king of the world from your couch. Running after your target is the real first person, with out getting killed, you can really see who can outlast one another, you have to rest so hiding or ducking and cover comes into play.
What FPGameRunner is saying:
using exercise and video gaming into one exhilerating and healthy experience for game enthusiasts, the GameRunner is a revolution in medical science and electronic entertainment. The activity of playing a video game generally leaves players physically inactive for prolonged periods of time. The GameRunner solves this problem by allowing players to use their body to play games instead of having the player sit and use only their hands. Naturally this makes playing games on the GameRunner beneficial to your heath by burning calories and keeping your heart rate up.
Now go play.

SKIGYM - A New Twist

Love the new twist, first you had a machine that was curved and allowed you to go side to side simulating skiing. Now with SKIGYM you can actually see yourself going down the mountain. This is very similar to the CompuTrainer, you need a PC and a flat screen, the kit includes 32 race courses from 18 real-world mountain. Cost roughly $2300, might be a tough sell in today's economy but you never know, hey at least the pictures look cool. Maybe this replaces the ski vacation, at least your feet won't freeze.

Bike Sales Drop, Gas Prices Drop

It can't be, the gas companies have lowered prices back to the 1980 and bike sales have dropped. Yes it is winter, so we won't know what the real market is going to look like until the spring but come on, keep biking, you never know prices could fall further. To be fair to both sides it does get silly when a tri bike cost as much as a Nissan Versa makes it hard not to buy one, or when a dealership down south is giving away a free car with the purchase of a Dodge Ram. Technology is great but lets get real getting outside for any amount of time per day is one of the best gifts that you can give yourself. So spend the extra money and get a bike that is going to last, hey bikes outlast cars by a long shot.
Cheer and Happy New Year.

MotionX-GPS now on the App Store

iPhone has changed so much of what and how we work and play. MotionX-GPS takes it a bit further with an easy to use handheld GPS on your iPhone. You can use the virtual compass for navigation and the stopwatch to record time, distance, speed and average pace. Email your tracks and waypoints with your photos to share with your friends and family in Google Earth and Google Maps. Use MotionX-GPS while biking, running, hiking, walking, geocaching, in your car or on your boat. It has a stopwatch to time your ride, run, set way points and share with Google maps really great to see what in the next year the iPhone and others companies start to come up with.
Happy Holidays

Crazy Spin Bike Design, We Can Only Hope

We can only hope that design starts to trickle down to the fitness industry. Having Frog Design or Mark Hagen a design student North Carolina State University College of Design, start to take a look at traditional exercise equipment would be a welcome change. Some people like CrossFit and some like more traditional almost surgical approach like Phrog Fitness. Places like Phrog could benifit greatly with a Apple design appeal. However the change is to happen it will and with forward thinkers like Mark Hagen the fitness industry should take notice.
happy Holidays

Cover the Noggin

In the winter the myth is that you lose 75% of the heat through you head and others studies show the cerebral blood flow is supplied via the carotid and vertebral arteries (4 in total) and is constant. The blood flow to the brain does not change as the demand for oxygen is constant. As a result, when you look at total heat loss, the head accounts for about 7% of the heat lost.
Any way that you shake it you lose some heat through your head and if you like wearing a hat and listening to music it seems as though we have another player to the game. The LimbGear® Noggin Net™ is an mp3 enabled skullcap that houses both the mp3 player and the earbuds. The soft, fleece textile is breathable and warm. The idea is not new but the interesting part is incorporating the mp3 player into the skullcap, hence hiding all the wires and the Nano in the cap itself. The downfall is that if you are like millions of iPhone users, putting one in your skullcap could be a bit heavy.
All in all it is a great idea, grab an old Shuffle and this is a great gift.

Expresso Fitness, A new spin on fitness.

Were not talking about coffee but we should be based on the ride that Express is going to put you on. As they put it "eye-popping virtual reality with a classic cardio workout". They really put their minds to it and re-thought some of the basic functions that got in the way on other bikes, like a real head phone jack and walk through design. Expresso talent really lies with in the computer system itself, bringing to life a true VR experience, motivate your members with over 30 Basic-to-Extreme rated interactive Tours – ride from the California Coast to the Peruvian Mountains, play a game while riding and where it really gets interesting, Expresso.net captures your individual workout data, allowing members to track and analyze performance online anytime, anywhere. Leader boards, personal trend reports and community challenges motivate riders to keep working toward their goals.

So if I were you demand one of these at your club, standard TV is so 2008.

This would be a great fit with Health Currency.
Cheers

Innovations by Rossignol :: CHRONO METEO JACKET

When companies push the limit it should make you happy. Rossignol is one of those companies. It seems as though they took a good concept from Swatch, POP Swatch which just had the watch on it, but could be embedded in clothes. So it seems as though Rossignol is trying a similar approach but using high end technology to click in to its jacket.
It's not easy to check your watch when you're on the trail wearing gloves, a fleece, and a protective jacket . Rossignol has found the solution: The Gore Tex® stretch CHRONO METEO jacket with the Pure Mountain Station.
Used alone or slid inside a watertight thermoformed insert worn outside the jacket on the wrist, it combines all the vital features for skiers:
• Barometer mode providing atmospheric pressure, temperature, and weather forecasts
• Altimeter mode to display the altitude in real-time, calculate and record your vertical drop, and measure your performance using a computer
• Digital compass to determine your direction

As the watch is always subject to a fall or extreme conditions, it was designed to be shock proof and weather resistant. The intentionally oversized liquid crystal digits and numbers are easy to read at a glance. It includes a number of other practical features: timer, alarm, etc.
It comes with an accessory kit including leash, desk stand and clip for use in all situations, at home, touring, in the car, in the office, etc. More than just a watch, this is a genuine multi functional screen

Good Stuff Rossignol

SwitchBack, small, powerful and keeps you riding.

So since the gas prices have drop, Princeton Tech seems to want to keep them that way, introducing the Switchback 1 the smallest most powerful light. With lights like these coming on the market the only thing that will keep you from biking is yourself.
Burn time is 10 hours (of course on the lowest setting), that should get you to work and back and if not just charge up while at work. Working through all the setting on a ride will get you 5 hours, not bad. Hey is you are still doing the bike commute, training, riding the trails after 6 pm, this light will keep you out just a little longer and that is only a good thing. Put one of these on your holiday list.
Cheers

ColdAvenger, Stay Out Longer!

Breath freely and without fear of freezing. Designed for a variety of winter outdoor activities where protection from cold is essential. Researched and developed in Northern Rocky Mountain winters and tested in snow and freezing weather, ColdAvenger™ keeps your face warm and dry while helping humidify inhaled air and allowing you to breathe freely. Hey it beat a snorkel and looking funny while skiing or snowboarding.
Cheers

Tracking technology, Heart, Speed, Calories, for the iPhone

Nice to see that companies are using mobile phones as the "one" device, the Garmin and other GPS systems are become useless as the mobile phones get smaller and smarter.

iTMP Technology, Inc. (iTMP), makers of iSPINNING, iNewLeaf and iRPM have a great solution using the iPhone and a smheart link to bridge the gap between your heart rate monitor and other devices. Allowing it to be stored in one place and view right away.
iSPINNING is a device you use along with your iPhone. SMHEART LINK is compatible with a growing list of products and sensors. SMHEART LINK utilizes ANT+Sport™ technology and iTMP is in the final stages of development with another market leader in heart rate monitor technology. ANT+Sport is a 2.4 GHz wireless network with standardized communication between devices including bike speed sensors, cadence sensors, power sensors and heart rate transmitter belts.
SMHEART LINK™, developed by iTMP Technology, is a wireless bridge that collects data from a variety of health and fitness sensors such as heart rate monitors, cycling speed and cadence sensors and power meters. Sending the data to Apple’s iPhone and iPod touch, SMHEART LINK enables iTMP’s suite of fitness applications, turning your iPhone or iPod touch into the ultimate fitness metrics monitor.
Cheers the SMHEART LINK will be available for the holiday and resolution seasons.