Indosole: Walking a Green Mile

According to sandal company IndoSole’s website, there’s one motorcycle for every eight people in Indonesia. With roughly 237 million people there, that’s a lot of bikes. And a lot of discarded tires. IndoSole is working to keep some of those tires from winding up in Indonesia’s landfills.

IndoSole Sandals ($45) are made in Bali using fair trade practices, employing locals and re-purposing used motorcycle tires - 2 pairs keeps 1 tire out of Balinese landfills - to fabricate the soles. The only fuel-powered machinery that’s used in the process is the motorcycle that’s used to gather the tires.  They’re about as organic as footwear gets. Here's a video about the production proccess.

IndoSole Production Process from IndoSole on Vimeo.

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Energy Goo, Minus the Goo

For athletes whose training goes past the one-hour mark, bringing along some spare calories and electrolytes is a great idea. Gel-style food like Gu and Powergel is generally regarded as the standard because it digests quickly and stores well in a pocket. There are drawbacks, however — having a sticky wrapper make a mess of your hand or pocket for the rest of your run/ride is never pleasant, and while it goes down easy, slimy nutrients don't always satisfy. Here are my favorite non-gooey options for eating on the run, all of which are available in Redding sporting goods stores.
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Road ID Bracelet: The Gift That Keeps You Living

Road ID is one of those products that you hope you never need, but if you ever need it, you're darn glad that you've got it with you. It's a little thing, but it can make a huge difference. Basically, the Road ID is a bracelet (they have other versions that go around your ankle or tie onto your shoe) that communicates your name, emergency contact info and everything from one line about a penicillin allergy to your entire medical history on a serialized badge.

Road ID was started by father and son Mike and Edward Wimmer after Edward was almost run down by a truck while training for his first marathon. After the close call, Edward and his father Mike decided to come up with a way to let emergency professionals know an unconscious athlete's contact and medical information.

The resulting product was the Wrist ID ($19.99), which consisted of a nylon bracelet and a metal plate that allows for up to seven lines of text. Later iterations included an anklet version and one that ties directly to your running shoes, as well as an interactive version, which allows wearers to build a full medical profile that paramedics can access via phone or Internet. The interactive version displays a website and phone number that medical professionals can contact. They can then enter the serial number on the back of the bracelet to access the patient's full medical profile.

I run long distances on trails and back roads, so my sister gave me a Road ID Elite ($29.99) for Christmas one year. While I don't have any medical allergies, it'd be good for a paramedic to be able to contact my next of kin just in case I'm nailed by a bus during a training run. I've been wearing it ever since.

The Elite carries all of the same information that the Wrist ID Sport carries, but it comes with a clean-looking rubberized band and watch-style buckle that looks just as good indoors as it does outdoors. At first I just wore it during workouts, but it looked so good I just started wearing it all the time.

I thought that it was a considerate gift when I got it, but then I realized that it wasn't actually a gift for me — it was a gift for my wife, my sister, my mom, my friends, and anyone else who would like to know if I'm found lying in a ditch somewhere.

Take a closer look and read an endless line of testimonials over at RoadID.com.

Trek Tech Review: Hydrapak Jolla Hydration Pack

 
A good cycling pack will serve a rider through different types of terrain, whether it's a mellow commute to work or a slog up some muddy singletrack, by fitting comfortably, providing enough room for a cyclist's gear and hydration, and being tough enough to withstand the rigors of off-road...
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Trek Tech Review: Marmot Variant Jacket

Sometimes it can be difficult to decide between the warmth of a down jacket or the breathability and mobility of a fleece midlayer. Now it looks like we don't have to.

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Wired.com: Keen A86 TR Review

Trail runners encounter more obstacles than the average pavement runner. We deal with bruising rocks and slick mud all too often, and hungry predators await us at every switchback. Thus, trail-running shoes tend to offer extra sole and toe protection, more aggressive tread, and an overall heavier weight. (You’re on your own with the predators.)
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