Holy cow, Day 1 is done, and I'm beat. I hope you guys are happy, I missed the Michael Franti concert to write (among other things) this post. You're welcome. Here are your dang highlights.
PROBAR is adding four new flavors to their roster: Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip, Double Chocolate, SuperFruit Slam (not to be confused with SuperFOOD Slam), and Peanut Butter. The Peanut Butter and Chocolate based flavors are tasty and dessert-y, but the SuperFruit Slam is amazing. Tangy and sweet, it tastes like an extremely substantial fruit rollup.
Also, the Fruition bars are going gluten free by March. They're not changing any of the ingredients, since they're all already glutenless, but now they're only buying oats processed in a gluten-free facility. Celiacs rejoice.
This fall, Brooks Range Mountaineering is releasing the Mojave Down Jacket, filled with 800-fill, anti-microbial, anti-bacterial down. Oh, did I mention that it's waterproof? Yup, they've taken a Pertex Quantum shell and stuffed it full of the iPhone of outdoor gear: down that keeps is insulative properties when it gets wet. Downtek is treated with nanoparticles of a waterproof polymer, making it impervious to moisture, potentially eliminating down's only weakness as a jacket-stuffer.
I'm stoked to hear that Pearl iZumi is going to be catering more to ultra-endurance athletes. Their Ultra Barrier WxB Jacket is a great way to get started with this new direction. Made with their quick-drying, sweat-wicking Minerale fabric combined with a stretchy, water- and windproof exterior, the jacket is a great way to warm and dry on long runs. For the ultra set, they've bolstered the shoulders with a tacky reinforcement. Sticky tacky, not style tacky. Reinforcement to keep hydration packs from abrading the jacket, and tacky to keep the shoulder straps in place whilst you run. Paired with their Ultra Tights with pockets for Amphipod bottles, and you're good to go for your next 50k.
I was checking out Julbo's mountaineering line of sunglasses for a Wired.com review, but one of their multisport glasses really caught my eye (see what I did there?) today. Their Ultra sunglasses are lightweight, vented, and rock an open frame to give you a wide field of vision on your bike. What really grabbed my attention was how flexible the Zebra photochromic lens was - you could bend it back and forth in your hand. This means two things: one, that the lens bends instead of breaks when you take a header and two, the next time you faceplant, said lenses won't carve a divot out of your cheekbone. Which is good, because I like my face the way it is.
Alright, it's past midnight - I'm gotta go crash.
