Kaenon Polarized

Words from the man himself: Forrest Arakawa
“Kaenon is coming up huge here in Lafayette!!! I just got a bike-park approved in our town and we are going to start construction next summer. It’s going to be HUGE! I’m going to make it a requirement that everyone have “protective eyewear,” Kaenon that is!
Here a couple of photos of me ruling the 3rd place finisher in the Tour de France at his own race!”

MOUNTAIN BIKE – CALIFORNIA
Tragedy strikes even the best of riders. Yuri Hauswald one of Kaenon’s beloved went down hard breaking his hand and thumb during a training ride on Whittier Bluff Road near Tomales. As a world class mountain biking competitor, Hauswald was preparing for the upcoming B.C. Bike Run when he hit a bump traveling between 25 and 30 miles per hour. Bouncing his hands off the handlebars, Yuri flipped to the ground. hitting his head, bruising his ribs and breaking his hand. Luckily, Yuri was wearing a helmet – however the hand injury required surgery that left him with with no choice but to cancel his planned trip to Canada and participation in the rugged B.C. Bike Run, a seven-stage race of some 250 miles that includes more than 30,000 feet of climbing. Read the full article here.

Yuri – pre-break – in Kore Silver clear sport sunglasses.

Yuri – in and out of the hospital, wearing Calais Matte Black Men’s Sunglasses.

DIRT – by Wyms

Alex riding in Kore M C28, wearing Arlo Tortoise on the podium shots above.

Kaenon’s very own Utah rep, Alex Grant won the Hammerfest held at the former Olympic Nordic Ski venue in Soldier Hollow, UT – The Hollow. Alex then backed up his victory with 2nd in a very close race at the Stan Crane Memorial in Draper, UT on May 25. Alex wears Arlo Tort C12 in both podium shots. And rides in Kore M C28. Great work Alex!

MOUNTAIN BIKE MONTEREY, CALIFORNIA
Yuri Hauswald writes about his experience riding the Sea Otter XC course with blind mountain biker, Bobby McMullen. Both are exceptional riders and great guys.

My Eyes Have Seen The Light: Recalibrating What Is Possible
by Yuri Hauswald
“With my “GUIDE” plate firmly attached to the front of my bike, Bobby and I towed the line for the 45-49 Beginner XC race, both of us nervous and excited about the 19 miles of fire road and single track that awaited…Check out the entire story.

Yuri Rides in both Kore and Hard Kore Black G12 and G28, Bobby Rides in Hard Kore Black C28

CYCLE

Kaenon Polarized Endurance Mt. Biker Racer, Yuri Hauswald who wears Lewi, shares his experience and colorfully lays out his opportunity to ride with the best road cyclist team in the world.  

On yesterday’s rainy Astana team ride I was Augustus Gloop from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, the plump  German boy who finds one of the prized golden tickets and wins a  trip to Willy Wonka’s amazing candy factory. My “golden ticket” was an email from Levi inviting me to join an elite group of Astana riders on a tour of some of his favorite climbs-Pine Flat, Ida Clayton and Franz Valley. My perma grin and extreme star struck joy upon arriving in the Hyatt parking lot for this once in a life time experience were reminiscent of Augustus’ when he saw the chocolate river flowing through Wonka’s surreal candy wonderland. Unlike poor Augustus, who in a moment of uncontrollable food lust fell into the chocolate river while slurping its bounty and had to be saved by the Oompa Loompas, I did not let my unbridled excitement get in the way of my day’s experience with some of the world’s best riders.

Most of our group consisted of Astana riders- Levi Leipheimer, Benjamin Noval, Sergio Paulinho, Jani Brajkovic, Heimar Zubeldia, Chris Horner, Daniel Navarro, Jesus Hernandez, Yaroslav Popovych, and Lance Armstrong. Scott Nydam(BMC) and Glenn Fant(Specialized/Norcal Bike Sport)  were also in attendance, as well as three follow vehicles and multiple motorcycles with photographers and videographers  firing off the back. Our entourage soggily rolled out of town and headed out Old Redwood Highway as we worked our way to Chalk Hill. We pulled over at the “usual” nature break stop and, to my surprise, Eki- one of cycling’s true hardmen known for spending countless hours on the front of the peloton tirelessly working for the team and a cycling hero of mine- who now works as a Team Astana assistant, walked up next to me and said with a sarcastic smile, “Nice weather, huh?!” If for some reason I couldn’t have continued any further on the ride, my day was made, right then and there, I could’ve gone home a happy man!

We continued in a double pace line out to Hwy128, at which point Scott and I found ourselves next in the conga line of light blue riders, puzzled at what would be the proper protocol: Did we pull through and take our turn on the front in a vain act of hubris, or did we peel off immediately and risk possibly looking like we weren’t up to doing our share of the work? I guess we could’ve been in a worse situation but at the moment it seemed like a monumental decision. As Heimar Zubeldia drifted to the right and his partner to the left, Scott and I came through to the front. Heimar didn’t look too surprised seeing the “step children” of the ride come through and said to me, “ Diez minutos” I took this as the green light to sit on the front for our allotted pull. It felt like I’d made the big time, like I’d been playing in a dive bar band for years and had suddenly gotten the call from the Rolling Stones that they needed someone to replace Keith Richards on lead guitar because he’d gone on another binge and couldn’t make their next show. Unfortunately the curtain came crashing down fast on Scott and I because we weren’t what the photographers and team directors wanted to see. We weren’t the main attraction, we were just groupies, so we quickly exited and took our places backstage again at the rear of the train.

Although I knew it was inevitably going to happen, that knowledge didn’t make it any easier when it did-I was the first one to get dropped on Pine Flat. I popped off Sergio Paulhino’s draft about 3/4s of the way through our interval and watched Glenn heroically hang on to Benjamin Noval’s wheel as the three riders pedaled off into the mist.  To save me further misery and the possible humiliation of riding home alone, Glenn and I turned around early on our trip up Ida Clayton so we could save ourselves for the push up Franz Valley. I somehow made it over the last hill and back  to Santa Rosa with Team Astana, chatting with the ever gracious and jovial Chris Horner most of the way home. The team patiently posed for a picture with me, the bike geek, even though they were all soaked to the bone. On our pedal home I was grinning ear to ear like Augustus did when he first set foot in Willy Wonka’s magical candy land. And although I’d suffered on the climbs and taken Sonoma County’s best gritty, road sludge spray to the face for over three hours, I had just accomplished something that I would’ve never dreamed possible: I’d ridden with the best team in the world!

This story was submitted by Yuri Hauswald, one of Kaenon Polarized’s 24 hour racers in XC Mt. Biking. Got a great story to share? Send your story to feedback@kaenon.com.

Kaenon Kore Polarized Sunglasses – Review from Jason Mitchell – 2008 FeedTheHabit Gear of the Year

With a few solid years under their belts, Kaenon is pumping out the best sports-specific and stylish polarized sunglasses on the market. Compared to all other polarized lenses I’ve tried, Kaenon’s simply kick their butts. You can mountain bike, fish, ski, drive and hang out with these glasses without the typical polarized drawbacks (rainbow discoloration, “too dark” feeling, etc.).  I’ve found the Kore’s to be the perfect all-around sunglass option if you’re looking for a polarized lens.  Read the full review and check out all the top gear of the year visit: http://www.feedthehabit.com/news/2008-feedthehabit-gear-of-the-year-picks/