It’s about time I do another product review. To kick off November I thought I’d spread the 411 on a up and coming company called Ridge Medical. It was just over a month ago I met Mike Curry and his wife at Interbike in Vegas. I was passing by their booth and stopped to give them a magazine; as it turns out that was the most important stop I made that day. I had already been walking around the convention non-stop the previous day and for about 4 or 5 hours that day.

I had no idea what their booth was for I just wanted to pass on my business card and magazine. Long story short I was dying of lower back and knee pain not to mention my inner thighs where chafed all to hell! There must have been something in my eyes or perhaps despair in my voice that prompted Mrs. Curry to offer me a BIG tube of “Faster Than Glucosamine” for my back and knees and a canister of “TriSlide” for the chafing.

Needless to say I made a Speedy-Gonzalez-B-Line for the bathroom and I’m happy to say I found a tremendous amount of relief. If I didn’t already say thank you… THANK YOU, Ridge Medical!

Oye vay, I’ve got to tell you Interbike 2009 was my first working convention where I actually was working, walking, talking and networking non-stop. I guarantee you I learned my lesson; before walking a half marathon passing out business cards and magazines it’s a smart idea to lube up before you saddle that horse!

Back to the product at hand. After returning home and doing a little research over the past month or so I’ve found that it’s not just me giving praise to Ridge Medical. All sorts of media publications and outlets seem to be riding the Ridge Medical bandwagon… why wouldn’t they? If you’ve got a good product it pretty much does the marketing all by itself.

In any case, I can say with confidence if you have knee, joint and muscle pain settle for nothing less; Faster Than Glucosamine will exceed your expectations and have you sighing in relief. I’ve found that if I put a little on before I go riding it helps me warm up faster, this is a BIG plus because this lowers my chances of strains and injuries.

So swing on by the Ridge Medical website and show this local SoCal company some WCM love!

You’ll have to excuse me if my vanity gets the best of me but when it comes to getting off my bike and walking into Starbucks to get my caffeine fix… I’d rather not be a hot sweaty mess and blind as a bat. You and I both know, there’s a time and a place for hot and sweaty!

Have you ever heard of the Sweat GUTR™? If you haven’t heard of it you’ve surely seen the ads on Facebook and several other popular websites. In any case, I’m here to tell you first hand this simple device actually works! Up until recently I had been seeing the ads for the Sweat GUTR™ everywhere but never paid to much attention or clicked on any of the ads. As chance would have it I was passing by the Sweat GUTR™ booth at Interbike a few weeks ago and stopped to ask, what is this Sweat GUTR™ all about?

Luckily for me the person I asked was none other than president and founder Erick P. Flatt. I shook Erick’s hand and told him jokingly I had seen the ads for Sweat GUTR™ everywhere and all over my Facebook account, he couldn’t have been more delighted. Erick then went on to explain the technology behind this simple practical device that has everyone saying… “why didn’t I think of that”!

Erick then pointed out that Old Man Winter is right around the corner and a lot of people (not fortunate enough to live in SoCal like myself) will be making the transition to cycling indoors. Here’s what he had to say.

Riding indoors this Winter

Indoor cycling classes are becoming increasingly popular, especially during the winter months. Whether you’re participating in a cycling class at your local bike shop’s clinics, riding on rollers or an indoor trainer with cycling buddies in your garage, indoor cycling can be a great way to stay in shape during the winter months. However, working up a sweat takes on a whole new meaning when cycling indoors. Most cyclists will drape towels over their handlebars or use bike bras to protect their bikes from the endless sweat. Even cyclists that don’t normally perspire much will drip with sweat while cycling indoors and those of us that are real sweaters will pour buckets of sweat. Needless to say saturation becomes an understatement and cloth sweatbands don’t stand a chance of keeping our eyes clear and dry.

Thinking about using a hat or bandanna? Sixty percent of your body heat escapes through the top of your head. Do you really want to trap all that heat and add to that steam bath feeling?

Enter the Sweat GUTR™ sweatband. Channeling sweat away, your eyes stay clear and dry. Since the GUTR™ is nonabsorbent, you never have to worry about it saturating like cloth sweatbands.

The GUTR’s very small profile allows heat to freely escape off the top of your head to help keep you cooler. And, when you’re done cycling the GUTR™ is basically dry and not a soggy mess to deal with. After a quick rinse to remove any salt residue, the Sweat GUTR™ is ready for your next training session.

Echo’s sweaty testimony

So needless to say after chatting up Mr. Flatt (and learning more about sweat than I ever thought I’d learn), before parting ways he gave me a GUTR™ to try for myself. I was a bit skeptical, having been the punchline for many jokes in the past because of my excessive sweat (and funk)… I was thinking to myself this is too good to be true.

Unfortunately the Sweat GUTR™ didn’t do anything for my body funk after 2 hours of trail riding but it did keep the sweat out of my eyes and face! I’m also an avid tennis player so I took it out on the tennis court with me and by George if I didn’t have one of the best games of my life! Tennis is 99% mental, I don’t know if it was me thinking I had an edge with the Sweat GUTR™ or if I just thought I was too cool because nobody else had one… either way I kicked some tennis rear-end while wearing the Sweat GUTR™.

If you haven’t gotten the message already… go get the Sweat GUTR™ it will definitely prove useful, comfortable and you’ll be the envy of all your friends. You can buy the Sweat GUTR™ at any major sports retailer or go online here.

Video demo

Website Sweat: www.sweatgutr.com
Facebook Sweat: Coming soon.
Twitter Sweat: Coming soon.

Some ideas just make sense! That’s the first thing that came to my head when I met Nan Kappeler, owner and founder of T Mat Pro™. Nan and I met at the Interbike convention this year and in our brief discussion and exchange of business cards she managed to pass on a little information about a product I had yet to discover, the T Mat Pro™.

What I’ve come to find in the weeks that have past since Nan and I first met is that I along with numerous other bloggers, magazines and athletes agree the T Mat Pro™ is a great product and surprisingly useful for multiple applications.

Another bonus is the T Mat Pro™ can also be used in companion with TRIslide lubricant spray to shave off precious seconds at your next triathlon race!

The T Mat Pro™ is great for fast triathlon transitions, changing clothes at your car and stretching.  The bright colors make it easy for triathletes to spot their bikes at races, and the non-skid rubber backing keeps the mat flat, so it doesn’t bunch up like a towel when you wipe your feet.  The mat rolls up to fit in a backpack and can be easily transported in your car for changing before and after a ride.  No more pebbles in your underpants!  After changing, just place the mat on your trunk floor or car seat and store your sweaty clothes on top.

Nan and T Mat Pro™ are also partnered with The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s Team In Training! Women’s Cycling Magazine would like to commend Nan for her efforts at raising awareness and making a difference. Show your support by checking out Nan’s page here.

For more info on the T Mat Pro™ check out the video below.

A week ago at Interbike in Las Vegas I got a chance to swing by the CygoLite booth to briefly talk with CygoLite representative Burt Truong. I was amazed at how much thought and engineering gusto goes into one of these itty-bitty little LED light systems!

Burt went on to explain the reason their products are so good and dependable compared to the rest of the industry is the passion the engineers bring to the development of all their products. He noted that all of their engineers aren’t just Super-Geeks fresh from the halls of Cornell, but rather Super-CYCLING-Geeks fresh from the mud of hidden gnarly mountain trails and far away country roads now accessible 24/7 day or night thanks to the CygoLite technology!

To say the least I was impressed with Burt’s enthusiasm for his product, attention to details and knowledge of cycling. If you’re a woman on the go getting up early for your commute to work or getting off late from work and you still want to get your ride in for the day (even if it’s at 9pm), never fear CygoLite is here and ready to light up your life!

Check out this video of the MityCross 350 LED I’m sure you’ll be just as impressed as I was in person.