New Balance MT101 Winners; Ryders Eyewear VTX Winners; Winter Running Mojo from Anton Krupicka

A note of warning before we get to today's big announcements: the video that I've embedded in this post plays automatically - so if you don't want to get distracted while reading, scroll down to click pause before going back to it later. I can't figure out how to change the HTML, but if any code geeks out there want to help me out, I'd love to hear from you.

(*UPDATED: I never got things figured out. I took the video out, and placed a link to it instead.)

Now then - on to the important news of the day: announcing the winners of the Ryders Eyewear VTX glasses contest and the New Balance MT101 contest. Since one of my New Year's goals is to simplify and get to the point of things, let's just knock these out:

Ryders Eyewear VTX glasses winners: Woodrow and Julia (from South Miami)

New Balance MT101 winners: Turi, And Miles 2 Go, and MamaRunsBarefoot (awesome screen name, by the way).

If you're one of the winners, congrats! E-mail me your contact info which I'll pass along to the respective company reps. To everyone else, thanks for playing, and there's still time to enter the VIVOBAREFOOT Neo running shoe giveaway or the Wilderness Running Company Black Diamond Icon giveaway.

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In lieu of my customary weekend Random Shot of Beauty, I'm doing a Random Video of Coolness instead. It comes from Running Times magazine, and features ultrarunning stud and New Balance consultant Anton Krupicka training in the early winter conditions of his Colorado home. Since I've attempted my own little offerings of winter mojo around here, I figure I'm somewhat obligated to recognize when someone blows my efforts completely out of the water.

Another interesting observation from a barefoot/minimalist runner's perspective is how impeccable Anton's running form is, even on the challenging trails and uncertain footing of his favorite mountain. If there's a poster boy for perfect stride length, foot placement, and trunk posture while running, it's Anton - and I've watched this video enough times that I'm now trying to visualize his form during my own long trail runs. I don't have any expectation that it will make me run like Anton ... but since it's New Year's Day, I think I'm allowed to dream a little.


"The Runner in Winter", from Running Times - See the video here.

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Ryders Eyewear VTX Sunglasses Review and Giveaway

You didn’t think the December giveaway bonanza was ending simply because Christmas has come and gone, did you? This week brings three new giveaways, one of which includes a product review of a great new minimalist shoe that I’m totally excited to be able to debut here.

However, I will confess to being a major-league slacker this weekend, so today’s giveaway will be quick and to the point. Before we get there, however, a couple of announcements …

1) I’m still waiting for The Big E to contact me and claim his winnings for the VIVOBAREFOOT kids’ shoes contest. You’ve got until Tuesday night before I pick another winner.

2) Everyone still has a couple more days to enter the New Balance MT101 giveaway, where three pairs of awesome trail shoes will be awarded on Wednesday night, December 29th. See details on the link above to enter.

OK then – on with today’s giveaway! As I said, I’ll try to keep things brief.

This summer I learned about Ryders Eyewear, a company that produces high-performance eyewear at discount store prices - and ever since then, I’ve used their lenses for all of my mountain biking and running activities. I first reviewed their Vigor model, which I prefer for mountain biking but also use for trail running, and then the VTX, which in my opinion is a more running-specific style that’s become my all-purpose model of choice.

Trail running with the VTX this summer

The VTX comes with three interchangeable lenses, one of which is clear, so these lenses would be a great option for road cyclists as well. Other lens colors are dark gray and orange, which feature 100% UVA, UVB, and UVC protection and shatterproof polycarbonate lenses.

I could give you lot more details about the VTX – but like I said, I’m still sort of in slacker mode, so I’m saving myself some time by referring you to a review I wrote for FeedTheHabit this fall. (Or you could just take my word for it that they’re awesome.) Afterward, come back to this post, and leave a comment below for your chance to win a pair of Ryders VTX glasses for yourself. Two winners will be selected at random, and winners will be announced on Thursday night, December 30th. Good luck to everybody!

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Ryders Eyewear Vigor Review

Prior to this spring, I classified high-performance sunglasses in the category of “this is why I can’t have nice stuff”.

Although I’ve worn sunglasses on virtually every ultra, long training run, or bike ride I’ve ever done, I’ve never been willing to shell out top dollar for anything from Oakley, Bolle, Rudy Project, or any of the other high-priced shades that market specifically to endurance athletes.

Me, with discount glasses. And ladybugs.

The reason, as you can perhaps guess, is that I’m an idiot. A clumsy idiot, to be more precise. I can’t go more than a few months without scraping my glasses through overgrown bushes on the trail, dropping them onto the ground while trying to adjust my visor, accidentally sitting on them once I get to the car, or causing a dozen other calamities to needlessly shorten their lifespan. And whenever such damage occurs, it’s much nicer knowing that you’ve only wrecked a $20 pair of shades instead of a $200 pair.

The problem, of course, is that most $20 shades don’t offer the same overall quality that’s present in higher-priced models. So wouldn’t it be awesome if there was some sort of middle ground: glasses that provide the most important performance features of high-end brands, with a price tag that’s closer to the bargain bins I usually shop in?

It would be, and it is. It’s Ryders Eyewear.


Truthfully, I had never even heard of this British Columbia-based company until recently, even though they’ve been around for more than 25 years. Part of my ignorance may be attributed to the fact that Ryders specializes in motorsport and winter sports eyewear as well as cycling and running … but part of it might be that idiot thing again.

The current catalog is divided into a performance collection for athletics, and a chill collection for, well ... chilling. The performance sunglass category is further broken down into essentials, polarized, interchangeable, photochromic, and photo-polar, which at $90 are the highest priced items in the entire performance collection. The other categories step down in price to $70 (the polarized and photochromic groups) and $60 (the interchangeables), with the essential category the most affordably priced of all.

Ryders Vigor, with orange lenses

I tested the Vigor, which is part of the essential collection and retails for a very wallet-friendly $45. While the price tag is refreshingly low, there are several high-tech features built into these shades that make them a tremendous value.

Like all of Ryder’s glasses in the essential collection, the Vigor features low-profile, high-strength Duraflex frames, in this case available in black or white. It has an anti-slip coating on the temple and nose tips, which become slightly sticky as you sweat, helping the glasses stay in place. Both the nose and temple tips are adjustable with embedded memory wires, giving you some fit customization not typically seen on glasses in this price range.

The lenses are shatterproof, optically correct, scratch-resistant (Hooray!) and provide 100% UV protection. Tint styles for the vigor include orange (on black frames only) or gray. The gray tint allows 15% visible light transmission (VLT), while the orange tint allows 47%. On this particular style, there are small, narrow cutouts on the top and bottom of the lenses, which allow air to pass through and prevent fogging.

I received a pair with orange lenses, which were pretty much perfect for mountain biking, especially when skies are overcast but you still want some eye protection from bugs or dirt. The tint of the lenses actually enhances visual contrast, so I can see every detail in the trail while having the confidence of being protected from anything accidentally lodging in my eyes. On bright sunny days, the VLT is somewhat high for my liking, but if you’re concerned that traditional shades limit your overall visibility, these would be an ideal choice. The air channels in the frames are very effective at limiting fog buildup, which is a super nice feature when you’re biking down a bumpy single track at 20mph.

I’ve found this particular style a little bit bulky for running, but that might be a personal preference issue for me, as I’m accustomed to running in sunglasses with no lower frame. Ryders has other models in their collections – the Stealth and Treviso in particular – that appear ideal for running, and I’ll most likely be reviewing one of those in the near future. If you happen to like full-framed running glasses, the Vigors are a comfortable option, although I'd recommend the darker gray lenses for bright conditions typically found on open trails.

Vigor with black lenses

Whichever style, frame color, and lens color you choose, you'll be impressed by the quality and overall value of Ryders eyewear. The Vigors are available for $45 at Amazon.com (gray lenses linked) in addition to the company website (link above) and other online vendors. Amazon also carries most other styles in the Ryders performance collection, in some cases at discounted prices.


*Product provided by Ryders Eyewear
**See other product reviews on sidebar at right. If you have a product you’d like reviewed, contact me at info@runningandrambling.com.

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