June 13, 2013– Boulder, Co. – Today ZEAL Optics announced their partnership with the Southsider’s Wheels & Waves 2013.  Wheels & Waves is a celebration of classic motorcycles and surf in Biarritz, France throughout June 13-16. ZEAL Optics is proud to be the only eyewear brand that is a partner with Wheels and Waves, an event that highlights the collaboration and craftsmanship of a culture that transcends to many different parts of fashion and lifestyle.

While in France, ZEAL will be showcasing the new lifestyle collection, which has been inspired through the journey of people, creative minds and travelers worldwide.

“We are excited to be a part of this year’s Wheels & Waves,” said Director of Marketing Joe Prebich.  “The vibe of the event is the perfect pairing for ZEAL’s lifestyle collection – classic influence on new ideas and collaborations.”

“Our brand is built to be here,” said ZEAL Culture Specialist, Alex Dalton. “Eyewear is an important part of any look, from fashion to art to surf, eyewear is a part of it all. We spent the last year building our collection to embody the principles of design and craft that we see with Wheels & Waves and it’s amazing to see the other brands like us from all around the world that share these same ideas.”

Pulling together some of the most creative brands throughout Europe, Wheels and Waves is set to kick off this weekend at the Lighthouse in Biarritz, France. Starting with art gallery opening at Galerie 13 Avril in Biarritz featuring Brian Bent, Bill Phelps, Alberto Garcia, Alix & Alain Duplantier and an ode to 90 years of design with BMW.

The rest of the weekend is filled with rides through out the area, live concerts and exhibition of classic bikes, cars and vintage surfboards and eyewear.

The surfer stumbled upon Zeal through a succession of links in the sport and sun industries. “The way that they ARE the brand, I’m attracted to. Everyone is so cool and mellow and laid-back.” Describing Zeal as a family, she says, “They are just super stoked on whatever you do. They don’t put a lot of pressure on you. They’re just a really good support team.”

Receiving her first pro sponsorship at age 9, Hurst grew up on the waves sporting the logos every surfer dreams of riding for. She knows the balance of sponsor-surfer relationships and understands that an incompatible matchup can make for a perfect storm. “Branding is everything. Because branding, for this lifestyle, is the people who are backing you. You have to be on exactly the same page, or else it’s not going to work out. The way they run their team, the way they think. You have to be psyched on what your brand is doing or else it’s not going to work,” she says.

“Zeal is really into plant-based products. They have the world’s first plant-based lens. Did you know that?” Hurst chirps with excitement.

The brand’s bio-based e-llume lens is leading a movement eliminating crude oil from sunglass production, along with Z-resin, a proprietary plant-based material used for all of their sunglass frames.

“That’s something that is really inspiring to me, because I come from Hawaii, and it’s such a mellow lifestyle. Everything is really eco-friendly, and that’s why I think Zeal is so cool because they’re doing something different than any other brand is doing,” Hurst says.

A Hawaii native, hailing from the island of Kauai, Hurst made the move to Newport Beach, Calif., a major hub of the surf industry, after graduating high school. She relocated to build relationships with sponsors, putting in face time and just hanging out. But she’s taking advantage of the hard-earned luxury of lifestyle-concentrated sponsors. She’s shaking up the traditional focus away from competing in favor of creating her own variety of what it means to be a surf professional, with a lifestyle that naturally rings true to her sponsors’ brand appeal while following her life passions.

“I travel. I do a lot of filming with my sponsors,” Hurst says. “It’s a lot more fun than just sticking to contests.”

Hurst is perceptively astute in defining moods and movements within the industry and knows exactly what surfers want. “Nowadays a lot of people are drawn to video content. Vans, being my main sponsor, have taken that role; they’re a lifestyle brand and they make videos of the surf team. I’m the only girl that rides for Vans, so I go and travel with the guys,” she laughs. “And we go and film surfing all day.”

Surfers may not sport shades offshore, but Leila says sunwear is beyond important to her and her board brethren. Endless world traveling, checking waves and staying fit outdoors require polarized sunwear that will stay on no matter what the conditions are during explorations amid wind, sand and swells of saltwater.

“We wear sunglasses hanging out at the beach all day, every day. I’m pretty concerned with eye and skin health. I’m always loading up on sunscreen, and I always have sunglasses. You have to be careful. It’s scary to think, we’re in the sun all the time—we’ve got to do as much as we can to save ourselves,” she says.

Zealously armed with sunwear, Hurst knows her shades and quickly identifies Zeal style Felicity as a favored frame. “It’s an active sunglass AND you can dress it up. It’s kind of everything.” She says of her wide, rectangular full-frame sunglasses with thick, beveled rims and sporty rubber-lined temple tips. “I have every color to switch them out. Once you find your favorite, you know. And they are polarized, and that’s one thing I NEED is polarized. It makes the ocean look so much nicer!”

Without living under the burden of rank-obsessed sponsors, Leila can also concentrate on family. “I get to do a bunch of things with my sister,” she says brightly. “I take her surfing through something called Life Rolls On.”

Hurst’s sister Sophia has spina bifida, making even walking a challenge. Life Rolls On is a nonprofit organization dedicated to help those with spinal cord injuries surf despite paralysis. Through adaptive equipment and the efforts of volunteers, Life Rolls On puts emphasis on not only the experience of surfing but the possibilities beyond disability.

“Somehow we got signed up for it, and my sister and I went and it was such an amazing experience for me. I had no idea what to expect. It was really cool because I’d never surfed with my sister before. To see her lying down, on a board, going on a wave, it was such a cool experience. I was in tears,” says Hurst.

Life Rolls On gives the sisters a special bond, and Hurst is elated with the chance to share her love of surfing. “My sister watched me my whole life on the go, and to see her doing that was just so cool. Sophia really enjoys it. And that’s what I’m seeing with other people when I go without my sister. I see these families, and I see such a connection with them and their kids,” she says. “Their kids are so happy.”

Steadfast to the commitment of using her own accomplishments to help others, and giving them hope at a future as bright as her own, she’d like to continue working with Life Rolls On or follow the current of creating her own foundation. “I’ve done a lot, with winning contests and traveling, it was so beyond that to see my sister in the water. People always ask me what I’m going to do after I’m done competing, and I hope, I really hope that’s what I’ll be doing. That’s definitely where my heart is,” she says.

For the time being Hurst is graciously flourishing in the tide of success. She wants to compete in the World Tour of Surfing and continue filming across the world with her sponsors. “I have the most terrific sponsors for what I want to do,” she says. “And Zeal has amazing sunglasses just right for an adventure.” Sun’s up, Leila… surf on. ■

When did you start running?
I started running at a very young age, pretty much like any child full of energy. My father engaged me in running sports as early as 4 and I have kept the legs moving in one way or another ever since. But I really started “running” just to run when I met my wife Karen Craig, in 2005.

Why do you run?
There is no one answer to this, but the best I can give is to just be present while escaping. It’s kind of a juxtaposition in a sense. As you are escaping you find you’re most aware. Aware of your breathing, your surroundings, your steps, but yet it becomes second nature and all of these things fall into place whether you are fully focusing on them or not.
It really helps me clear my head, feel accomplished and set the day off right, or sometimes conclude the day. When traveling for work or pleasure, you get to see so much more if you run, and secretly I like knowing that I have been to a mountain peak, or seen a beach that most people I am around do not even know is there. It’s kind of like recalling a dream half way through the day.

What are your running goals?
I don’t set any event goals much anymore. I got into Ultra Running a couple years back and enjoy pacing Ultra Runners almost more than competing myself. Mostly I find myself signing up for a Marathon (Road or Trail) or a Steeple-Chase, or even an Ultra just weeks out from the event. I like to run for me, mostly, and not focus on an event months down the road that may detract from the solitude of running.

Do you prefer to run alone or with someone?
Both! I love to run with my wife. She is an amazing runner, and is constantly getting stronger. She has run for over 20 years, and has some notable feats under her belt. Yet she is humble and unless I spout off about her, no one would ever know she had run Boston Marathon, or with Olympian and Women’s record holder Deena Kastor. I do run alone often. Running is great in company and solitude.

Do you prefer trail or road?
Trail, mostly. The change of pace, form, and terrain keep you on your toes and offer so much more to take in. Road is good to have in your bag, for when you travel, or need to just jam out the door for a quick 6 miles or so.

What is your favorite pair of ZEAL sunglasses to run in?
The Tofino! They are super lightweight and a great fit.

 

Tj – Running from chase evans on Vimeo.

image via Stuff.co.nz

ZEAL runner, Liza Hunter-Galvan, pulled in her third consecutive win at the Christchurch Marathon in New Zealand creating history for number of back-to-back marathon wins. Her winning time of 2.50.26 had her taking first in the marathon by over a minute ahead of second place Victoria Beck (2.51.50).

A New Zealand native who currently lives and trains in Texas, Liza wears the ZEAL Eos while training and racing (check out the Eos here). Congratulations, Liza!!

and wakeboarding’s top competitors. Last season Dowdy took home wins at the Nautique Wake Games, Masters, Pro Wakeboard Tour stops in Acworth and Fort Worth and was ranked number one in the King of Wake standings in the Junior Pro Men division.

“We are proud to welcome Mike Dowdy to the team,” said Director of Marketing Joe Prebich. “Not only is he an incredible rider, he is a great person and we are really looking forward to seeing the amazing future he has in wake.”

Having grown up near Brighton, Michigan Mike Dowdy picked up wakeboarding when he was eight-years-old. He was a quick study and dove into competitive wakeboarding at an early age.  When not on the lake, which is rare, Mike skateboards around town.  Wanting to help those less fortunate, Mike has decided to donate a percent of his earnings this year to a charity in order to allow others experience his sport.

“I’m really excited about joining the ZEAL family,” stated Mike Dowdy.  “I really like the company as a whole, along with their innovative products and how they care about their riders.”

Make sure to tune into the King of Wakeseries this summer to watch Mike compete for the title!  Tune in tonight at 3:30pm EST to NBC Sports to watch the first stop of the tour.

Photo credit: Red Bull

It didn’t seem real until the Indian official stamped my passport and waved me toward baggage claim at the Trivandrum airport in Southern India at three in the morning. The speed of air travel still confounds my sailor’s mind…Instead of watching lights slowly appear on a dark horizon, I found myself huddled around a whirling belt of boxes and bags elbow to elbow with Indian air commuters returning from Dubai. After long flights on multiple airlines, my travel companion since Brisbane–surfing’s extraordinary ecofeminist, Lauren Hill and I were relieved to find our belongings amidst the chaos and head for the exit.

The sliding doors opened to reveal a sea of families lined upon a railing awaiting home-comers. The fluorescent airport lights eerily illuminated the throng against the black of night. Whites around dark eyes, teeth exposed between open lips, the flash off women’s shiny fabrics, ashen blessings on foreheads, and dazzling gold jewellery all blinked at us like navigational beacons on a horizon of humans. India. We had arrived!?! The air was a thick mix of humidity, exhaust, sweat, and spice, and I sliced through it with the vertical load of my Prolite Rhino Series 6′ 4″ boardbag on the airport trolley…

Where the crowd thinned we found, Uddi, our driver, holding an 8 by 11″ paper scrawled with “Lauren/Liz”. He bobbled his head from left to right and we took that as a sign to follow him. We strapped the boards atop the classic Ambassador taxi and hopped in.

The old headlights spat weak light on the right side of the oddly busy two-lane highway. Behind the wheel, Uddi was possessed–honking excessively and using the middle of the road like we were in a game of PacMan. We passed and dodged oncoming traffic in a series of what each felt like near-death incidents. My body stiffened. I clenched the velour cover on the backseat, fixing my eyes on the road from between the headrests, as if it might help us avoid collision. Twenty minutes into the ride, the fatigue of the 30 straight hours of planes and airports hit me. “Relax,” I told myself. “You’re not the captain now…” I closed my eyes and heard ‘Bharat Mata’, Mother India, whisper…

“Lesson One. You are not in control. You never really are for that matter…People come to India for many things. But what I give each of them are opportunities to open their minds and hearts ever wider…chances to grow from within…to loosen the stuck places…nourish their souls with the notion that everything is possible…Welcome, my Dear, and enjoy the ride…”

Interested in learning more about the beetle infestations in the Rockies? Check out this great video:

This stop saw approximately 80 backpackers and outdoor enthusiasts show up to learn backpacking from the very best! Make sure you click here to view the schedule so that you can catch the Get Out More Tour when it comes to your town!