Do My New Oakleys Make Me Look Serious???
Finally, after 17 years of being a speedskater, I have broken down and ordered myself a pair of real Oakley M Frame Pro glasses. In previous seasons, I have begged and borrowed from teammates, friends, and coaches; I've tried to find acceptable substitutes at the dollar store or at gas stations; I even got a pair of "Fakeleys" from my buddy Mark Chrysler, but they kept on falling off my face during the jump workouts this summer.
Most of the time, I skate just fine without glasses, but sometimes they help (like when you're in the middle of a driving hailstorm in Inzell!)
Towards the end of last season, Boris told me that, at the speeds I'm going now, I need glasses to protect my eyes from the air pressure. OK. I don't want my eyeballs to pop out! (And I'm willing to pretend that I really am that fast.)
The US Speedskating Team used to have some sort of deal with Oakley and Standard Optical, before the last Olympics. By the time I tried to obtain my own free pair, though, the deal had fallen through.
When I went to Standard Optical, they said they no longer offered the M Frames I was looking for. They gave me a prescription sample kit instead! The frame was hinged and kept falling apart, and the lenses had a big black "RX" etched over the center of each eye. The lady at the counter suggested I drive out to the Deer Valley ski resort and see if I could exchange the glasses for a real pair at their pro shop. Of course, they didn't have any M Frames either, so I took my beautiful pair of Prescription Sample Kit glasses and stashed them in my closet.
The funniest part of it, though, is the reason why Standard Optical no longer wanted to be in on the free sunglasses deal with US Speedskating. It seems that several abuses of this deal had been taking place. For example, one of the girls on the team had apparently managed to grab herself a $400 pair of Gucci fashion glasses. Thanks for wrecking it for the rest of us.
It's OK - I'm grateful that I can still afford to buy some necessary skating equipment for myself.
When I saw the description of the Oakley M Frame glasses on the Oakley web site, I had to laugh:
M Frame: "Worn by S.W.A.T. teams and others who take their view of the world seriously."
Do I take ANYTHING seriously?
Finally, after 17 years of being a speedskater, I have broken down and ordered myself a pair of real Oakley M Frame Pro glasses. In previous seasons, I have begged and borrowed from teammates, friends, and coaches; I've tried to find acceptable substitutes at the dollar store or at gas stations; I even got a pair of "Fakeleys" from my buddy Mark Chrysler, but they kept on falling off my face during the jump workouts this summer.
Most of the time, I skate just fine without glasses, but sometimes they help (like when you're in the middle of a driving hailstorm in Inzell!)
Towards the end of last season, Boris told me that, at the speeds I'm going now, I need glasses to protect my eyes from the air pressure. OK. I don't want my eyeballs to pop out! (And I'm willing to pretend that I really am that fast.)
The US Speedskating Team used to have some sort of deal with Oakley and Standard Optical, before the last Olympics. By the time I tried to obtain my own free pair, though, the deal had fallen through.
When I went to Standard Optical, they said they no longer offered the M Frames I was looking for. They gave me a prescription sample kit instead! The frame was hinged and kept falling apart, and the lenses had a big black "RX" etched over the center of each eye. The lady at the counter suggested I drive out to the Deer Valley ski resort and see if I could exchange the glasses for a real pair at their pro shop. Of course, they didn't have any M Frames either, so I took my beautiful pair of Prescription Sample Kit glasses and stashed them in my closet.
The funniest part of it, though, is the reason why Standard Optical no longer wanted to be in on the free sunglasses deal with US Speedskating. It seems that several abuses of this deal had been taking place. For example, one of the girls on the team had apparently managed to grab herself a $400 pair of Gucci fashion glasses. Thanks for wrecking it for the rest of us.
It's OK - I'm grateful that I can still afford to buy some necessary skating equipment for myself.
When I saw the description of the Oakley M Frame glasses on the Oakley web site, I had to laugh:
M Frame: "Worn by S.W.A.T. teams and others who take their view of the world seriously."
Do I take ANYTHING seriously?
posted by Eva at 3:42 PM
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