Father’s Day is now three days away and you’ve most likely missed the shipping deadline for your online gift-buying plan because you chose to spend your time outside running or biking. What the heck do you do now?
Shop local. There are stores in Huntsville, Chattanooga and Knoxville that cater to Outsiders, even Dad Outsiders. The staffs of the local stores are helpful, courteous, and helpful. So don’t fret. I’ve compiled this list of cool gear for Father’s Day you can pick up at your local bike shop or running apparel store.
Hand-Made Canvas Water Bottle Holder
Ok, this first one is available in Huntsville only, but wow, it’s cool.
Kasy Zook is a bike tech/mechanic for Sunset Bicycles in Huntsville and crafts rugged canvas water bottle holders on the side.
“I started making them because I needed one,” Zook said. “Then I found out I was halfway decent at making them, so I started making them as Christmas gifts. Pretty much everybody in the shop has one.”
Zook’s water bottle holders come in two styles – one is made out of a military-spec Cordura, and the other is fashioned out of a wax canvas he procures from the United Kingdom. Zook calls the wax canvas version “old-school waterfproof.” The holders sell for $50.
Zook said he likes to travel abroad frequently and uses sales from his water bottles to fund his excursions.
“I like to work for a while, save money and travel, and the owners here let me sell them to add to the kitty for when I head out the next time,” Zook said.
If you want one of these hard-core water bottles, you’re going to have to move fast. As of a couple of days ago, there were only nine left on the shelf at Sunset Bicycles. And like the saying goes, “When they’re gone, they’re gone.”
goodr Sunglasses
goodr sunglasses are so cool you don’t even know. My daughter got me a pair of the Batman variety.
I could tell you what goodr is all about, but I’m just going to pull the quote directly from their website so you get a sense of where they’re coming from: “In 2015, goodr was created to solve a problem: running sunglasses were expensive, ugly, and over-engineered. To solve this, we set out to design a pair of running sunglasses that were affordable, stylish, and all performance. (Hold the B.S., please!). And so, goodr was born. BOOM. Problem solved. You’re welcome.”
Most goodr shades are polarized, and all are no slip and no bounce. Runners dig them. You can buy them at the Fleet Feet nearest you. There are $25 goodrs, $30 goodrs and $35 goodrs (if you’re feeling fancy).
SockGuy Socks
Socks for Father’s Day? Absolutely!
California-Based SockGuy produces U.S.-made socks made by avid cyclists, runners, hikers and weekend warriors who have experience as expert level racers, sport enthusiasts, beer aficionados and industry professionals. They claim to be crazy passionate about socks and know yarn, knitting and sock design like nobody else in the industry.
SockGuy’s most popular socks feature off-beat, original designs that appeal to a broad range of athletes, from professionals to multi-sport enthusiasts who like to have unique high-performance socks to match their personality and attitude.
SockGuy also creates custom-designed socks for sporting events, clubs, teams, companies and schools around the world.
SockGuy has hundreds of original sock designs sold in thousands of retail locations across the U.S. and around the world. Locally, you can find them at Sunset Bicycles, Trek Bicycle Store in Chattanooga and Cedar Bluff Cycles in Knoxville.
Sprints O.G. Hats
Sprints features a complete apparel line, but the O.G. hats are something else. The Cincinnati-based company launches new products in colorful patterns every four to six weeks to keep it fresh and invite people to “sweat in color.” Sprints hats can be found at the Fleet Feet near you.
Their lineup consists of 5-panel runner hats, visors and winter hats. The coolest thing about Sprints hats? They let people vote on their favorite patterns to determine what gets produced by the company next. Right now you can vote for your favorite National Park – Joshua Tree, Grand Tetons, Everglades or Denali.
Spring Energy Awesome Sauce
TVO co-founder Alan Clemons (who has his own Father’s Day list … check it out) has used Awesome Sauce for the last three to four years for trail, road and biking events. He says it’s easy on the stomach, tastes good (even on hot days) and is easy to transport. He stuffs Awesome Sauce packs into pockets on his old Ultimate Direction vest or 5.11 Tactical shorts (which also holds trash to discard). Combined with Honey Stinger waffles and occasional gummi worms, the Awesome Sauce is a solid pick. Awesome Sauce (and the Honey Stinger products) are available at Fleet Feet.
