Great Ride, Gents!

This past week, the 5-hour Energy presented by Kenda Racing Team (long name, but sometimes it's nice to be official) competed in the Amgen Tour of California. Dubbed "America's greatest cycling race" by a lot of dudes with excellent fitness, the Amgen Tour challenges riders across 750 miles of scenic California roadways. Why are we telling you about this? 3 reasons:

1. Who doesn't enjoy scenic California roadways? Jerks, that's who.
2. The 5-hour / Kenda team is awesome.
3. They kick back in Cushe when they aren't racing.

Anyway - the guys had a great showing at this year's Tour. The team placed 4th overall, posting a time just 00:13:24 off the lead team. Francisco Mancebo put forth a fantastic individual ride as well, finishing 7th overall, and just 00:04:52 off the lead.

Hats off, fellas; now go relax for a few days!

© Brian Black Hodes of VeloImages

More

3 Things We Love About Mom

This weekend is Mother’s Day, so because you can never tell her often enough, here are three things we love about mom. 

1. Mom always supports what you do. Unless it’s dumb / you are definitely going to get hurt… then she’ll tell you. Which is like a two-fer. She’s supportive and honest when needed. 

2. She was a badass, and she’s really good at playing it down. You think you can sneak in the house at 3am like a boss and mom doesn’t know ‘cause she’s not cool? Think again. Mom’s done that. After she pealed out on high school lawn. Welcome to busted town, bro. 

3. The average American will spend $168.00 on Mother’s Day this year, but mom really just wants to hang out or get a call. And a card. Mom LOVES cards. Write a note in it too, or draw a picture for bonus points. 

Also buy her this t-shirt:

Way to be awesome, mom. 

<3 Cushe

More

Barry -Roubaix Race

We'll be sponsoring and hanging out at the Barry-Roubaix Killer Gravel Road Race on Saturday, March 23rd. Which contains roads, some gravel, a lot of racing, and a few killers. Maybe. For sure it'll be fun, of course because we'll be there, but also because 4000 other people will too. They'll be riding and cheering on fellow competitors in the small town of Hastings, Michigan. There will also be beer, which, according to science, has been linked to fun. Those 4000 people can stop by our booth for a smile, potentially a hi-five (potentially = definitely), and maybe a bit of swag. But not in the middle of the race if they care about posting a good time.

Check out a photo from last year. More importantly, check out that dude in the center wearing orange. Whatchu lookin' at, fella? Orange guy - if you are reading this, please stop by our booth and offer up an explaination. We're very understanding. 

More

Super Slater Bros.

It’s October – which can only mean two things here at Cushe HQ: we’re finalizing our Halloween costume (sexy shoe maker… duh) and we're looking forward to hanging with the Slater brothers at their invitational surf and skate comp next weekend!

For the past few years we’ve been proud to be a part of the Slater Brothers Invitational down in Cocoa Beach, FL. The three days of competition has always been great, and you can catch some of it on the live web stream when things kick off on October 27th. The entire event benefits the World Skin Cancer Foundation, which we can all get on board with.

If you are lucky enough to be in the area, or you’re heading to the competition, stop by and say hi to us. We’ll probably be passing out some swag, and we’re really good at putting sunscreen on your back.

More

Custom Cushe Slippers

This past weekend we brought Detroit artist Chris Freitag to the Wolverine Company Store in downtown Grand Rapids, MI to add a little graffiti flavor to some of our Cushe Slippers. Chris was taking custom orders from customers as well – making their Cushe shoes even more unique.

Why did we do this? Well, aside from our love of paint and marker fumes (don’t judge), it was the opening weekend of ArtPrize in GR. Read more about this awesome celebration of public art here. Peep more about graffiti on our Slips below.

More

Pitchfork Day Three Recap

Well kiddos… we've packed our bags, passed out all of our Cushe sunglasses, and emptied our cooler of VitaCoco. Yes, the sun has set on the 2012 Pitchfork Music Festival. We've made so many great new friends this weekend, and finally connected with some old ones face to face.

We're in a glass case of emotion right now!

Looking back on the third and final day, we must say that The Men did some WORK on the Balance Stage. Fantastic live performance. Definitely check them out if you have the chance and love good rock and roll.

AraabMuzik did his thing on the MPC's and had an entire sea of music fans jumping. We snagged a couple of pictures during his performance, but they don't do him justice. The crowd might give you a better idea of how his set was.

To close it all out, we were treated to a great show from Vampire Weekend. During their performance, we also noticed a record breaking number of dudes in salmon colored short-shorts paired with braided belts. We kid cause we love.

Thanks to everyone who came out to see us and say hello at the booth. Our hands are stinging from all of the sonic high-fives, but it was worth it. We'll be seeing Pitchfork again for sure!

More

Pitchfork Day Two Recap

There was a reoccurring chant by a few of the performers on day two: "&%#* the rain!". After an early afternoon drenching created a bit of a muddy mess and a LOT of wet music fans, the grounds dried out and the shows were incredible.

Flying Lotus dropped the dirty, filthy, don't-take-home-to-momma bass and pulled a huge reaction from the crowd.

Sleigh Bells was the stand out performer of the day for us. They came on and simply went off. We're almost certain our organs were rearranged when we were getting blasted by soundwaves while fighting for pictures. They were huge, and singer Alexis Krauss was all over the stage. It's safe to say we developed another crush...

Hot Chip provided the Saturday night dance party, and inspired a makeshift jump-rope circle.

We can't wait for Sunday's lineup! Don't forget to hit up our #cushelove giveaway on Facebook!

More

Pitchfork Day One Recap

It wouldn't be a music festival if it weren't liquid magma hot or rainy. Luckily at Pitchfork in Chicago, we had both on day one. That's a good sign, right?

We can't do much complaining though when we're surrounded by so much amazing music. Day one blew us away, and one band we've talked about before really stood out: Japandroids. Maybe it was the rain breaking into sunshine during their second song, maybe it was crazy energy these guys jack into their set... whatever it was, we don't care because it was awesome. Japandroids rawkus performance had the crowd at the Balance stage going nuts. If you get a chance to catch these guys live - do it.

Also there was Feist. Ahhh Feist... swoon. We're in love and we don't care who knows!

And now we're off for day two! Don't forget to enter our #cushelove sweepstakes on Facebook - it's your chance to win $100 to spend at Cushe.com! We're also giving you chances to win on Twitter, so drop us a line there and use the hashtag #cushelove to enter! Who loves ya, baby?

More

#cushelove During Pitchfork

It’s on! We’re at the Pitchfork Music Festival in Chicago starting today through Sunday! This is good for us, and some of you. What’s good for ALL of you is what we’re doing to celebrate.

Today through Sunday, we are spreading the #cushelove, and we want you to help.

Now, since you are helping us, we want to help you in the best way we know how: shoes, man; shoes. You can spread the #cushelove on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Not so coincidentally, you can win $100 to spend at Cushe.com in these very same places. Here’s how:

Facebook: Visit our page, and click on the #cushelove tab. Drop us your email address and you are entered to win. Then, share the sweepstakes with your friends for a bonus entry. Six (6!) $100 codes are up for grabs here.
Twitter: You know the drill here. Tweet #cushelove at @CusheUS and you are entered to win. Almost TOO easy… Nine (9!) $100 codes up for grabs here.
Instagram: Another easy way to enter. Take an awesome photo, and use the hashtag #cushelove. We’ll be watching, and you’ll be entered. We’ll pick the best picture for a $100 code.

That’s three ways to win. Facebook and Twitter winners are drawn daily, so if you win, you can brag almost immediately. Art takes time, so Instagram winners will be selected on Monday.

But then there’s this: use #cushelove in the promo code box during the checkout process on Cushe.com, and get 20% off your order. Cake, meet frosting. Everybody is a winner, especially us, because you are the best friends a shoe maker could ever have… oh god… we promised ourselves we wouldn’t cry…

<3 Cushe

More