JOY RIDE

Top athletes know that peak form for any sport is achieved only through diligent, year-round training. Simple enough if your sport is, say, basketball, but what if your passion is sledding? How can you greet winter with the hair-trigger responses and cool-headed precision it takes to keep pace with your kids when your local hill is still cloaked in grass? The SUMMERSLED, that’s how. A 3-foot-long, 2-foot-wide plastic glider attached to seven free-spinning wheels, the SummerSled makes preseason training a snap: no soggy long johns, lost mittens, or spilled hot chocolate. However, helmets are highly recommended, and grass stains are practically guaranteed. But for any self-respecting sledder, that’s a small price to pay. $60. (877) 493-7533, www.summersled.com