Man, today I was just beat. The work week just took it out of me I guess, because for the first time in a long time, I didn’t really feel like heading out. As I hugged my wife under the covers, she mumbled, “Aren’t you supposed to be somewhere?”
Kicked out of bed, I suited up, made my morning snack of toast w. peanut butter, and hit the road.
Unfortunately, the day was pretty flat. There were waves to be had, but they were few and far between. I was still pretty tired, possibly fighting off a cold, and even though the waves were small, it seemed crazy hard to get out past them to the lineup for some reason. I did notice that the water was kind of weird, with several of what I can only describe as “cross breaks.” Not sure if that’s the right term or not, but the waves seemed to be breaking in multiple spots, peeling off in diagonal lines, with some weird current in between. Nothing crazy or anything, but odd.
It seemed like my judgment was just off today. I would charge for waves that turned out to be shitty, and then be so tired I missed a good one. It didn’t seem like anyone was scoring much, but I did see a few people get some rides, including one of the two Chris’s.
I did get some good wave handling practice. The water was pretty shallow, so I charged through the impact zone a few times, using various techniques, and I feel I made some progress in handling myself in the surf. I even got to practice turning turtle, when a larger wave suddenly loomed over me, appearing out of nowhere. I paused for second, then paddled towards it and flipped over at the last second… and it worked! The wave didn’t pound me! I’ll have to keep practicing that one, until it’s second nature!
All in all, I’m still glad I went… it was a beautiful sunny day, much nicer than most of the mornings have been lately, and there are far worse ways to spend a Saturday morning than paddling around in the ocean on a bright sunny day, chatting with friends about the surf, and getting a great workout to boot! Hopefully tomorrow will bing me some waves I can catch!
One other thing I love about surfing is the drive home. I truly love driving my car, crusing down the empty early morning freeway, window down and radio blasting. I feel like I always luck out on the way home and find some seriously great music on the airwaves. Here are some highlights from this morning:
Oingo-Boingo – “Only a Lad”
Blondie – “Rapture”
Gold Earring – “Radar Love”
Bruce Springsteen – “Born in the USA”
Well, hopefully I’ll have a more interesting post next week. Till then, be safe!
