Ahh, what a beautiful weekend! After a Saturday afternoon spent recovering from a friend’s wedding, (and our associated hangovers) my wife picked up a sweet used mongoose bicycle at a local bike shop. So, Sunday morning I loaded up the board and hit the road once again, and this time, she came with me!

As I fought my way out to the lineup, she cruised up and down the boardwalk. You know, Los Angeles may have its share of problems, but I have to admit, mornings like that make it all worthwhile!

The surf was small that day, but as usual, it still seemed like a hell of a fight to get out! I can already see what my problem is… despite my best efforts and some good experiences, I think I’m still a bit spooked from my N.D.E. (Near Drowning Experience). I’m not charging the waves aggressively enough, and I’m not using the techniques at my disposal to get out there past the white water. I need to practice turning turtle until it becomes second nature.

Action Item: Turtle Practice!

As I’ve mentioned before, part of my surfing workout is practicing pop-ups, and it really has helped! I used to hesitate a lot before trying to pop-up, and here in LA, you really don’t have too much time to get up before the wave closes out on you (at least, not at the beach I usually go to…) So, everyday, I practice popping up on my living room floor 8 times. It may look silly, but after several weeks, it’s becoming built into my muscle memory, and now I notice myself getting up much faster on my board.

I need to do the same thing with turning turtle, and other methods for getting through the waves… I need to cut down on my hesitation time, and use those extra seconds to get myself out there. I’ll keep working on it, and let you know how it goes!

As far as the rest of Sunday went, I had two bona-fide rides… granted, they were tiny little waves, but they were still waves, and I was standing, and riding! The second one was pretty sloppy… my trim was so off that the board was actually about an inch underwater! But hell, it was moving, and I was on top of it, so I say it counts!

I’m hoping to get a full three days in of surfing this weekend, so hopefully I’ll have more progress to report. In the meantime, thank you so much for stopping by, and I really appreciate your comments! They keep me motivated in both my surfing and my writing.  Which, really, are the two main reasons I started this blog, so please keep ‘em coming! Stay stoked!