back in action

 
 
Had a visit with my orthopedic doctor yesterday and he gave me the green light to surf, told me i just need to ice it down and take ibuprofin if it gets stiff afterwards. sweet. i hustled home at 5:30 to try and catch a quick session before dark, since the reports were saying it was fair. i made it back to my hood in record time, and couldn't help but crack a little wheelie as I was a block away from my house. however, after setting down the front wheel i realized that up ahead a police car had just stopped short. i figured the cop spotted me, so instead of pulling up to my garage i made a right and circled around the block back to irving. when i got to irving i saw mark heading to his car with his board, so i asked him if he was going out. i pulled over and parked the bike, stalling to see if the cops would come looking for me. after chatting for a few minutes with mark, i walked to the corner, and alas the cop car was still sitting there in the middle of the street. rather than risk riding right up to the cop, i left the bike parked, took off my riding suit, and have mark drive me home. turns out there was a fight or something at the bus stop on the corner, and there were actually 3 cop cars blocking the road. i was relieved that they weren't looking for me...

without much daylight left, mark and i suited up and paddled out at judah. the current was pulling north pretty hard, and it was a lot of paddling for my first real session back. after drifting around and duckdiving for maybe 15 minutes I finally made it out as the sun was setting. caught a few crap waves, no good rides, it was a bit frustrating. good workout though, and nice to be back in the water. mark apparently caught a few good ones, but we drifted apart and it got dark, so it was hard to keep track of one another.

this morning i got up at 7 and suited up for the dawn patrol. reports were calling for head high waves with calm winds and glassy conditions, so i was stoked. drank a cup of coffee and ran down to K st. it was a bit warbly and disorganized, but glassy and good size. the paddle out was much easier too. my first few waves were solid, enough wall for a few cutbacks before the shoulder. my wave of the day was a beautiful head high wall that lined up perfectly for me. i didn't have to move an inch. i was just sitting there watching it roll towards me, and i got really excited, it was the best wave i saw all day and i was in perfect position. i let it come to me and pivoted, took a few stroked and popped up. it's been a while since i've surfed such a fast wave, the speed kindof caught me off guard at first. i found the trim line though and was flying down the line. a nice section jacked up and barreled, but it wasn't a clean, open barrel so i scooted around it and pumped for the next section. i knew i had enough speed, so i aimed for the lip and sucked my knees up and actually caught a decent amount of air. i didn't land back in the wave though, i kindof landed on top of it and then the wave went out from under me. i was super stoked though, hollering and talking to myself and sucking and spitting water for the next few minutes. surfing fast is such an amazing sensation, and that wave reminded me of why i'm so hooked. the swell is gonna be around through the weekend, so hopefully i'll find an opportunity to actually try and land back in the wave next time.