Tow In Surf? Chasing Giant Land Swellsby Bluegrass Surfer
[Commentary:
I like short, fast, multiple cutback runs, like riding a wave.
After I wrote this blog, street-rigged mountainboards and surf-style carve became my number one passion. Pneumatic street carvers are the closest thing on land I have found to surfing. They deliver incredible traction for hard-leans, re-entries and tight cutbacks with slingshot acceleration off the bottom. For photos of my latest street-rig in action, Click Here.
My thing is maintaining max speed between back-to-back cutbacks, max centripetal acceleration at the bottom of cutbacks, and max lean in cutbacks without breaking loose or touching the ground. I rarely exceed 20 mph, but it is a fine art to hold constant speed for the entire run without slowing down.
I wrote this in 2006 as an article, requested by DirtSurfer. They only used a portion of it. So I used this long version to create a blog.]
My name is Bluegrass. I am a land-locked surf addict.
In 1968, I got my first surfboard for my sixteenth birthday. It was a 7’6” Surfboards Hawaii mini-gun. I weighed 150 lb. I also shaped and glassed several sticks back in the day. By the time I moved to Kentucky, I weighed 195. I was still riding a 7’6” surfboard whenever I got the chance.
Bluegrass stands with what remains of his quiver after 38 years. He is holding his classic 9’8” Bing: a 1960s David Nuuhiwa Noseriding Model.
I surfed the Gulf of Mexico from Galveston to South Padre Island. My primary breaks were the Freeport Jetties, Surfside Pier, and Matagorda Beach. In Texas, surfers lived for the tropical storm season and the passage of cold fronts. The right weather usually kicked up a good swell. Oh man, to have those days again, paddling out 24-36 hours before a big hurricane.
Caught a surf brudda checking out the inside of one of the smaller barrels that rolled in -- Banzai Pipeline, 02/29/2004.
I got into the field of aquaculture 26 years ago, researching marine fish and shrimp. I was sure this would provide a livelihood where I could surf in the morning and evening, on the weekend as well. My first big professional job landed me in west Kentucky 17.5 years ago. The only way I could have gotten farther from the coast and surfing was to move to Minnesota. When I feel the sudden, uncontrollable need to paddle out, I dig out my surf movies on DVD and quickly plug them in (Step Into Liquid, Endless Summer, Point Break …). The escape is brief, only making my craving to drop deep into a barrel even worse.
Being land-locked in KY, I had to stay in shape for any chance I might have to go surfing. I practiced the martial arts for reflex, balance, and quickness. I carried a 10-lb weight up and down steep hills in my backpack to build-up my legs. I did chin-ups, pull-ups, dips, push-ups and sit-ups for upper body strength. But, when Rip Van Bluegrass the surfer awakened from his 13-year hibernation in 2004, he was on the North Shore of Oahu. He still wasn’t ready for 2-4 foot overhead waves when he paddled out near Haleiwa. He hadn’t thought about the stamina required to get out to the reef where the waves were pounding. He was eaten alive. Two days earlier, the Pipe was breaking 2x-3x overhead – Van Bluegrass easily concluded, that would be suicide. He retreated to Waikiki. The waist-high beach break was much easier, more forgiving and good fun.
One of the day’s medium size beasts -- Banzai Pipeline, 02/29/2004.
After the return to KY, I added a half mile of swimming to the training routine -- 3x weekly, arms only. In 2005, I had seven days to ride the near close-out beach breaks in San Diego. It took a week of riding just to recover the surf legs needed to make late take-offs (balance, timing, reflexes). I still didn’t have the edge I would need to surf waves larger than head-high.
I couldn’t stand it. At 54, I don’t need to shred. But, I missed the hard rail turns and the roller coaster rides I had known on my 7’6” single fins of the 70s and 80s. Somehow, I had to get back to the place I was before! I had to find a way to duplicate drop, carve, back-side, cut-backs, hard rail turns, and pushing late take-offs to the edge of a free fall. I wanted to recapture the acceleration and velocity I experienced making the drop on an overhead wave and coming hard off the bottom of a Texas hurricane swell.
I was watching the 2006 Winter Olympics when I saw a film clip of the Women’s US Olympic Snowboarder, Lindsey Jacobellis. She was carving on a “mountain board” down an asphalt hill. That was it. I was stoked! I had discovered the first board for my new, land-surfing quiver.
I started searching for any slope that looked like the wall of a big wave, 3x overhead would do. I checked out highway overpasses or any smooth graded, steep slope with relatively short grass and no major hazards – “gravel,” ruts, boulders, stumps, holes, poles and fire hydrants. I finally found a perfect training break and started riding my new mountain board.
I was sure I had discovered the fountain of youth – people grow old because they stop having fun! After my first mountain board session, I felt like I was 18 again. Not only that, I started losing weight. I got down to my last surfer weight of 180 lb. The downside was that you bounce much harder on wipe-outs. Upside, there were no massive hydraulics holding me down under many tons of churning whitewater, and no big heads of coral or submerged boulders. Last but not least, no Land Sharks.
Bluegrass leans hard into the turns on his mountain board but says “speed wobble” limits its potential for land-surfing.
As my balance, reflexes and timing improved, I soon reached the limits of a mountain board. It was great for carve and shred practice with a smooth feel, flow, and arc on tight turns, like those of a surfboard. However, I had encountered “speed-wobble.” The mountain board became unrideable at speeds of approximately 20-30 miles per hour. It was as bad as 1- to 2-ft surface chop on a big day. Acceleration and velocity were limited. Hard rail turns on steep, grassy walls resulted in side-slipping and spinouts. What a drag. Like my old twin fin, a 5’6” Hansen Stratoglas, this mountain board wasn’t made for tall, steep faces.
What I needed was a big-wave gun for land swells something like the surfboards tow-in surfers ride. Dude, think of it, taking a drop on the Hoover Dam would be way more intense than the 60-foot waves at Cortes Bank . . . One-way ticket man, it’s a kamikaze run.
The land-swell gun.
I had seen another “in-line board" while shopping the internet for my mountain board. They called it a “dirtsurfer.” It looked radical, but at that point, way too intense for a 53-year-old, wannabe landsurfer.
Take-offs at the training break.However, now I was ready. I went on-line and found the dirsturfer blog. I learned about the new model, an in-line board with 16” off-road BMX wheels. I had to have one. I was sure I had found the land-swell equivalent of a big-wave gun. After six take-off attempts, I finally made my first drop at the beginner’s land-break. It was a long, easy, back-side run. A little wobbly on takeoffs and at low speeds, but as the dirtsurfer contact had described, once I made it down the face, I was floating over my gentle grassy swells. Sweet!!!
Cruising into the trough on a backside glide.
After my first successful weekend of dirtsurfing, it was time for 2x-3x overhead drop practice. One stroke at the top and I was flying down the face. What a rush! Thirty miles per hour and I was just cruising. I went over a gentle dip dropping into the trough and was momentarily weightless, like the sudden descent of a fast elevator going down. I had finally made it to the outside set. Back-side, front-side, I was hooked. I loved the long, flowing glide and fluid arcs.
Bluegrass drops down the face of a nice land-swell.
I found that dirtsurfer balance, acceleration and speed were the closest thing on land to riding ocean waves. The mountain board won hands-down for tight carving. But, the rush of big-wave takeoffs belonged to the dirtsurfer. The dirtsurfer was top gun for holding a steep, grassy wall and coming hard off the bottom. Your weight is centered directly over two wheels rather than four. The balance needed was a lot like that of riding a surfboard. When it came to speed and acceleration, there was no contest. Dirtsurfer acceleration would be the ultimate training for big-wave drops. The speed was more than that experienced while racing whitewater to the safety of the shoulder or onto the flats.
I recently located a new break that is roughly 5x overhead. It is the levee (dam) of a man-made lake. The face is steep and the grade is smooth. They keep the light surface chop (grass) well cropped. The neighboring breaks have swells whose walls are a bit mushier but are 6x to 7x overhead with potential for much longer rides. I will wait until the weather has cooled and I have made a few more late take-offs in my training zone before paddling out for the first time.
My fantasy land swell is a 50- to 60-foot drop on a lengthy wall with a good slope, short grass and a smooth face, coming off onto an expansive grass flats that is nicely mowed. But, when I find it, will I have the huevos to make the drop…?
Land swells are breaking 24-7-365. When you find the right spot, the form is always perfect. These days, I am constantly “in search of the perfect wave” as I drive through the hills of Kentucky. Until Mother Sea grants my request to return to the coastal valleys and ride her ocean swells, I will continue Chasing Giant Land Swells. I’ll be making the drop “Bluegrass Style.”
~ Bluegrass Surfer ~
*** WARNING ***
Riding a surfboard, mountain board, or in-line board is very dangerous. Wipe-outs and injuries are intrinsic hazards of these sports. Serious and crippling injuries, and even death, are possible. Protective equipment should always be worn while participating in these EXTREME sports. The type of helmet and other protective equipment worn should be based on the speeds that will be reached, terrain and the types of activities attempted while riding these boards.
To see more PHOTOS Click Here.
A peaceful afternoon at Waimea Bay.
My old 7-6 Morey-Doyle
[Commentary:
I like short, fast, multiple cutback runs, like riding a wave.
After I wrote this blog, street-rigged mountainboards and surf-style carve became my number one passion. Pneumatic street carvers are the closest thing on land I have found to surfing. They deliver incredible traction for hard-leans, re-entries and tight cutbacks with slingshot acceleration off the bottom. For photos of my latest street-rig in action, Click Here.
My thing is maintaining max speed between back-to-back cutbacks, max centripetal acceleration at the bottom of cutbacks, and max lean in cutbacks without breaking loose or touching the ground. I rarely exceed 20 mph, but it is a fine art to hold constant speed for the entire run without slowing down.
I wrote this in 2006 as an article, requested by DirtSurfer. They only used a portion of it. So I used this long version to create a blog.]
My name is Bluegrass. I am a land-locked surf addict.
In 1968, I got my first surfboard for my sixteenth birthday. It was a 7’6” Surfboards Hawaii mini-gun. I weighed 150 lb. I also shaped and glassed several sticks back in the day. By the time I moved to Kentucky, I weighed 195. I was still riding a 7’6” surfboard whenever I got the chance.
Bluegrass stands with what remains of his quiver after 38 years. He is holding his classic 9’8” Bing: a 1960s David Nuuhiwa Noseriding Model.
I surfed the Gulf of Mexico from Galveston to South Padre Island. My primary breaks were the Freeport Jetties, Surfside Pier, and Matagorda Beach. In Texas, surfers lived for the tropical storm season and the passage of cold fronts. The right weather usually kicked up a good swell. Oh man, to have those days again, paddling out 24-36 hours before a big hurricane.
Caught a surf brudda checking out the inside of one of the smaller barrels that rolled in -- Banzai Pipeline, 02/29/2004.
I got into the field of aquaculture 26 years ago, researching marine fish and shrimp. I was sure this would provide a livelihood where I could surf in the morning and evening, on the weekend as well. My first big professional job landed me in west Kentucky 17.5 years ago. The only way I could have gotten farther from the coast and surfing was to move to Minnesota. When I feel the sudden, uncontrollable need to paddle out, I dig out my surf movies on DVD and quickly plug them in (Step Into Liquid, Endless Summer, Point Break …). The escape is brief, only making my craving to drop deep into a barrel even worse.
Being land-locked in KY, I had to stay in shape for any chance I might have to go surfing. I practiced the martial arts for reflex, balance, and quickness. I carried a 10-lb weight up and down steep hills in my backpack to build-up my legs. I did chin-ups, pull-ups, dips, push-ups and sit-ups for upper body strength. But, when Rip Van Bluegrass the surfer awakened from his 13-year hibernation in 2004, he was on the North Shore of Oahu. He still wasn’t ready for 2-4 foot overhead waves when he paddled out near Haleiwa. He hadn’t thought about the stamina required to get out to the reef where the waves were pounding. He was eaten alive. Two days earlier, the Pipe was breaking 2x-3x overhead – Van Bluegrass easily concluded, that would be suicide. He retreated to Waikiki. The waist-high beach break was much easier, more forgiving and good fun.
One of the day’s medium size beasts -- Banzai Pipeline, 02/29/2004.
After the return to KY, I added a half mile of swimming to the training routine -- 3x weekly, arms only. In 2005, I had seven days to ride the near close-out beach breaks in San Diego. It took a week of riding just to recover the surf legs needed to make late take-offs (balance, timing, reflexes). I still didn’t have the edge I would need to surf waves larger than head-high.
I couldn’t stand it. At 54, I don’t need to shred. But, I missed the hard rail turns and the roller coaster rides I had known on my 7’6” single fins of the 70s and 80s. Somehow, I had to get back to the place I was before! I had to find a way to duplicate drop, carve, back-side, cut-backs, hard rail turns, and pushing late take-offs to the edge of a free fall. I wanted to recapture the acceleration and velocity I experienced making the drop on an overhead wave and coming hard off the bottom of a Texas hurricane swell.
I was watching the 2006 Winter Olympics when I saw a film clip of the Women’s US Olympic Snowboarder, Lindsey Jacobellis. She was carving on a “mountain board” down an asphalt hill. That was it. I was stoked! I had discovered the first board for my new, land-surfing quiver.
I started searching for any slope that looked like the wall of a big wave, 3x overhead would do. I checked out highway overpasses or any smooth graded, steep slope with relatively short grass and no major hazards – “gravel,” ruts, boulders, stumps, holes, poles and fire hydrants. I finally found a perfect training break and started riding my new mountain board.
I was sure I had discovered the fountain of youth – people grow old because they stop having fun! After my first mountain board session, I felt like I was 18 again. Not only that, I started losing weight. I got down to my last surfer weight of 180 lb. The downside was that you bounce much harder on wipe-outs. Upside, there were no massive hydraulics holding me down under many tons of churning whitewater, and no big heads of coral or submerged boulders. Last but not least, no Land Sharks.
Bluegrass leans hard into the turns on his mountain board but says “speed wobble” limits its potential for land-surfing.
As my balance, reflexes and timing improved, I soon reached the limits of a mountain board. It was great for carve and shred practice with a smooth feel, flow, and arc on tight turns, like those of a surfboard. However, I had encountered “speed-wobble.” The mountain board became unrideable at speeds of approximately 20-30 miles per hour. It was as bad as 1- to 2-ft surface chop on a big day. Acceleration and velocity were limited. Hard rail turns on steep, grassy walls resulted in side-slipping and spinouts. What a drag. Like my old twin fin, a 5’6” Hansen Stratoglas, this mountain board wasn’t made for tall, steep faces.
What I needed was a big-wave gun for land swells something like the surfboards tow-in surfers ride. Dude, think of it, taking a drop on the Hoover Dam would be way more intense than the 60-foot waves at Cortes Bank . . . One-way ticket man, it’s a kamikaze run.
The land-swell gun.
I had seen another “in-line board" while shopping the internet for my mountain board. They called it a “dirtsurfer.” It looked radical, but at that point, way too intense for a 53-year-old, wannabe landsurfer.
Take-offs at the training break.However, now I was ready. I went on-line and found the dirsturfer blog. I learned about the new model, an in-line board with 16” off-road BMX wheels. I had to have one. I was sure I had found the land-swell equivalent of a big-wave gun. After six take-off attempts, I finally made my first drop at the beginner’s land-break. It was a long, easy, back-side run. A little wobbly on takeoffs and at low speeds, but as the dirtsurfer contact had described, once I made it down the face, I was floating over my gentle grassy swells. Sweet!!!
Cruising into the trough on a backside glide.
After my first successful weekend of dirtsurfing, it was time for 2x-3x overhead drop practice. One stroke at the top and I was flying down the face. What a rush! Thirty miles per hour and I was just cruising. I went over a gentle dip dropping into the trough and was momentarily weightless, like the sudden descent of a fast elevator going down. I had finally made it to the outside set. Back-side, front-side, I was hooked. I loved the long, flowing glide and fluid arcs.
Bluegrass drops down the face of a nice land-swell.
I found that dirtsurfer balance, acceleration and speed were the closest thing on land to riding ocean waves. The mountain board won hands-down for tight carving. But, the rush of big-wave takeoffs belonged to the dirtsurfer. The dirtsurfer was top gun for holding a steep, grassy wall and coming hard off the bottom. Your weight is centered directly over two wheels rather than four. The balance needed was a lot like that of riding a surfboard. When it came to speed and acceleration, there was no contest. Dirtsurfer acceleration would be the ultimate training for big-wave drops. The speed was more than that experienced while racing whitewater to the safety of the shoulder or onto the flats.
I recently located a new break that is roughly 5x overhead. It is the levee (dam) of a man-made lake. The face is steep and the grade is smooth. They keep the light surface chop (grass) well cropped. The neighboring breaks have swells whose walls are a bit mushier but are 6x to 7x overhead with potential for much longer rides. I will wait until the weather has cooled and I have made a few more late take-offs in my training zone before paddling out for the first time.
My fantasy land swell is a 50- to 60-foot drop on a lengthy wall with a good slope, short grass and a smooth face, coming off onto an expansive grass flats that is nicely mowed. But, when I find it, will I have the huevos to make the drop…?
Land swells are breaking 24-7-365. When you find the right spot, the form is always perfect. These days, I am constantly “in search of the perfect wave” as I drive through the hills of Kentucky. Until Mother Sea grants my request to return to the coastal valleys and ride her ocean swells, I will continue Chasing Giant Land Swells. I’ll be making the drop “Bluegrass Style.”
~ Bluegrass Surfer ~
*** WARNING ***
Riding a surfboard, mountain board, or in-line board is very dangerous. Wipe-outs and injuries are intrinsic hazards of these sports. Serious and crippling injuries, and even death, are possible. Protective equipment should always be worn while participating in these EXTREME sports. The type of helmet and other protective equipment worn should be based on the speeds that will be reached, terrain and the types of activities attempted while riding these boards.
To see more PHOTOS Click Here.
A peaceful afternoon at Waimea Bay.
My old 7-6 Morey-Doyle
posted by Bluegrass Surfer at 8:21 AM
3 comments
