Busy weekends, but always time for Surfing

Psheww! Weekends are never long enough. I'm sure many people feel the same way. There are so many things I'd like to do, and so little time to do them. I've lamented about the lack of time before. This past weekend was especially busy, which is why I'm already a day late posting to my blog.

Friday was a dud. After hearing about great Hurricane Ernesto swell (I think it became a weak category 1 hurricane before hitting land on the Yucatan Peninsula) on both Thursday and Friday morning, by the time I got off on Friday, my personal reports said that the WSW winds were too strong to go surfing. While there might be some chop, the current was extraordinarily bad and the loading and the unloading of the board might be treacherous. After hearing that, I didn't make it down. However, a friend of mine sent me a message late on Friday saying he had gone down and had actually had some fun on the windy surf. Of course, I always question my decisions anyway, so when I hear about someone else making it out and having fun when I've chosen to skip, I regret the decision I made. Therefore, I had pretty much made up my mind that I would make my way to the 43rd street jetty on Saturday at some point if there were any kind of waves at all.

Since I was going to be competing on Sunday in a Duathlon, I opted out of my 5:45 a.m. Saturday run. I did however go out for my regular Saturday bike ride with the intention of taking it easy, just because I can't imagine not cycling on Saturday. I had a fantastic ride.  I rode a little over 40 miles, and by the time I returned to my car, I had a message from surf dude saying that the waves were very pretty. I ran by the house and picked up Roxanne and made my way to the 43rd Street jetty. Wow! The waves were on the smaller side, but still pretty. Several people were out surfing, including two of the surf instructors from the surf shop that uses the 43rd Street jetty for lessons. I joined them -- after a brief visit with an old high school friend who had been surfing all morning -- and had a ball! I missed the first few waves 'cause I either didn't paddle hard enough or misjudged how far the waves were away. However, after a few minutes, I started catching them. I had a great time. I was so glad I went down. I even had a good conversation with one of the young ladies out in the waves who said I should definitely try Surfside since I'm a long boarder. I've been wanting to try Surfside, but I'm not real sure where to go. Hmmm...I've investigated once before, but I might have to give it a try again. All in all, I had a fabulous time on Saturday.

Had fun participating in my first
Duathlon on Sunday!

Fortunately, on Sunday, I felt hydrated and ready to go bright and early when I needed to head to my Duathlon up near Lake Houston. I have never competed in anything like it before. I ran one mile, cycled 11 and finished the race with a 3-mile run. My finish time was 1:10, and although the records show I had a really slow transition time, I felt incredibly good about my performance. Had a ball and will probably compete in another one! And, if I had even wanted to go surfing afterward, I couldn't have. The waves were gone. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that they return this week!

Waves are back

Finally, after a couple of weeks of doldrums the waves are back. I had a few small rideable waves last Sunday. They were fun. I sure was glad to see them since it had been flat. It flattened out again during the week, but, today, they were back again. Because of a southwest wind today, though, not only were there waves, but there was quite a bit of "muck." Seaweed, dirt and sand was everywhere. While the water had been almost glassy during the flat spells, today it was the opposite. Visibility under the water was extremely limited, and I felt like I was covered in dirt when I got out of the water. Add salt on top of that dirt to understand how completely grimy I felt.

I usually save Saturdays for cycling, but my surf guru/dude, Brian, asked me a while ago if I could help him out tomorrow. He has a large group (I think 12) who want to take lessons. He needed a helper or two. So, my surf buddy Robin and I plan to help him out. He will have two of his instructors to each take four students. Robin will take photos, and I'm sure I'll shoot a few myself.

I had a special treat today when an old friend came down to watch us surf. Heidi has been surfing for more than 30 years. She couldn't get in the water today, but she stood/sat on the pier and took photos of me and watched. I'm hoping she'll get to come out tomorrow and, possibly, join us in the water. I'd love to see her surf. I'm certain she'll be good at it!