To Surf or Not to Surf

That is the question. Like I said, this weekend warrior stuff can get old. And when the surf sucks, the weekend warrior thing is old and irritating. So now I'm thinking it might be time to allow myself to do a different workout, especially when one considers the stellar session I had on Monday. I'm torn. Should I surf small waves that will provide a bit of a workout and way too much frustration? Or should I just get back on that bike and make good use of the few hours I will have to workout? I don't know yet. I won't know until I check the surf reports in the morning.

I'm supposed to do yet another surfing photo session on Sunday. At this point, I'm apathetic about the whole thing. I heard through the black surfing grapevine that a black-oriented magazine was interested in doing a story on a black female surfer. Since there are several of us who surf seriously (in this particular group that was contacted), someone suggested that the publication do a story on all of us. Seems straightforward enough, doesn't it? Yeah, I would think so too if I weren't in the middle of it. The bottom line is that one woman in particular is considered, by the men in this particular group, "the chosen one" (the term one of the other women and I use to describe this particular surfer's position). I say this woman is "the chosen one" due to her looks. The woman I was talking to yesterday says Ms. X—I don't know what else to call her—is the "chosen one" because of her demeanor. Whatever it is, she's the one everyone wants to talk to and about even though she is not the best surfer among us. (Don't worry, I'm not jealous and thinking I'm the best surfer among us either. The other woman I discussed this with is hands-down the best; she's the one who first took me to LPB.) If this magazine is intent on doing a story on one surfer, are the rest of us being asked to be part of the photo shoot only to serve as part of the backdrop? I don't have time for that. So I'm torn. Do I go do this thing in an effort to show that, yes, black folks of the female persuasion do surf? Or do I blow it off, knowing that it will once again be about one particular black female surfer? Let's just put it all out there on the table, why don't we? Is this going to be yet another occasion when it's said that a black person is being sought for something and then the person they choose is, in fact, black but doesn't look as black as the majority of us? Is it about surfing or is it about race with a little surfing thrown in for good measure? Jesus Christ!! How did I get on this subject anyway?