13 November 2008

How Do You Turn a Frown Upside Down?


Oh, it is so on! My mat arrived this afternoon long after our normal mail delivery. I was heading out of the house when a postal truck pulled up and stopped in the middle of the street. Could it be? Certain that the delivery wasn't for me, I kept walking across our front yard. (Soul Brother #1, being the respectful homeowner that he is, always goes across the walkway. Not me! I tromp straight across the grass to my car. It's our half-dead grass. Why can't we walk on it?) Then the woman got out of the truck with a box and came toward me. "My mat is here!" Soul Brothers #1 and #2 stood there wondering why I was so deliriously happy. It's a mat thing! You wouldn't understand.

The quiver is coming together rather nicely now. I've wanted a mat for months. I think Pranaglider's blog is what first introduced me to surf mats. Even though I had no idea what he was talking about, I knew I wanted a surf mat. I'd never seen one in the flesh before I got mine in the mail today. I've also never seen anyone ride one. Who cares? I can learn. There are mat blogs, mat forums and mat riding videos on YouTube. I also have the man himself, Paul Gross, willing to give me tips from afar. I can do this! It might be ugly while I learn, but I bet I'll be laughing harder than the people on the beach (and in the lineup) watching me crash and burn.

Let the steep learning curve begin!

9 Comments:

At 11/13/08, 10:39 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

:-)

Try the Surfmatters blog for some good mat fun and info!

http://surfmatters.blogspot.com/

 
At 11/14/08, 7:47 AM, Blogger Unknown said...

I am sooo jealous!

 
At 11/14/08, 3:14 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Good on you, Surf Sister, for giving matting a try! I've been riding 4GFs since the early 80s and am more stoked than ever! There's enough info on surfmatters blog to get you fully up to speed. Go Girl!!!

 
At 11/14/08, 3:36 PM, Blogger pranaglider said...

Surf Sister,
Stoked you got your mat!
Surf it like anything else just don't stand up, cause that would be weird. Surfmatters is a great site and I started a mat only site 23breaths.blogspot.com so stop by if you have any questions.
Bruce

 
At 11/14/08, 4:20 PM, Blogger borntoloser said...

Have fun! Try to start at a clean reef or point. Beachies can be a frustrating place to start.

 
At 11/14/08, 7:52 PM, Blogger Surfsister said...

asmith, we're talking about L.A. In other words, the points are always crowded and I've heard that some of them don't allow mats. I will find a way to get a mat out to one of them, even if that means I'm out there before the lifeguards show up.

Thanks to everyone for the words of encouragement.

 
At 11/14/08, 11:17 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

come out to Japan!No lifeguards here ,and people stare at anything ,so don`t make no difference....

 
At 11/16/08, 2:16 PM, Blogger Kirk said...

go search for the mat thread at Swaylocks- there's a post there quoting the part of LA City Code that says mats are OK to ride. There was a guy around for a while who had the section of code painted on his mat for when he got hassled

 
At 11/16/08, 10:28 PM, Blogger gracefullee said...

Wait wait wait. Some points don't "allow" mats? What's that about? Who's doing the regulating? That's just wrong. If you find a point that won't "allow" mats, call me up, I'll get off my board and bring my sponge and fins. I got your back.

 

Post a Comment

<< Home