Surf/Bike Duathlon - Mixed Bag, Mixed Results, Mixed Outcomes

9-25-11

Sunlight begins to burn off the morning's grey gloom, with a little sparkle. Long Beach, N.Y.

One thing's for sure, with a biz trip upcoming, I'll be taking this weekend off sports to recover from the delayed reaction to last weekend's overabundance of neck torquing physical activity — a Surf/Bike Duathlon. Oh, did I forget to mention golf with my 15 year old younger son? That, too. In essence a Surf-Bike-Golf triathlon, but spread over two days. OK that doesn't count. (P.S. While laugh at the notion that golf is even a sport - just ask Camillo Villegas what he and others do to keep in shape and play their best.)

Plenty of vertical profile in this ride. Helps to tweak the y-axis and squish the x-axis a bit. But this shows why those hills felt like cycling up and down crags. Ok, mostly just 70-100 foot bumps in the road, but 12-15% grades make for a lung-burning grind.

As for the surfing, I passed on Long Beach — no point in going somewhere crowded if you haven't surfed in 13 months and you want to have a chance of catching a wave.After a quick bite to eat on the road, I decided to take the Northern State to the Wantagh (instead of the Meadowbrook) and head further east.

From

The conditions didn't disappoint. Almost perfect. Nice size without being threatening — which is to say as perfect as it gets. Waist to occasional head high, but generally ideal longboarding waves. Only one problem, the main break was an extremely long paddle out. I'd forgotten the high price this beach demands in paddle power to get to the outside and maintain a position there, between rides.

So it was, then my that my surfing that "first day back" involved about 100% paddling and 0% wave riding.

Yes, you read that correctly: zero. Not even a belly ride or a knee ride.

After a 13 month layoff, my arms faded near the outermost break. I made it alright, but sat and took a rest, got rebuffed by a couple of cycles of whitewater, drifted back into a sucking eddy of current, and the next few paddles were futile attempts to regain the outside.

Never mind; it was a good dues-paying workout for the arms and shoulders. Nothing hurt much on the day itself, a pain in the neck here, some tingling there in the fingers. I've had much worse.

Mikedabaker's van waiting patiently for its master to return in the Tobay lotUh oh. Crowded LB lineup. Time to head further east I think.

One of the finer aspects of the call of the ocean, wind or waves is that we often run into old buddies, and this day was no exception. A long time surfer, one-time hardest-core windsurfer and Long Island Mountainbiking icon Mikedabaker, arrived just as I was contemplating wrapping it up. His presence motivated me to do one last paddle out.



The lack of actual surf rides, however, left me craving some more exercise.

Once back home, Gordon was not up for golf that day, and Robby had too much homework. Frustrating way to end a staycation. Chuck had a bad back, and what little more abuse my body would take I figured there was no point in squandering semi pain-free physical currency back on solo golf. If I was trying to improve my game maybe. But at this point in the injury/recovery cycle, we're just talking having some fun with the kids or a friend.

With one day left before returning to publishing's cycle of deadlines, more stress-reducing exercise was imperative.

Ah, almost forgot — do I hear the road bike was calling? THis would also be a sore test of the neck. A few weeks ago I spun out 10 miles, with only moderate repercussions. A great little ride, but the neck discs were definitely aggravated. Then came rain, and more rain, pain, and thoughts of riding subsided.

Feeling emboldened now, I would try to stretch the miles about 10-20% to build the base. Final tally: 11.75 with plenty of hills thrown in, and a doozy of a climb to finish.

No immediate signs of neck trouble immediately after, ditto the day after that and the day after that.Oddly the lower back was stiff -- not my usual problem aree. It usually goes away in a few days. Maybe some exercised-induced asthma following the surf, but the general neck/arm/shoulder was OK.

... until Wednesday, when the wheels fell off the bus -- lower back cleared up but neck and arm issues unexpectedly returned with a bit of a vengeance.

Will have to dial it back. I see ibuprofen and a chiropractor visit in my future.

Out Giving Golf Lessons Today ... No-Wind Fun

I loooove giving golf lessons; but if ever there was a sport that can be tricky to diagnose the issues and recommend the Rx, it's Windsurfing ... followed by golf. Today's student, Marg, has learned to windsurf, even despite my so-so teaching, so I'm pretty sure she can figure out golf.

But I should know that; it's not her first lesson, I've seen her hit the ball, and I know it's only a matter of a few hours (or dozen hours) of the unavoidable coarse and fine-tuning and practice and she'll have one of the better looking swings on the local nine-holes.

Teaching beginners to windsurf may be even more difficult as there are just as many components to the actions needed, and some of them are severely counter intuitive. Although, once you're up and running, you can have a ball splashing about learning at your own speed. The only drawback is that somewhere around cocktail hour — unless you are a kid or a teenager — you will notice you hands feel like they are on fire (chafed to a pinkness of medium-rare steak) and every muscle in your body will start to ache simultaneously...Surprise! But that's what the cocktail is for.

Golf, though, I think requires more patience from beginners: There's a sense — and accompanying impatience — that the preliminary set up sequence should be nowhere near as important as the downswing and impact. Nothing could be further from the truth. So much revolves around foot positioning, alignment, balance, small variations in foot pressure, posture, grip and proper relaxation combined with a well thought-out and often-rehearsed setup routine. With that in the bag, the backswing, downswing and impact are a lot less complicated to sort out.

Joining them both together is perhaps the most interesting piece of the puzzle -- initiating the backswing by flexing/pushing the left knee in toward the ball: it sets up the rotation of the torso, and off you go. 1..2,3.

Anyway, that's all golf lesson talk that's as boring as whaledung to anyone but golf instructors.

The main thing was, that Marg said, "That was fun; we should do that again." What regular golf pro gets to hear that?

Quiksilver Pro New York -- Link to Surfer's Path Video Coverage

"This event is what the tour needed right now; big money; huge crowds; excellent surfing." — Owen Wright, winner Quiksilver Pro

"New York is the new surfing frontier ... in the world. That's it." — Kelly Slater.

"I've never, ever, been to a surfing event where the locals were this supportive and nice to us." company rep or official.



Surfer's Path Report:
http://surferspath.mpora.com/video/york-perfect-quik-pro-owens-wins.html




One thing's for sure, the Surfer's Path issue that covers this event will be one that every local surfer will want a copy of.
Unless you work in the city, good luck finding a newsstand that has it. My local source was Borders, which went belly up this year. I better get my subscription in, now that my source, Borders, has gone. I can't leave it to chance at B&N on old country rd.

Anyway the cinematography and coverage here is a treat.

Surfer's Path Quiksilver Pro New York -- Video


Our man on the beach, Lenny the Squid, went Friday a.m. and said the turnout was weak. But it's clear from the video that the contest had some fairly epic crowds. And a few good waves here and there.