So I'm about 3/4 of the way through the latest "Special Issue" of Surfer Mag and I think it's one of the best issues I've read in a long time. Lots of stories from the all time greats but there is one article in particular that really hit home. The premise is that "One Ride Can (or cannot) Change Your Life". Now that's a bold claim, but after several of the stories I think it's definitely possible that one ride CAN change your life, be it for good or bad. What do you think, can one ride change your life?
That's one way to look at it, and that's what some said in the article. Some may also say that the 1st "real wave" they ever caught changed their life for the better and that's where their love for surfing began and shaped the entire rest of their lives. I think it's interesting to look at from both perspectives. I believe that even the slightest of decisions in your life, even the ones that seem trivial and small can change the entire course of your life, you may not realize it, but we all end up where we are at today as a result of those many decisions we make a long the way.
I don't know if one ride will change your life...clearly an accumulation of our rides have turned us into the weirdo's we are...I know there's certain rides I'll remember for the rest of my life for sure.
Absolutely, for me it was the ride home from a Babe Ruth league baseball game at age 14 when my Pops pulled up to the field, pointed at me and gave the internation sign for " if you don't get in this whip at once you may not be soon recognizable". It was for putting my 6-year old braddah on an 8-foot foldout stepladder Pops had set up to paint a ceiling. I took him down but Pops thought I'd left him up there and just headed off to my game. Needless to say, I was bringing lil brah out for ice cream frequently after Pops said on the ride him that if I ever pulled a stunt like that again he'd duct tape me to our third-story chimney and leave me out there overnight. Tough love's absence is the difference between us and today's youth. I think Francis Buxton knows this and comes on here for necessary seasoning. Milhouse Von Houten's life was never the same after Bart told on him for smooching with his gf and Mrs. Von Houten subsequently packed him up and drove him to the all boys' school. On which ride, he was quoted as saying in despair "you told me we were going to Red Lobsterrrr!?!?" Well, when Utah told the boss that he caught his first barrel on his 2nd day on the water, he seemed pretty hooked and that a spiritual metamorphosis has occurred within his vapid cranium and soul that day. Are you talking about the Tom Curran issue? It was a good read (aka picture menu). SUPer, we continue to have similar hobbies. I often scan the visuals of Surfing and Surfer issues while the classics we spoke of earlier are playing on the tube.
I concur with this and my chasing the high post listed my chronology of such milestone rides. Can't wait for the next! No two waves are alike so who knows why the next will be memorable. Anyone else with not-so-successful yet life-changing rides?
HAHAHA, thanks for sharing, ole Pops had a way of instilling tough love w/me as well. The issue is "The Greatest Rides of All Time, From 1777 to 2013, the best waves in the history of surfing.
The first wave. That was probably a life changer for all of us. It turned us into the wave addicted freaks we are today.
Another example would be if you were trying to make it onto the tour and needed a perfect 10 with less than a minute to go and you pull it off, make the tour, and have a highly successful career as a pro surfer for years to come. Without that one ride, you would not have made it, and therefore been still sitting on the outside looking in, no sponsors, no $, no nothing, and possibly your last chance to be in that position again.
Laird talks about how his ride at Chopes in Riding Giants as being a big life changer, how humbling the experience was, and something to the effect of "it softened a lot of hard edges in his life", someone correct me on that quote please, I'm fried for the day..
¡De nada hermano! You were raised right and that's why you've grown into a good hombre. Too bad GROATs are limited to surfing and have the 1777 cutoff. Paul Revere's ride (as chronicled by the Beastie Boys) of 1775 to warn us of those nasty Brits arriving en masse (in Mass!!) via WaveJet is way up there. It also was on April 18th, just hours following the original Great Swell of April 17th, 1775 which was even gnarlier than the one on the same date later. SUP, I'm not sure you mentioned your GROAT that gave you the bug? Are there two GROATs for you, one on a SB/LB and then on a SUP?
Is there a common definition of a first ride? Just a successful drop and brief cruise or involving a bottom turn? Yes, the first real takeoff without botching it is an unforgettable and brand new feeling. That's good because it conditions us to always want to take the next drop even when it's a bigger wave than ever.
I think so. It could be your first time in the green room or the wave that kills you. Ever since my first successful ride without eating it i feel like my lifes been changed. All i want to do is surf and thats definitely life changing for me! Im still looking for that first barrel though...
Yeah def the 1st wave changed me and probably most surfers. I mean true first wave that you rode semi down the line with moderate speed and flow, not a 2 sec stand up in whitewater, although that 2 sec is probably what got us all hooked. Or as mentioned if it kills you or makes you world famous (Iron Cross anyone?).