What's the closest you've come to hanging up the board?

death.
Good luck with dialysis. Do you have to go every other day?

 

Wow! Dude that makes my story sound like I'm a cry baby. I won't even post smh.

 

Intend to keep at it until I can't anymore. No end in sight for me.

 

Lived in Colorado for 8 years out of college and snowboarded my ass off, almost stayed, but the ocean called me home.

 

I could totally see myself moving to the mountains, but only for the winters. I grew up snowboarding Mt creek, Shawnee and camelback. Occasional trip to VT. But never really got good conditions.

this last December, after being in San Diego for 9 years - finally went with a neighbor to mammoth and got there the night it dumped 3’. Next 3 days were amazing. Totally different experience than the east coast. Can’t wait for next season. Just renewed my ikon pass I’m gonna try to do 2 or 3 big trips early season just in case shit closes down again

 

Rode mountain bikes through some of the best single-track terrain in the country for four years going to school in Michigan. That got me through the drought.

 

i picked up surfing when i was a kid going to our friends in Daytona Beach twice a year (used the "family" board there, didn't own one myself). Being that i was born inland not inbred, i really didn't try to get back into it until i went to College of Charleston (SC). It's then that i realized i'm one of the very few that wakes up at 7am that i should probably get back into it to kill the time. I'd say it was probably my 4th session whereas I was having all kinds of trouble getting a wave on my Action "Jackson" that i thought i may have grew out of it and lost the mojo. Almost hung it up, but the patience paid off. Got better on the longer stick and then kept going on shorty boards again

 

I've been addicted since I was 12 years old. I'm 50 now. Bit of a rough patch for about 18 months a couple of years ago due to shoulder problems. Surfed through the pain as best I could. Thankfully that issue is resolved now.

 

I've told this story before... I got into surfing because my allergies were so bad as a kid my eyes would swell shut. The only place I felt normal was in the water. Not on the beach... but in the water. Surfing was just a way to not get bored being in the water... but once I started, I was hooked for life.

 

Started boogie boarding in the late 80s when I was living in OCMD. I was a deadbeat waiter so I had plenty of time. Got married in 1990 at 22 and a couple months later, my (now ex) wife moved us to Baltimore (her hometown). I still got to the beach on the regular for a couple years and then kids and shit happened. Fast forward to the very early 2000s when we starting going to OBX in the summer. Caught some great swells down there and got the bug really bad again. Starting making the ass-crack of dawn drive to OCMD pretty frequently, but realized I was way out of shape after a couple years. I started running to get into shape to surf and well, kind of got hooked on it around 2007 when I got sober. Spent over a decade training hard and ran some fast times, qualifying for the Boston Marathon 3 times (but never ran it). Then, around 2015 I met a SoCal babe on an Internet running forum. Moved to SoCal to be with her and basically stopped running when I started to boogie again. Then realized that since I could get in the water practically every day, I should finally learn to stand up. That was a little over three years ago. Started on a 9 foot longboard and have kept going shorter. I was really motivated to surf then too because I had just had surgery to remove a testicle because of cancer, so I was determined to do something I always wanted to do. Cancer free now and still shredding (in my mind, looks more like flailing to everyone else).

Don't ask for pictures of my wife.

 

first, sorry about the testy.
Second, I legit laughed out loud on that last line. As soon as you mentioned “SoCal hottie on the internet” I was going to demand a photo haha

 

Passed out eating just before Christmas, diagnosed with a tumor on the brain, got it removed just before Super Bowl in January, non malignant but banned from immersion till end of March, then beaches and pools closed due to COVID-19.

The entire time I spent doing tai chi, chi gong, meditation, swimming tarzan style (head out of water) and riding bike to keep the cardio in tune. The entire time I had the vision of me standing up on a board againne, riding a wave, which became true a few weeks ago when they opened the beaches and there was a two foot swell. I surfed OH swell a couple weeks ago (like a kook).

I will NEVER give it up. No matter what.

GoodVibes, hang in there and keep paddling, that's what life is all abooot.

 

To be completely honest, reading posts from Betty and Barry and all youze guys about all that ya'll have been thru, on this site (and on another site that shall not be named), gave me inspiration during my darkest days. It let me know if I stayed positive I could get back up on a board and down a wave againne. Thanks a million!!!

 

Damn dude. This makes losing a nut seem quite trivial.

Glad you are back in the water!

 

I knew someone would get a kick out of it.