This week I decided to get a new stand up paddle board
The one I already have is great for surfing and recently I have become more confident on it and I am finally able to paddle into proper waves, surf it like a short board and pull off and paddle back out without falling off.
Its a Naish Quad Fish and surfs better than some of my longboards
Its dimensions are 9’6″ x 29 1/4″ x 4 3/8″
Due to it’s high performance nature it is not as good in choppy conditions or for paddling on flat water. I knew that when I bought it but was convinced by the guys at Wind Surf and Snow that since I was an experience longboarder that it would be only a matter of getting my balance.
I’ m glad I took their advice and got one that actually surfs.
However, I wanted a larger one one to use on the lake or for at the beach after nippers when the nor-easter gets up or for reeeeeaaalllly small waves.
Having recently acquired a new longboard ( see blog March 15th) earlier this year from Bennett’s (along with a few unplanned purchases that I will document in my next blog ), I noticed they had their own line of SUPs at a really attractive price, so after deliberating for almost a year, on Friday I decided to get one.
It is 11′ x 30″ x 4 5/8″, has a single box fin with FCS style side fins, not too much rocker but not a flat as a down winder (race board) which would be better for ocean or lake paddling but not usable in the surf.
So I decided to take it out for a surf while Jenny was there with the camera taking shots of the kids at Nippers, there was a club championship and Emma was waiting to start her Iron Man event.
Not too much heavier than the 9’6″ but more of a hand full with a cross wind due to its area
Immediately I noticed how stable it was paddling through the lumpy rippy shore brake
Due to the more flat rocker profile there was less fore-aft movement when charging through breaking waves
Catching waves was a snack due to its size – momentum/glide was better than the 9’6″ too
Obviously doesn’t pivot as well as the 9’6″ but surfs pretty good for its size
Only thing I noticed was that it wanted to pearl (nosedive) a bit if you were too close to the nose
A great machine for the slop and for micro days or just paddling on flat water
Looking forward to getting it on the lake for some flat water fun too
I was keen for a ride after not doing much riding over winter so I thought the Oaks would be a good way to blow the cobb webs out.
Angus had not done it before and I thought he would like the train trip and the adventure but I knew from taking previous newbies that there would be some complaining.
We got to Glenbrook and geared up and bought a ticketed and waited for a train with a heap of other riders
Angus was wondering if the train was only for bike riders since there were no other travellers on the platform.
My phone was buried in the back pack so it didn’t get smashed or smash me, so I did’nt get many photos except when we stopped for a snack.
I’ll have to find somewhere to keep it in easy reach for these trips
Stoopid iPhone to big and too easily damaged ….might have take the old digital camera or an old phone just for photos.
So we headed off from Woodford and down to the park entry being passed by most of the riders who were on the train.
Angus did a good job of the first section even though the hills eventually wore him down.
The uphills were just that bit too steep and long for him to make it up and the downhills were a bit rough for his one inch travel forks as he had a couple of “get offs” without injury.
His bike is a Giant 20″ mountain bike with front forks and 6 speed on the rear.
It is really only a 5 speed with a large first gear for hill climbing, he could do with a granny gear.
He was feeleing better when we go to the clearing( first helipad) and had another snack and met up with a guy taking it easy on his own who rode with us to the gate.
Luckily noticed I had a flat and decided to change the tube there before the downhill bit.
Angus bolted ahead of us at high speed but we reeled him in an found that he only slowed down due to the vibrations that were making it hard for him to hang on to the bars.
We made it to the Gate and Angus was keen for the “techy” bit and also releived that there were no more uphills. ( I didn’t tell him about the road out from the causeway)
We had made it through the first bit of single track before the main helipad, we knew we were there due to the helicopter buzzing around.
They had landed and re fuelled, i thnk due to the smoke eaarlier at the foot of the mountains that they may have been overseeing back burning.
Anyway we made our way along the last bit of single track where the ride became a bit more challenging.
After a stop at the Blue Pool we faced the last uphill and made it back to the car, next stop Glenbrook Bakehouse for a pie.
It was the second trip for Angus and I this year and we got to Thredbo in enough time to grab a quick beer at Berntis Hotel.
There was till snow in the village from the last few weeks snow
When we got there a group of guys we playing “Jenga” and after watchng a few games they invited Angus to have a go. They gave him the hardest moves so there was more chance of him knocking down the blocks which was a bit of fun as his liitle fingers (and lack of inebriation ) gave him an advantage over them.
On Saturday we woke to a chilly -9.4 degrees in the van and as we stirred a car pulled up near us which turned out to be Pat and Darren who were going out to do some kiting on the main range.
Here is Darren’s blog
After saying G’day we went off to have breaky
Angus tried snowboarding for the first time on Saturday whilst I went for a ski with Frances and Ross and Co.
He went into a FreeRiders all day lesson and I brought my snowboard when I picked him up so we could have a few runs together and he could show me what he learnt
Here’s a litte clip of a run down Friday Flat
I haven’t snowboarded for quite a few years and it was cool too try it again
It all came back after a few runs but after a few crashes I remebered why I dont do it all the time
After a hard day skiing and boarding it was time for dinner and we went to the Thredbo Bistro and watched the Flare Run and the Fireworks
On Sunday, he wanted to ski with me and do some harder runs
Since his skiing has improved he is able to basically ski the whole mountain
We started on the ‘cord’ at Merrits and after a warmup we did the Bowl a few times and then I took him up Antons Tbar and he did Waimea for the first time
After lunch we went for a bit of a tour up to the Golf Course Bowl which he had not done yet
He was a bit hesitant but made it down and across the traverse OK, which is harder than the run sometimes
We then skied the Lower Funnell Web back to the Supertrail and down to Valley Terminal where we met up with Darren and Pat who were waiting for their packs to come down off the chair.
Another great weekend away
Finally got hold of an Isaac Fields Model longboard by Barry Bennett.
After borrowing the demo model and deciding it was for me I found that time was ticking away if I wanted to have one made before my trip away to Crescent Head in Aprill, so rather than miss out I decided to get one of the stock boards that eventually came in as it was the right dimensions for me 9’2″ x 23″ x 3 1/8″.
After fitting the old school looking legrope thru the finbox and waxing it up, I took it out in about 1-2 foot waves and had some fun.
Took no time to dial it in as I had the benefit of a few days onthe demo to work out how to ride it, which is basically set up the wave and run up the nose.
Went down to Lake Illawarra with Emma’s scout group on the weekend where we were shown how to sail on 13 foot Catamarans.
After a bit of instruction from the Yacht Shop, the kids were taken out with an adult for a while then let loose on the lake on their own
Great fun and however it could turn out expensive as they might be the next toy I start thinking about buying.
I do have two windsurfers up under the carport that haven’t been used since I got them, except for one attempt at Narrabeen where I gave up after about 5mins.
Another sport that you have to rely on favourable wind and weather conditions.
Anyway as far as wind sports go I should be concentrating on my kiting skills as it wont be long before winter is on us and I am keen to get one for use in the Alpine.
Went to Thredbo for a weekend of riding with my Canberran mate Craig.
We originally planned on taking both our cross country and downhill bikes and our kayaks as well and doing some exploring up the Snowy or Thredbo rivers, but upon reflection, trying to fit in all those activities would have resulted in reduced beer drinking time, so we left the kayaks at home this trip.
In the past, when I worked for myself, I could just leave for these trips which ever day or time I liked, however after finishing work on Friday, loading the van and picking my bike up from the shop I arrived at Craig’s place just off the highway fairly late so we decided it best to have some dinner leave in the morning.
Of course we sat up drinkning beer, slept in and left at a pretty tardy time arriving in thredbo at lunch time after stoppng in Jindy for a pie ….what a mistake!
I checked us into a cheap room at the Thredbo Hotel and quickly geared up then went and registered in the bike shop and headed to the lift.
In my haste to pack on Friday arvo I had left my chest mount for my GoPro helmet cam at home and had no time to modify my visor to accept a normal mount, I also left my old trusty Nokia N95 phone at home (being too scared to take my iPhone riding even though I have an indestructable Otter Box Case for it) so I would have no photos or video…Mistake 2!!
Bumped into a mate Ben who’s a Ski Patroller in winter waiting at the bottom of the lift so we got in line and proceeded to load the lift.
Being a bit dazed and confused after the mornings rush whilst loading the lift I didn’t notice that my handle bars we resting on the chairlift seat rather than up higher on the arm rest, It all looked normal to me until the lift started to move away and my tyre scrapped the concrete down ramp. I was suddenly thrown forward off the chair over my bike onto the grass. At least I can now say I have fallen of a chairlift, something that has taken me 25 yrs of lift riding to achieve…..Mistake 3!!!
Anyway, after reloading the lift I made it to the top where Craig and Ben were waiting to take the piss out of me and we took off. It was then that I noticed that my front brake was as weak as piss.
The bike had being in the shop getting the forks looked at after riding Thredbo on Australia day where the rebound damper failed completely and the rear spokes had losened so much that the wheel was buckling and the tyre was rubbing the brake arm when going around corners. This repair took the shop two attempts and after thinking that they had fixed it by simply servicing the forks they had to be returned to the importer to be replaced which meant I would have to borrow a spare bike of Craig’s for this weekend.
When they called to let me know that the fork parts had been replaced under warranty and I could pick my bike up I was stoked at first; however they mentioned that they couldn’t fix the front brake, I told them there was no problem with the front brake and the work shop manager asked “didn’t I speak to you about it last night” after advising him that he must have confused it with another bike I wrote it off as a mix up.
Cut a long story short, I’m at about 2000m above sea level about to ride about 6.5km with 600m vertical drop WITH NO FRONT BRAKES….Mistake 4!!!!
It was an interesting run, the brake would work eventually as i slowed down but then grab violently, to make matters worse my rear tyre was getting bald and skidding.
So after making it gingerly to the bottom without too much incident, I took a quick run up to the Servo to get the bike mech to look at it but he was busy pulling apart some blokes forks and said come back later, so of I went to do another slow but safe run and I bumped into Greg who I had ridden with in the past, keen to help he removed my wheel and tried to pump up the pressure a bit by squeezing the pads out, but this didn’t last long as i found out after making it to Kareela Hutte rest spot.
So it was back to the Servo for a bleed, no good, the master cycling must be the problem, they offered to rent or sell me a second hand loaner brake one of which was a Avid Juicy 7 which I have on my Stump Jumper, as it was getting close to the 4pm last lift we thought it best to cut our losses and swap the brakes over in the morning and use what remained of the day to go for a XC ride to check out the new track that is being put in along the river down to Thrdebo Diggings. They had not made much progress on the track building and we only made it to the garbage tip before the track ran out…..Mistake 5!!!!!
We ended up back at Friday Flat in no time and thought we should give the 4 Cross track a spin, It was obviously not used very much and was covered with weeds and looked like crap but we pushed on up to the top ramp of the Easy Does It lift where the starting hill is and took off for a short and not very sweet run and headed back to the village. What a waste of beer drinking time…Mistake 6!!!!!!
When we got back to the car I quickly got changed and ripped the front brake of the XC bike and mounted it easily on the DH bike and packed up but needed to borrow a 1mm allen key for the cable mount so we rode back to the Servo and helped Rob ferry some bikes up to the bike shop and then on to the Hotel to check into our room.
Dirty and smelly we just dumped our gear and went to the Pub for a couple of well deserved James Squire Golden Ale, went back had a shower and then an excellent pizza, salad and red wine at T-Bar Restaurant, followed by more Squires at the Pub and to finish off a couple of Asahi beers at Bernti’s.
Next day It rained so we had breaky and just bummed around wishing the rain away, went to Jindy visted Bruce from Wilderness Sports and to the old shoppong centre for a burger at Serges where we bumped into Ben again who happened to have with him a pair of Black Diamond Custom telemark boots that were for sale, which Craig quikly tried on and purchased from him.
After a nother stop in Cooma to check out some cheap skis we headed back to Canberra and me on to Sydney.
Recent Comments