Smells like teen spirit?

Warning:  My lowest common denominator post.





Or not.

I never said I wasn't childish.

Alex Trebek: Psycho somatic addict insane?

How to Be a Mountain Biker.

In the last 2 years, I've gotten very into mountain biking.  I wish I had been directed to this definitive "how to" when I first started.

I've got a lot of catching up to do.

King of the Road

FOR SALE: BARK CT

BARK STOCK CT FOR SALE:  My Molokai Board

-$2200.

My favorite: The Square Tail.
This one is a hair wider than my Catalina square.

For sale is my beautiful Molokai board from 2013.  Dan Van Dyke and I managed to paddle this beauty to a division win this year and also first CA team to finish. This board also won the Jay Race in 2013.  It's a FAST board!

Nose detail.
The front on this one has slightly more volume in the chest and shoulders
than my Catalina board.  Coupled with the square tail, it's a racing machine.
An incredible board.

Full disclsoure:  I dinged this board near the finish at Molokai.  Charlie at the Bark factory repaired it to pristine condition.  Remaining is one small pressure dent which is barely visible.  I tried to take a picture of it.

In any event, the board is water tight and amazing.  It's 19-3/4" wide.  It's a double carbon but painted to avoid nasty sunlight.  It weighs, even after the repair, just 17.5 pounds.

Comes with the blue Futures Gerry Lopez fin.

Contact me at shshlens at g mail dot com.

Thanks for looking!

-Steve

For Sale: Catalina Classic CT

BARK STOCK CT:  Catalina Classic Winner

$2200.

My old faithful.  An incredible stock CT.

This beautiful board won the stock class in the Catalina Classic in 2012 in a near record time of 5:56:02, just 32 seconds off the all-time record.  An amazing board in pristine condition.

It weighs, without added weight for the Classic, just 18.2 pounds with the fin.

Comes with the blue Futures Gerry Lopez fin which is incredible downwind and in the flats.

Square tailed beauty.
This allows for a bit more volume out the back to keep the board up and moving forward.
I think it works.

The nose.
I asked for the vent plug in front of the 'fin box' for bottles so I wouldn't forget to close it.

Bonus picture... just because.

Contact me at shshlens at g mail dot com.

Thanks for looking!

-Steve

Hold on!

First person point of view of Kelly McGarry's Redbull Rampage ride.

Love this point of view footage where you can hear every breath, thought, feeling.

INSANE.











Now, if you're really interested in seeing what it looked like from the third person point of view.  [For this one, I'd recommend turning the volume off for at least the first 2 minutes.  "Dropping the hammer of Thor?"  Really guys?  Really?]

Glide

Nasty, gnarly, but glide remains the key...

No Irony.

Heard a song this morning while flipping through the radio stations (do other people still listen to radios?) and it made me laugh... yet at the same time feel a twinge of nostalgia.  I had to listen all the way through.

Back in high school in the 80's, my friend Alex Woodard [http://www.alexwoodard.com/]  was into Neil Diamond.  I never quite got it.  Alex's appreciation wasn't ironic, but it should be noted he hated the 70's and 80's Neil Diamond.

I never was into Neil, but this song brought me back.





Visit Alex's website [again:  http://www.alexwoodard.com/ ] and enjoy.

Some Randoms

Made the front of Patagonia's Tumblr page with a photo from Colin McCrindle.
Thanks: Colin, Jason & Jenning.

Crazy shot, I'm not sure by who, but I was advised it's legit.
So much for that 2 hours of fighting for the fish on the line.
Heavy.

The Return of the King.
Nick Nolte with Roger Erickson.  Roger was Nick's stunt double in the movie.
Roger is a legit big wave charger who was always the man to respect.
Tom Carroll at one point grew a beard because, as he noted, Roger had one.

My first real trip to Tavarua, some years ago with a surf junkie named Mike Mc.
We had an insane trip surfing Cloudbreak, Restaurants, and the Right.
I'm heading back there soon.
I cannot wait.

Car Obsession.

Went on a paddle the other day with my friend Nick.  It was a glassy day.

Somehow, we got on the subject of the Subaru Brat and that made me think of various cars I wanted to have when I was a kid.

So...

Here are five:

1.  The Subaru Brat:  A small pick up truck with seats in the back?  It's like a mullet on wheels!  All business up front including 4 wheel drive, but party in the back!  Oh yeah.

2.  1965 Mustang:  The convex tail lights.  Maybe a convertible. Maybe even a Shelby.  Hell yeah.

3.  1968 Camaro SS:  SS stands for Super Sport.  It also means you're CORE.

4.  1968 Ford Bronco:  The ultimate truck, before OJ and the Ford Motor Corp (via the Exploder SUV) ruined them for everyone.

5.  The International Scout:  Start with the Bronco above.  Then get more core.  Way more core.  Your vehicle defines you as "international" when you drive this one.

The Catalina Classic 2013

Another beautiful film from Chris Aguilar at Fin Film Company.



BARK: 2013 Catalina Classic from Soul Surf Media on Vimeo.


This year's winners were Zeb Walsh on Stock (he's the Australian guy -- in the white cap on the screen grab above before you hit 'play' -- on the white board with the huge BARK running up the front of it, which is the Surftech Commander production board), Adam Buckley on Unlimited (interview pre-race he's the guy in the white t-shirt and LA Dodgers cap), and Carter Graves for the women (racer #15 on the light blue & yellow board).  It was a tough race this year with unforgiving conditions, but I think everyone was stoked at the finish & their accomplishment.  [self promotion aside: I'm the guy standing and falling at the very end of the video.]

Enjoy!

The BARK Commander-12 from Surftech

The BARK Commander Paddleboard

This will be the new standard.

The Commander 12

A Little History -- Surftech made a prone Bark paddleboard in 12' and 14' that was okay.  It did the job, was relatively user friendly, but didn't really excel for most folks.  It was a nice intro board to help you decide if you really wanted to paddle.  If you did, then an upgrade was needed.

Thing is, most folks already decided they wanted to paddle before getting on the prone board.  Something better from Surftech was needed and Joe Bark delivered.

It's a member of the CT legacy, through-and-through.

This is the new production board from Surftech for prone paddleboarding.

Zeb Walsh of Australia used this very board (not one like it, but THIS ONE) at the Catalina Classic this year and won.  Damn.  I wanted to win, but Zeb got me.  I managed to pull to a second place finish.  After the race, I've been lucky enough to be able to use the board a couple of times and figured I'd do a mini review with some discussion.

Nose - notice the vent plug is not the type you have to screw in-and-out every session.
It's self venting, so you never have to worry about it.
Great feature for those, like me, who occasionally bone-head and forget to screw in the vent!

Session one:  Flat Water Sprints.

I was amazed at the speed the board produced and held.  The rocker and bottom work well together and produced a board that's as fast, if not faster, than my Catalina stock board.  I'd like to compare it to my Molokai board (which has the same rocker as my Catalina board but with a little more volume to it), but can't given I dinged it substantially and it's still being repaired.  So be it.  With that said, the board was solid while prone and held its own while knee paddling.  I dug it.

I did a Facebook little blurb with my Garmin stats, so here they are (you can click it to view details)....




Session two:  Open Ocean.

Session two was doing a short paddle with my friend Jack in Santa Barbara.  We have no more races this year, so there was no need to go hard.  Still, the board did well against the swell with no hitches.  We turned to go "downwind" but there was no wind, just some residual wind bump and we were against the current.  At first I was trying to figure out where to paddle from, then it just "clicked" and I took off.  Not going any harder, I flew down swell.  Once again, I did the Facebook thing with my Garmin stats, so here they are...





Pros/Cons/Impressions/Recommendations.

Please know, I really try to be objective when discussing my impressions of boards, so I look for negatives.  Sometimes they're harder to find and sometimes they're easier to find. Sometimes I'm too close to the people who put the stuff out to be mean and sometimes not.  Most times I just babble too much.

This is a great out-of-the-box board for anyone interested in going fast but not wanting to spend and care for a custom.  Custom boards definitely have their bonuses:  They are lighter than this Surftech, which weighed in at 21 pounds when finned up, and they can be made to be as advantageous as possible for your body type.  With that said, I'm told they will drop the Surftech weight to 19-1/2 pounds, which would make it an optimal Catalina board.  Once the bottle cage goes on, you're set for the race [for those unaware, Catalina requires your stock board weigh a minimum of 20 pounds].  The construction is, of course, as bullet proof as a board can be.  Customs must be cared for gently whereas these Surftechs can sure take some abuse.

21 pounds.
Yeah... I do have a scale for this.
Yeah... I know I'm insane.

I was challenged by a very strong competitor of mine (yeah, I'm looking at you Yendor) to race Catalina on one of these next year.  We'll see.  I still love my custom boards, but this is a great board. I'm neither ruling it in nor ruling it out at this point.  I'll need to see where I am and where my boards are next year.

The Surftech board is thicker than most, with a voluminous forward section that pulls you over the bumps and compliments even the heavier paddlers among us.  Zeb is 20 pounds heavier than me and clearly the board worked well for him, too.  The tail, on the other hand, is streamlined to avoid drag.  It's narrow, so heavy or bouncy knee paddlers (like me) will produce some wake.  That's pretty much normal and it did work really well for me.

For the dimension enthusiasts among us, I eyeballed with a T-square some measurements.  The board is just over 20" wide, 12' feet long of course, and measures out at around 10-11" a foot from the nose and about 6" a foot from the tail.  The rocker is IDENTICAL to my two CTs making it good for both flat water and in the bump.

(Tail rocker... I know you can't tell, but it's good.)
All finned up (that's the Future's Gerry Lopez fin) & ready to go.

(Nose rocker... same)
Forward bottom. 

Overall:  If you're interested in a new board, but don't want to have the time and wait of a custom with the need to carefully maintain your custom, this is a terrific alternative you know will work right from the get go.

And now the Surftech promo video...

Introducing the BARK Commander from Surftech from Soul Surf Media on Vimeo.

Unexplained.

http://sobadsogood.com/2012/11/14/38-of-the-weirdest-unexplainable-images-on-the-internet/

Just a fun little thing to browse through.

Working on some stuff and hope to have it up soon.

-S

Balance.

"I think people are better, smarter, more present, and more patient when they've done some type of exercise - that goes for an eight year old and a sixty-eight year old - and I need more, perhaps more than most people, to get the results I want.  [Insert the sport of your choice] is the thing that provides me with the most balance."

     -LA

What's your balance?

Happy Birthday, Duke.

The Jay Race

The Jay Race has become a paddleboard tradition.  Put on in honor of Jay Moriarty, the spirit and camaraderie of this event is legit.  I first attended about five years ago and haven't missed one since.

This year was one week after R-2-R.  A very tight race between Jack, Rodney, Deon & me ensued.  For the first 6 or 7 miles, we all banged rails, laughed, joked, and raced.  It was awesome.  At the "mile buoy" just over 1/2 way through, we split up just a bit.  Finishing one through four: Me, Rodney, Jack & Deon.  It was a beautiful Northern California day.

Another incredible Chris Aguilar video:



The Jay 2013 from Soul Surf Media on Vimeo.

I should've posted this months ago.  Regardless, here it is.

Catalina in 2 days -- Framping.

Rock-to-Rock 2013

In getting ready for the Classic this Sunday, a look back at...


The annual Rock-2-Rock race on Father's Day at the end of June.  Had a great time racing with the assistance of my Dad, John Kucera & Chris Hugh.

Had a great time & a great race.  Had a ton of fun racing against Jack, Jay & Rodney.

Managed to pull out a win on stock.  Good times.



Rock 2 Rock 2013 Slide Show from Soul Surf Media on Vimeo.

NOW... BRING ON THE CLASSIC!!!  [I'm psyched up and ready to go... in case that wasn't clear.]

WOW.

An insane finish for Taylor Phinney.

Thank you JM for pointing this clip out.

There's a lot of rule 5 and rule 10 in this clip.

Hell yeah.

Skulls

Back With a Bang?

Reasons don't matter.  Laughter does.


 

Done?

It is the end of something simple and the beginning of everything else.

Second Annual Paddle for Sorel - This Saturday!

This Saturday, May 25, is the Second Annual Paddle for Sorel!  Great cause for great people in a great place.  Please come one and all.  There will be food, a raffle, tons of cool stuff and even a new 9'0" Joe Bark Longboard up for the taking.  This is not a race but rather a fun Santa Barbara paddle for one-and-all.  All skill levels & all paddling crafts (SUPs, traditional, dories, OCs, you name it) will be represented in a good time event.

Please come join us!

Last year's pre-paddle picture.

Thanks for looking and we look forward to seeing you there!


Here's the link:  http://paddleforsorel.blogspot.com/

R-10

Molokai - Firsts

This is the first in the Fin Film Company films on Molokai.  From last year's race.

It sucks to hype yourself, but... well... this is a blog after all and I dig this screen grab:

At the start, racing Patrick Dolan who was teamed with Eric Abbott.
Unfortunately, their boat broke down and they had to pull out.
Patrick & I were flying at the start, though.

So, without further ado, the first of the FFC films...

Jackson

This man is impressive.  He is an Australian ex-pat living in a country (Singapore) with no other major paddlers.  He does this alone.  He trains in the flats, without any real bump to speak of.

And he consistently is a top 3 finisher at Molokai.

Jackson English is f-ing impressive.




Go Jackson.

Molokai is coming

Last year was incredible.  Did a relay with Dan Van Dyke and managed to pull a 1st in our class (old dudes).  We had a lot of fun, and it was a great weekend with friends, warm water & the sun.


The following is a new video from Chris Aguilar showing some highlights from everyone's race last year.  Inspiring.

 

Earth Day music.

Dramarama has a song about Earth Day called "What Are We Gonna Do."  If you want to hear it, look it up.

I prefer this Dramarama song (please ignore the cheesy open shirt stuff):



Dramarama - Anything Anything from ETV on Vimeo.

Some randoms, part 3.

Last set of randoms, for the time being.

A young man of ill repute.
Actually, he's a young man of Ill Repute.

Harbor paddle in SB with the grom.
Beautiful sunny day.

The bait dock in the harbor.
Dude was giving us such stink eye.

Watch your sugar intake!

#imanerd
#iactuallyfindthiskindofcool

Whoa.
Just whoa.

Some randoms, part 2.

More randoms from the file.

Early morning.
If you know it, you know it.

Loaded up for anything.

Photo by Nick Bobroff, pre Classic 2012.

From Joel Pepper. 

Photo by my daugher.
A peacock in Palos Verdes.

Some randoms, part one.

Was looking through my photos the other day, and just got a kick out of some randoms.

So, in no particular order:

Ummmm...  Okay.
Courtesy Joel Pepper.

In less than one year.
Criminy.

Thank you, JP.

From my brother in law.

I feel like the caption here should be:  "Bros before hos."
Awful, I know.
But it makes me laugh.

Cameron at Tavarua.
Freediver.
He speared this fish, and a few others, and brought them home for dinner.
We ate like kings.