So, recap of the year? Certainly some positives and negatives:
- Great stint in Hatteras in early May and finally made the effort to meet & sail with some locals, including Andy McKinney of Wind-NC, Olaf Podehl of Avon Sail House and Bill Bell of OBX Beachlife and the Hatteras Wave Jam. Certainly had some fun times playing with my buddy Amine in the sound, exchanging tricks in close proximity.
- Got my boys Jalen and Bradley out for their first rides!! Totally stoked on that!
- Sailed some perfect flat water in Shippagan with Eric Girard of Club Wind & Kite and buddy boosting big airs all around. Also had a wicked fun session at Haut-Shippagan, all by myself, again in strong wind, near dead flat (btw: this is very nice for freestyle!).
- Some of the best Sandbanks sessions of my life shared with a whole slew of new friends from Quebec! First one in early September (had to delay our departure for Shippagan for that one!), and another banger in October.
Unfortunately, on the downside, a couple of things:
- I gotta get back into shape!! I've yet to establish a reasonable balance between family-man Dad and active healthy adrenaline-chaser. Challenging. The result: I'm tiring out way quicker than I used to (I used to be the king of 3-4 hr sessions with no breaks) but probably even worse, I'm having a lot more close calls with serious ankle, leg and shoulder injuries. If I hope to progress further with freestyle, this can't continue.
- I learned nothing new. I've had the same goals of learning some new tricks, including flakas, pushies and shakas, whichever one, whichever order, I don't care... I just need something new to help me keep the stoke. It is becoming quite clear that it's the progression that keeps me interested and coming back for more. Not sure what will happen as that progression naturally slows down - and it seems to be!!
Lastly, I have been working with a few others to get an article or two published in Windsport, but to date, no luck. Fingers are crossed that something will materialize in the new year.
All in all, a decent year, but definitely need to get my ass in shape for next year. Cheryl and I are committing to do 3-5 orienteering/adventure races next year, so I think inherent in that will be getting to where I need to be in terms of cardiovascular fitness and flexibility. We're starting fresh in the spring with the long version of the Giant Rib's Raid, a 23-25km orienteering run.
