Photos by JC/PWA

Went out racing today.. Was nice and windy. Sailed on 5.5 and 6.0 on the Gaastra Vapor and they were working great. Used my Isonic 86 with the Sl 4 32 and 34.. Was good fun. Windy, some swell, some control fun.. I need to get that good start to be up in the running with the big boys. Finian and Antoine are going really fast, Micah, i guess everyone is going fast, just need to get a good start and keep the hammer down.

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 Gorge is gorgeous!

 Happy 4th of JULY!

While Kev is over on the moon (Gran Canaria) I’m in the Gorge getting some great sailing conditions! So far, I’m 3 for 3 on the water….. I have forgotten how much fun it is sailing over here. Conditions are different than anything I’m used to but after a couple hours on the water, I am getting back in the groove. It is great to see some new blood over here. A lot of the local boys are really ripping it up! The Poor brothers, Tyson and Witt have some impressive moves up their sleeves as do riders like Bryan Metcalf-Perez, Wyatt Miller, Sven Esslinger- and there are some ripper chicks out there throwing down some moves as well.

We had an insane lightning and thunder storm last night- it was radical. I love that kind of thing- mother nature at her finest! The wind doesn’t look so good this morning but I bet it will be here later this afternoon.

If any of you bloggers are in the Hood River area, I’m going to be in the Gorge Surf Shop on Sunday, the 6^th of July running the store…….. so there are going to be some smokin deals going on!!!!!!!!!!!! Come in and say hi-

Good luck to KP- send him some words of encouragement, we want to see him take that Slalom title this year……. Go boy GO!

MP

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Well the wind is back in Pozo.. It took all day for it to come back but it is here now and looks like it is locked in for the competition. Looks like there might be some waves tomorrow. We will have to wait and see. Today i got on it early and headed up to Vargas. Went there and saw Bjorn out training away on his slalom gear. He looked like he was going pretty fast out there. I talked to him a bit and he told me that he is not entered in the waves.. I guess he has nothing to prove about how good of a wave sailor he is so he is just focused on the racing. That will make for some good racing I bet. I think he is a bit pissed off with his Costa Brava performance and is ready to throw down in his home town...

There were no waves at Vargas so I headed up to Ojos de Garza and was the first guy out. Sailed around on my 4.5 Manic and was pretty powered up. Was ok but not that great so I sailed there until 4 and then headed back down to Pozo to get some gear sorted out for the race. It was glassy so good time to get things organized. The wind ended up coming in and I went out salom sailing on 6.0 and my Isonic 86. Both felt really good and I am ready to get this comp started. Should be fun.. Stay tuned for some more race report action!! 

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I like hearing back from you guys- it motivates me to write a bit more when I have the time!

This past week on Maui, the wind has been pretty light so you haven’t missed too much! The waves snuck in with some head high sets and that was pretty fun! Nothing like a mid June wave session at Hookipa with 10 guys out….

Yesterday, I decided to go on a KP mission. The guy is always off riding his bike and coming up with these crazy ideas. My wife was going into town and since the wind was kinda light, I figured I would drive down with her and ride my bike back home- a 25 minute drive. After doing my errands on the bike, I noticed the wind was really picking up. Oh boy…. Before long, it was almost noon. It was getting hot, and windy. I started my trek eastward straight into the wind. I was getting blown all over the place- keep in mind, I’m not a professional biker like KP- and, for the record, I’m on my Mountain bike. With 25 knots in my face after 10 minutes I knew this was going to be a long way home.

Then it hit me- this is what all the hype is about on the bikes. You sit, pedal and think. At first all I was thinking about was hitchhiking and then I decided to man up and push onward. Pedal by pedal I broke down my trip. Once I get past Sprecks, it will be easy to get to Paia. From Paia to Hookipa that should be no problem. Once I’m at Hookipa, I’m home free. The wind just kept picking up and I was wishing for my van. I got to Hookipa and had to stretch out the legs. The wind was blasting and as I watched the sailors searching for waves. It looked like fun- a lot more fun than I was having.

The final half hour was the worst. My legs were not happy with me because I was pushing them hard. My cardio was pretty impressive- I didn’t really get too winded, I was just hot and my butt was hurting from sitting on that seat…… I made it home successfully with a sense of accomplishment.

With 2 hours of think time, I really connected with myself and what I’m doing these days….  Here is a brief rundown:

Life is short and these are the days, RIGHT NOW. Do what you love to do. So many people are caught up in their jobs they get lost and before long, 25 years go bye and they wonder where it all went. I want to look back and say YEAH, those were some fun times.

Here is my trip: I have decided to take some time off the contest scene. After 17 years of traveling the world, I’m tired of going to the same far away places waiting around for wind.  I want to spend more time going to places that I WANT to go to. I want to reconnect with my sailing roots and keep the stoke alive. I don’t ever want to hit burnout!

My summer plan is to be in the Gorge for the first week of July, see my friends up there and have some fun. Hopefully there will be some wind and I can get back out at the Hatchery for some big air! I’ll do some promo’s at the Gorge Surf Shop , relax and enjoy the scene. I look forward to Mtn biking in the trees, whitewater rafting, snowboarding, motocrossing and whatever else we decide to do. From there it’s out to visit Erin’s mom and then to Colorado to see some friends in Aspen! We will then fly back to LA to see my grandparents and hang in Santa Barbara for a week. The first week of August will be in the San Fran area- I’ll be doing a promo event at the Boardsports School at Coyote Point on the 2^nd or 3^rd. I hope to get some great sailing in the bay! After that, we are just gonna take a vacation from our vacation and see where the wind blows us! That has been my dream summer for quite some time now and finally I’m taking the time to “just do it!”

As for the poll on the Home Page, Gran Canaria will always be there. After last year, I had a blast out running around with the big slalom dudes. It was nice to come in for one shot with no pressure and show everyone it is just like riding a bike…. Ha ha.  The sad reality was the fact that my 3^rd place podium finish wasn’t enough in prize money to cover my trip expenses……. That really hurt.

Anyway, it’s amazing what a long bike ride can do for you! I think I’m going to have to do more of them…….  After reading all this, go back to that Poll and let me know if you still want me to go to Gran Canaria….. hurry up because ticket prices are already in excess of $3,000 dollars- yes, that is in COACH. It will probably cost another $1,000 in excess baggage- if I’m lucky. Then when I get there, my weak US dollar will have me sleeping at the beach on rocks….. ha ha

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If you guys ever want to come to Gran Canaria and need a place to stay.. check out the Aparthotel Playa Ingles with some really nice amenities..  Another guy who is really helping me out is Jon at Tener Coche with a really great car for the Canaries. Jon is working on getting his site out to the public and hooked me up with a car to use for Gran Canaria. If you need to buy or rent a car in the Canaries check him out.

Hope everyone out there is enjoying some summertime wind and is ripping it up!! 

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