its been a while...

Its been a while since my last posting, my new board came in right before Thanksgiving, and we were able to take a few quick runs before we left to spend Thanksgiving with Aaron's mom and stepdad.

Its taken some time to get used to my new board. Its very slick on the bottom, much more so than those that I used to ride at the waterpark. This made for a few frustrating days as I wasn't able to ride as well as I was used to. But, with patience and the help of a few friends (thanks Curtis, Aaron Dean and of course,my honey, Aaron), I think I'm back on track.

Even though the waterpark will be crowded during the next few weeks because of people being on Christmas break, I'm hoping to get some good ride time in. I've almost gotten 360's down, and now feel comfortable riding at the top of the wave, but I need to move on to bigger and better things before summer comes. Any suggestions for tricks would be greatly appreciated :)

My new board is here!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The front

This is the back, I'm working on getting it all girled up

A board of my very own

I guess the title is pretty self explanitory :) I'm getting my own board! After talking with Rob from wavehouse/waveloch about what they have (no more big reds), and trying the waveloch boards at the waterpark, I've decided I'm going to get a Pic. Rob has a bunch to offer, so its taking me a while to decide which one I want. But I'm definitly getting one!

Aaron is also buying us each a skateboard so we can practice on dry land :) Fingers crossed for a pink one!

Pictures from Split Rock

Pictures I took of Aaron at Split Rock's waterpark opening weekend. Enjoy :)

New flowrider opening

This weekend a new flowrider opened in Pennsylvania at Split Rock Resort. Aaron and I are there right now and were some of the first to ride their single jet flowrider. In fact, thats all we did today! The flowrider staff was really nice and easy to get along with, and waterpark wasn't crowded at all! The water was a little chilly (I'd bring a long sleeve rashguard), but all in all, it was a good ride.

Here is a link to the waterpark / resort: www.splitrockresort.com/waterpark.php
(sorry I can't get the hyperlink working)

Aaron and I also got interviewed by a really nice reporter from the Harrisburg (PA) newspaper. She was there with her children doing a story about the opening/flowrider and heard that Aaron and I had driven 5 hours / about 300 miles just to ride and interviewed us for her article. As soon as I get a link, I'll post it.

Its here!!!!

Our new Cartel board is here!!! Skipper (the dog---thats him in the background kind of blending in to his pillow) doesn't look too impressed, but I totally am! Its what we wanted and then some, it looks awesome! I haven't bodyboarded in a while, but just looking at it makes me want to go ride! Sadly enough, we will probably wait until Friday (the park is closed Tuesdays and Wednesdays and Aaron works Thursdays) But...ITS HERE!!!!!!!!!!!!

And just a plug for Cartel---Paul, the man I ordered from, is just the nicest guy to talk to. He has been so patient with me calling and bugging him to find out where the board was, he has talked to shipping for me, and he always called me back. We will never buy a bodyboard from anybody else---its Cartel all the way for us!

Picture :)

Here is a really good picture that Aaron took of me this past weekend. Slowly but surely, I'm getting better...in fact, I did an accidentally on purpose 360 this weekend! I've been trying to do them for a while, but this past weekend, I was going to ride switch and did a 360 instead. So while I didn't get the trick I was going for, I did finally get the one I'd been hoping to get for the past month! Aaron got it on video, so I'll post that here soon (but I need to edit it a little)

Views

Woohoo! We're up over 100 views! And they aren't all from me checking to see how many views we have!!! YAY!!!!!!

on another note, Aaron took some pictures of me the other day, and I hope to get them posted soon. but, i'm using his computer right now as mine is being fixed and i don't want to load anything onto his...so, when it gets fixed, new pics!

New Board

I ordered a new bodyboard from Cartel for Aaron last week, and, according to Paul the super-nice guy from Cartel I talked to, it should be here sometime this week! I know Aaron is getting antsy, and I am too! Hopefully, he'll let me ride it!

On another note, I've emailed waveloch 2 times about ordering an outlaw board (since there is no info about price/ordering on their site) and no response. Hmmm...makes me think they really don't want my business. Ok then, I've been told that Arcane has a new model that is the same dimensions as an outlaw, so we'll see if I like that one!

Its almost the weekend! After my dentists appointment, I might just go out to the waterpark. I haven't been in almost 2 weeks (I got a board up the rear and didn't think it would be a good idea to ride last week just in case something was really wrong) But, I'm sitting pretty on my sitter. All is well :)

This is a test

There is nothing on tv, the waterpark is closed and I have no translations to do or books to read. So, you know what that means---changing the layout, adding cool stuff to the blog. Let me know what you think :)

New flowrider opening

Sadly enough for me, it in Australia, but good news for you Aussies!

Check it out!

Updates

Well, its been a while since my last post, not that I haven't been riding, on the contrary, it seems like we go out to the waterpark at least once per weekend. I knew it was coming, the waterpark hours always change after Labor Day, but now that the park is closed on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, I'm not getting out as much as I'd like.

Anway, back to the updates. I'm still not as consistant as I'd like, but I am staying on the wave longer than before. I even tried to ollie and hop in from the side (i'm not sure what that trick is called), but I almost hit it.

I am a little disappointed in waveloch. I really like the red outlaw boards (or big red), but waveloch isn't making that style anymore. From what I understand, they are making boards with the same dimensions, but different designs. Thats fine by me, but waveloch won't respond to my emails asking where I can order one and how much they cost. Rumor has it that the outlaw boards cost $300 and I just can't pay that, especially not on myself.

I'll get Aaron to blog here soon to talk about his new tricks/updates. I mean this in the most unbiased way a proud wife can say this, but he is kicking a$$ and taking names. Even though I've seen his routine now at least a hundred times, it still amazes me what he can do.

But thats enough for now. If you have any questions/comments/suggestions on how I can improve, I would love to hear them!

Congrats

This past weekend, the Zero to Hero Flowriding competition was held at Camelbeach Waterpark (Tannersville, PA). Congrats to Aaron Dean for placing 1st in men's standup and winning a ticket to San Diego and also to Andrew for getting 2nd in jr's bodyboarding and 3rd in jr's standup!


On a personal sidenote, I can now carve on standup and I attempted to enter from the top. I fell on my face, but I still tried!

Pedicures and the Flowrider

FYI---Pedicures do not last long on the flowrider. Plain colors last longer than french tips. I thought it would be the other way around, or at least easier to match a french pedicure than plain colors (if you get them done at a nail place), but the tips just chips so fast! My tips lasted about 2 days of riding without chipping, as opposed to 3+ weeks of riding with a plain color.

Also, if you ride like me, kiss your dreams of being a foot model goodbye, especially if you bodyboard. The tops of my feet drag on the mat, thus causing bruises and rug burns on the tops of my feet (and again, ruining pedicures!)

So, that is my little beauty PSA for the day. I hope that it helps someone out there in cyberland who is getting ready to ride decide what kind of pedicure they want. :)

Drop it like its hot...

I had a long, long meeting today, literally all day long in those little plastic chairs, in rows, without tables to lean on. So, by the time I got home, I was ready to do anything but sit! So, what did I do? Went out to the waterpark :)

I loaded myself for the most part (except for the last run, I just got so tired I asked one of the lifeguards to help me) I finally realized one of the things I was doing wrong. Everyone had been telling me that if I felt the board moving underneath me, to drop down and put my hand in the water. So, today I did. But, I didnt' do it right, I was leaning back to put my hand in the water behind me, causing the front part of my board to pull up. In case you didn't know, you are supposed to "drop it like its hot" or bend your knees and go straight down. And if you still can't picture that in your head, picture how a catcher sits.

As a new rider, I do appreciate all the tips and helpful advice from more advanced riders, but sometimes its almost tmi---I can't process it all! So, when Sully said to "drop it like its hot", I knew exactly what he ment and knew it was something that I could do. But still, thanks to everyone for the tips, one day it will all come together into a beautiful ride.

A New Look

So, being summer for just a little bit longer, I've had some time to play around on the internet. This new layout is a result of that extra time I've had. Enjoy!

The Olympics and Flowboarding

So, like everyone else, I've been paying attention to the Olympics. Sure, I might not watch everyday, but I keep up with whats going on. The one thing that bugs me, more than those darn Chinese gymnasts (Too young? Just right? Somebody figure it out already!) are some of the sports that are considered "Olympic worthy", like Badminton, Table Tennis and Race Walking. I'm sure we could cut the fat in some other places too (hello sycronized diving/swimming---you're next on my list) to make room for flowboarding.

If these "sports" are good enough to be in the Olympics, why not flowboarding? Its an international sport that is continuing to grow by leaps and bounds. You actually work up a sweat and burn a lot of calories riding, unlike some previously mentioned "sports" (I will give props where props are due, because Aaron says that race walking did like 50 kilometers, which is something like 35 miles, and I know my fat butt couldn't even come close to completing that, so they are saved from that previous burn).


How does one lobby to get a sport into the Olympics? Do you petition the IOC? How long does it take? The 2012 Olympics is in London, and there is a flowrider in Jersey already, and if that isn't close enough, they have 4 years to build one!

Would anyone out there in cyberspace be willing to help/support me in this? I have some ideas, but would appreciate a fresh perspective.

Boards

I learned stand-up on these big red boards that every waterpark that has a flowrider seems to have, I think they are actually made by waveloch, but I'm not sure. For now, they aren't that bad, but I'm probably one of the only ones who thinks so. Others think that they are too long and harder to control/manuever, but I like that little bit of extra board. I did try an arcane board (http://www.arcaneboards.com/) last weekend, and I can see how others like those better. It was lighter, didn't need wax, and faster. But, at that point, I couldn't even carve, so I think it was too advanced for me. But on the other hand, had I started with an arcane board, I think it would have been an easier transition. So we'll see! Maybe I'll try an arcane again tonight when we go to ride.

For bodyboarding, Aaron and I both like Cartel. Well, he liked Cartel and bought one and thats just what we've been riding. I've also tried WCB, but for me, they are too flat. Cartel has more of a rocker (which I think means a smoother ride---don't quote me on that), but from what I understand, the WCB's are faster, so its a trade-off.

Oh well, I'm happy, I'm going to ride tonight. I didn't realize how addicting flowriding can be, but unless I'm flat out tired or not feeling good, if I have free time, its what I want to be doing.

Learning standup

So, I've been learning to ride standup in addition to bodyboarding For those of you who are unclear on terms, standup looks like you're surfing and bodyboarding is laying down/on your knees.

One good thing about standup is that I'm not bruising up as bad as when I bodyboard. Yay! 'Cause for a while there, riding prone, it looked like Aaron was kicking me in the knees/shins!

Anyway, back to learning standup. I learned about 2 weeks ago at Camelbeach waterpark in Tannersville, PA. The funniest part about learning to ride there was that the way that they teach you to stand, (arms out, parallel to your feet/the board), looks like the stinkin' warrior pose in yoga! All my pics look like I'm about ready to move from warrior into sun salute or something....probably downward facing dog (cause honestly, thats what I looked like falling)! But, thats not what they teach you to do at Massanutten, so I'm slowly learning how to ride with my arms by my side or however I want them (because, of course, I don't want to look like a complete dork).

I did make it across the wave at Massanutten AND back AND across again last night. Yay me! And I think some guy was taking mine and Sharon's pictures while we were riding, so thats pretty cool, I never thought I'd actually be good enough for random people to take my pic to show others!

Anyway, as of right now, I think I like standup better than bodyboarding. I don't know if its just because its a whoo-hoo new thing or what, but thats what I'm really concentrating on.

Ch-ch-ch-changes

Ok, so I started this blog thinking that I would only write about stuff happening in the flowboarding world that would be cool to everyone. As you can see from my break in posts, that I haven't really been doing that lately. So, from now on, I'm going to document my progress, or lack thereof, in learning how to flowboard. If all that comes out of this is a smile on someones face (because, honestly, some of this stuff could only happen to me), and sparks a slight interest in flowboarding, then my work here is done. I can always direct them to someone who knows a little more than me (which is pretty much everyone else who rides right now!)

New Waveloch Standings

This was just posted July 9th, covering the last 4 comps at Collinsville, Adrenalina (Orlando), Raging Waters and Mavericks.
Congrats to those who are ranked!
http://www.wavetheplanet.com/files/flowseriesstandingsmavericks.pdf

Videos and podcasts of competition in Australia

You can view videos of the trials of the first world tour event at Shark Island (Sydney, Australia) at http://www.youtube.com/sullyvision2007 . The competition starts Tuesday, July 1 and will be available via podcast at the above address.
Good luck to all those competing! Aaron and I wish we could be there to watch, but this will probably be better---we can watch the videos from the comfort of our air conditioned house!

Waveloch Standings are out

After two events (Collinsville, Illinois and Adrenalina Orlando), here is a link to the standings.

http://www.wavetheplanet.com/files/flowseriesstandingsweek2.pdf

Congrats to all of you who placed/are ranked!!! Great job, everyone!!!

Flowboarding Magazine, Issue 2 is out!

The 2nd issue of Flowboarding Magazine (published by Waveloch/Wavehouse) is out. I'm not sure if you can buy it anywhere, but if you ask at your local waterpark/flowrider, they should be able to tell you where you can get a copy.

Featured on the cover is Sean Silveira (from Adrenalina, Orlando). There is a pretty cool feature on how he does some of his tricks. Also in the magazine are pictures of Aaron Dean and Curtis Lam (from Massanutten, VA and Waterville, AL). Sure, there are pictures of other people too, but I have to give a shout out to those I know!!!

The main story is flowriders from all over the world. The magazine not only gives a list of all the flowriders located in the US, but also those all over the world. It also does in depth stories on flowriders on cruise ships, the Caymans (with pictures of Jonathan and Cody Root (www.teamrootberry.com), Queensland Australia Dreamworld, the Netherlands, Germany, Ireland, Dubai, and Korea/Japan/Saipan. So, no matter where you go in the world, there is probably a flowrider!

how to create your own avatar

go to meez.com and you can create your own avatar and make him/her do anything you want! they can be uploaded to myspace, facebook and aim (aol instant messenger). its a good way to waste a few minutes :)

my avatar is, of course, on the flowrider

RSS Feed

You can now subscribe to "Go with the flow" and have each new post delivered to your reader. If you don't have one, a very easy reader to use can be found on netvibes.com and just sign up.

What this can do is take all the news feeds and new uploads from all the websites that you would look at each day and summarize them all on one page. So, basically, all if you look at myspace, sports scores, the local newspaper, go with the flow (duh) and check your emails before you go to work, instead of logging on to all of these sites, you could just make your reader your homepage and it "looks" everything up for you.

For example, my reader is on netvibes.com. What comes up on my page is weather, local news, milwaukee brewers headlines/scores, go with flow, and my myspace and facebook. You can get anything on there from news to music to sports to gossip. It makes things very easy.

Another waterpark opening up in Australia :)

http://www.adventura.com.au/Waterpark/Status.html

Looks pretty cool!

Trick of the Week

will be coming soon! Aaron said he would help me out with this one. What I plan to do is have pictures and directions on how to do one cool flowrider trick a week. For right now, it will probably just be bodyboarding tricks (as thats what he rides!), but who knows what will come. Suggestions welcome as to what kind of tricks you would like to see up here!

Flow for Dough Results

After a long, hot, tiring day of competition at Massanutten Waterpark (Harrisonburg, VA), here are the results. There were a lot of riders from all over the country, more than expected. There were competetors there from Massanutten (of course), Waterville USA in Alabama, Kalahari Resort in Wisconsin Dells and Sandusky Ohio, Adrenalina in Orlando, and Schlitterbahn in Texas. It was a great chance to meet new people and see different riding styles.

I've only written first names for two reasons, 1) I didn't know all of their last names, and 2) I didn't know if parents/underage competetors would want their names online. I also didn't get all the categories (jr novice and regular intermediate) because I wasn't thinking---sorry!
So, here goes:
Junior Advanced Standup AND Bodyboard:
1st place: Andrew riding out of Massanutten
Novice Bodyboarding:
1st place: Barrett riding out of Massanutten
2nd place: Vicky riding out of Massanutten
3rd place: Tara riding out of Waterville, USA
4th place: Monica riding out of Massanutten
There was no Novice Standup
Advanced Bodyboard:
1st place: Shane riding out of Kalahari
2nd place: Cody riding out of Massanutten
3rd place: Aaron Furman riding out of Massanutten
4th place: Aaron Dean riding out of Massanutten
Advanced Standup:
1st place: Paul riding out of Waterville (I think)
2nd place: Sam riding out of Kalahari, Ohio
3rd place: Danielle riding out of Massanutten
4th place: Ryan
Expert Bodyboard:
1st place: Brad riding out of Massanutten
2nd place: Danielle riding out of Massanutten
3rd place: Christian riding out of Waterville, USA
4th place: Curtis riding out of Waterville AND Massanutten
Expert Standup:
1st place: Shawn riding out of Adrenalina
2nd place: Luis riding out of Adrenalina
3rd place: Brandon riding out of Kalahari Resort, Wisconsin Dells
4th place: Nick
Masters Boadyboard:
1st place: Kathy riding out of Schlitterbahn
2nd place: Chris riding out of LA
3rd place: Merrick riding out of Massanutten
Masters Standup:
1st place: Jonathan riding otu of Adrenalina
2nd place: Daniel riding out of Waterville
3rd place: Merrick riding out of Massanutten
4th place: Joe riding out of Waterville

*Feel better Curtis!!!*

Flow for Dough Info

http://massresort.indigofiles.com/waterpark/FlowforDoughposter.pdf

New Flowrider in Australia

http://www.kalbould.wa.gov.au/LatestNews.asp?News=236&ID=140&SID=115&MID=4


Oasis Waterslide On The Way Up! (15 Jan 2008)
Construction of Stage 3 of the Goldfields Oasis is well underway, with the tower for the new waterslide up, and installation of the slide tubing taking place today and tomorrow.
The waterslide component of Oasis Stage 3 is anticipated to be completed in February, and delivery of the FlowRider is expected in March.
Mayor Ron Yuryevich said, once completed, Oasis Stage 3 would feature the only publicly owned Flowrider in Australia.
“The City is really looking forward to the completion of Stage 3,” he said.
“Once it is completed, we are anticipating more than 17,000 people to utilise Stage 3 over a summer period, with people using the FlowRider wave, the FlowRider rapid chute and the waterslide.
“This is really a very unique facility for Western Australia, and Australia, and the City of Kalgoorlie-Boulder is glad to be in a position where we can provide these sorts of facilities for residents.”
** Released by Public Relations Coordinator LAUREN CHAPMAN on behalf of the City of Kalgoorlie-Boulder – 90219651. For more information contact Mayor RON YURYEVICH – 0407 771 811.

Thanks JB for the info!

Summer Competitions

Summer's almost here and that means the competition season is about to begin. Even if you aren't interested in competing, competitions are a good chance to meet people from all over, and to watch and learn from others who have been riding longer than you.
Some competitions in the US that I know about are:

Date of Competition Title Location
June
June 7th "Flow for Dough" @ Massanutten Resort, Harrisonburg, VA
June 14th Waveloch Competition @ Splash City, Collinsville, IL
June 17th Waterville Summer Series @ Waterville USA, Waterville, AL
June 19th Waveloch Competition @ Adrenalina, Orlando, FL
June 27th Camelbeach FlowJams @ Camelbeach Resort, Tannersville PA
June 28th Waveloch Competition @ Raging Waters, San Dimas, CA

July
July 5th Waveloch Competition @ Maverick's at Sunriver, Sunriver, OR
July 15th Waterville Summer Series @ Waterville USA, Waterville, AL
July 17th Waveloch Competition @ Adrenalina-Miami, Miami, FL
July 18th Camelbeach FlowJams @ Camelbeach Resort, Tannersville, PA
July 19th Waveloch Competition @ Republic Aquatic Center, Republic, MI
July 24th Waveloch Competition @ Ogden High Adventure, Ogden, UT
July 26th Waveloch Competition @ Da Rush, Kihei, HI

August
August 1st and 2nd Waveloch Competition @ The Waterpark of America, Bloomington, MN
August 8th Camelbeach FlowJams @ Camelbeach Resort, Tannersville, PA
August 9th Waveloch Competition @ Big Kahuna, Destin, FL
August 11th Nation Flow Tour @ Waterville USA, Waterville, AL
August 16th Waveloch Competition @ Silver Mountain, Kellogg, ID
August 19th Waterville Summer Series @ Waterville, USA, Waterville, AL
August 20th Waveloch Competition @ Camelbeach Resort, Tannersville, PA

September
September 6th Waveloch Competition (Nationals) @ Wavehouse, San Diego, CA
September 16th Waterville Summer Series @ Waterville USA, Waterville, AL

October
October 21st Waterville Summer Series @ Waterville USA, Waterville, AL