The Wedge Got Huge This Weekend - Surfing

This past week Southern California had a large swell which caused the famous spot in Newport Beach, CA called “The Wedge” to get pretty big. The media circus showed up on May 19th which hyped up the swell even more.

Why Not Just Use Your Foot?! - Land Paddling

Land Paddling is relatively new but seems to be catching on pretty fast. The basic idea behind it is using a long stick with a rubber knob on the end to push you along while riding a longboard skateboard.

The Weather Outside Sucks Today - Running

Since the weather outside is not ideal for surfing today I decided to go for a run instead. Running has got to be my least favorite activity. I have had two knee surgeries in the past which can make running a bit painful so I absolutely despise it.

I Stood Up! - Surfing

Yesterday I went surfing right after work again. When we first got there the wave conditions were not that great… But I am a beginner so I really didn’t care. The waves were about 2 to 3 foot and it was blown out.

You Don't Have To Be Lance Armstrong - Road Biking

My first day back from my long trip back East and I was highly unmotivated but determined to get outside and try something… anything. So, I grabbed my road bike and headed down to my favorite riding spot.

Saturday, April 30, 2011

You Don't Have To Be Lance Armstrong - Road Biking

My first day back from my long trip back East and I was highly unmotivated but determined to get outside and try something… anything.  So, I grabbed my road bike and headed down to my favorite riding spot.  This spot is a road that travels around a small island within a bay.  The reason I like this spot is because it has very little car traffic and has no traffic lights or stops.   For me this is key to getting on the bike because it is very intimidating to hop on a road bike and then hit the road with a bunch of cars and traffic lights when you have little to no experience.

The reason for my title choice on this post is because that is what I kept saying in my head every time somebody passed me like I was standing still on their tricked out bike with all the super expensive gear and sponsor outfits.  I did a modest 10 miles today which felt like 30!  The most important thing for me is to take baby steps with these activities and basically just try and keep going outside until it becomes a habit.  I think that is the most important part in the beginning.  It doesn’t matter how much you spend on your equipment if you never go out and use it!

I did not spend much on my road bike.  I bought a bottom of the line bike to start out on and I recommend doing the same.  You could probably even get away with tracking down a used one on craiglist.com or ebay.com for even cheaper.  The point is to try it out first without committing too much of your hard earned money only to find out it’s not for you.

Blog Evolution - General

So, I am new to blogging and I am trying to find the best format for my blog. The idea behind the blog is to get involved in a wide variety of what I call “Alternative Exercises”. I am not a fan of going to the gym for your scheduled movement time before or after your scheduled lifting of heavy objects time to stay in shape. This is one of the reasons I have begun to seek out fun and productive activities such as surfing, kayaking, road biking, longboard skateboarding, etc…

I am a complete beginner in all of the before mentioned exercises and will be making a lot of mistakes along the way. These mistakes will be anywhere from bad form to buying the wrong equipment and I will be blogging the whole way through the process. Once I have some useful info on any of these activities I will be placing the refined info onto a website. The website is currently in the early developmental stages so please be patient with me while I get it going.

In the meantime I will be blogging as often as I possibly can as I go out and experience these different activities. To make it easier to understand I will place a “- activity name” after the blog post title… ex: “Had Fun Today – Surfing”. If you see "- General" next to the title, that indicates that the blog post is not related to any particular activity. This may or may not be the permanent solution to my multithread blog issue. If anyone has any suggestions for a multithread blog solution I would be glad to hear it! Until then, this will be the format I will use. Thanks for reading!


Friday, April 29, 2011

Heading Back Home - Surfing

Today I am heading back to Southern California! I have been out East for over a week for some personal reasons but can’t wait to get back and start hitting the waves. I bought 2 completely different style boards just to see what the main differences between them are.

One of my boards is a 7’6’’ “pop out” board with a pointed nose, a lot of girth in the mid section, and a narrow tail. The other board is a 6’6’’ “fish” shape board. I wanted to get both a short board as well as a longer board to test out the very popular idea that “EVERYONE SHOULD LEARN ON A LONG BOARD!”. I am sure this is probably correct but I figured I would give a shorter board a shot a few times just to mix it up a bit.

Today is Friday and I should be hitting the waves for the first time with my co-worker on Monday right after work. I have been looking forward to this all week! I will definitely keep you posted on the results of my first trip out with an experienced surfer. I will also post up some pics of both boards I currently own once I get back in SoCal.

Thursday, April 28, 2011

How To Surf - Surfing

The purpose of this blog will be to give beginners some useful information pertaining to a wide variety of outdoor sports.  The articles will assume no prior knowledge and will give pointers to anybody looking to get started in any of these activities.

The first article will be about how to surf.  I have just begun learning to surf with a co-worker that has been surfing long board surfboards for years.  Once I have an understanding on what it takes to stand up on a surfboard I will put together the information I learned and place it here!  My goal is to weed out the incorrect information for you so you do not make the same mistakes I do.

While I am putting together the article, I have placed a few links to helpful sites and videos that I have been gathering information from…

This is a good quick reference guide on how to surf:


This is a good introductory video on watching the beach break before running out:



Friday, April 15, 2011

New and exciting things to come! - General

We have just begun to put together some quality articles on fun and productive alternative exercises!  Check back soon!

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