Surf's Up

Come on in, the water is nice. #followcamfriday surfing wash with Lars Romig in Sedona, Arizona

Sandstone skatepark for as far as the eye can see. My happy place. This is the spirit of freeride. If I am being honest, hiking around and riding goofy lines with Lars has enabled my sanity over that last few months of global chaos. When the surf is breaking, you go the the beach. 

When you have ridden all of the better known trails in Sedona, one million times, what do you do? You start ticking of little bits of new trail and piecing new bits of rock together. Sugarloaf is more of a hike than a ride but the descent is worthy. It's not the type of thing that people would go out of their way to ride but it is amazingly fun at 7am, devoid of hikers. All of the smashing. All of the banging. Happy guy. 

As it so happens, the rock in Sedona is legal to ride, as long as you don't disturb the soil or create new trals. The sandstone offers amazing grip and provides an entirely new way to experience the red rock. I don't get to ride  "real" skatepark much, this is as close as I get. 

The line pictured above is real. There are 3 g-outs to deal with. The last one has broken many wheels and bikes over the years. Lars broke a wheel in it many years ago and this was the first time he had attempted it since. Great success. This was another line that I had stared at for years but never made happen. Basically there is no room for error and if you get slightly off line at the bottom, you will be going to the hospital, directly. No one wants that. Especially now. 

It is very interesting to see how much my perspective has changed, after being here for almost three months now. I am getting increasingly confident with the steeper lines and limit of grip. This line intimidated me for years, but on this morning, it somehow seemed insignificant. This cycle of progression and confidence will surely end badly at some point, but it is interesting to see things with different eyes. 

This is an upper entrance to a line named "sugar pill" Lars' girlfriend Laura came up with the name Placebo. Couldn't be more fitting. We were drinking tequila at the time and that definitely confirms the sneaking suspicion I have always had that tequila does in fact, make you smarter. 

So where does this end? How far is too far and who is going to be the first to end up in the hospital? These are hard questions to answer. Lars works for the fire department and has seen one of the slowest months on record for injuries. Despite what you see on Facebook about hospitals being overcrowded and "taking beds", the opposite is actually true here in Sedona. There is no work for the emergency service people. So strange. Let's hope it stays that way, injury is never the goal. This is a wonderful time to hurt yourself in Sedona. If you put yourself in danger enough times, eventually the odds are stacked against you. Base-jumping comes to mind. Ticking time-bomb. Backcountry skiing is similar. 

So I guess what I am trying to say is to live life to the fullest. We can sit on the couch, paralyzed with fear, or we can go out and push the limit a bit. I am not saying "hold my beer" style, but getting a bit out of. your personal comfort zone, whatever that may be, is absolutely vital for growth in my opinion. This applies to all things in life. Do something every day that scares you. Thanks for the motivation Lars. You my boy.