new blog to bookmark

[LSUkiter]

Since everynone's been on the positive kick, I thought I'd share this new blog/website I found while trying to distract myself from work. It's from an east coast Fl rider, who's just trying to share his stoke on strapless riding. You can tell by his entries that he's passionate about it.
I'm nowhere near being ready to try strapless, considering I finished my final lesson this weekend after 6 months of never being able to get away from work, and just pulled my first long non-stop ride(you may have seen me ragdolling across the surface at backside on saturday afternoon).

Take a look

www.losethestraps.com

Richard

[Tom Stock]

I've been riding strapless for awhile ever since I sprained my foot. It was too swollen to fit into a strap, so I started with a surfboard, but shallow water made that impractical. So I took one of my old (actually my first) home made boards, removed the pads, straps and fins, and waxed it up. It's a 127x39 and I figured it would be too small to work.... wrong!

Rode it out at backside in 15 knots and 2" of water and it was awesome. Could go upwind easily and raced Scott on his glide and stayed with him no problem.

Tried a few kick flips with no luck, but I could do shove-its, ollies, and surface handle passes pretty easily.

The only hard part was finding it when I fell... it was practically invisible with no fins or straps sticking up from the surface.

[Skyway Scott]

That board was really fun. I was really surprised how good the low end on it was. I think it was blowing around 12 knots and I was on a 12.5m kite going upwind effortlessly. That was a definite shocker (lack of fin drag, I guess).

It was definitely a fun ride. I would have liked to have tried a shuvit or something, but no way I was gonna risk landing on my feet in 2 inches of water out at Backside and slicing my foot wide open.

[LSUkiter]

As i checked out that site more, it looks like one of the founders/bloggers is actually Jon Modica.

[LSUkiter]

Tom,
Like I said before, I've been taking lessons not routinely for six months due to sucky work schedule, so I haven't really gotten to meet and get to know too many locals other than through posts on the forum. I actually recognized you on Saturday afternoon at backside sw cause of the green machine board you've posted pics of on here. I was rushing to get on the water, but next time I see the board I'll introduce myself. That's like dog park people that know each other as "the dog's" owner

[Tom Stock]

Oh yeah you should have said something. I'd have launched you and handed it over for testing!

I did see you out there, congrats on the first long ride. Get ready for SKUNK.

You'll know what I mean when summer starts!

Just don't give up, summer riding can be frustrating but great when it pays off.

[LSUkiter]

Thanks for the offer, but I definitely don't want to borrow anybody's board till I learn to not piledrive mine into the bottom. I appreciate the congrats too; along with my first long ride came the first in a series of several yard sales. Fun as hell though, and worth being sore. I was addicted a little before, now much more. Not looking forward to the dead calm of summer since my days on the water are already numbered by work.

[JoshTaylor]

i love riding strapless. so fun in waves, and go upwind soo easy


good example, me and Mike Hall did a downwinder from Matt Sextons house to sunset beach, just past the middle jetty rocks or whatever. and we didn't have a ride back so we litterally rode upwind the whole way back to matts, wind didn't switch either, it was south winds we did HUUGGGEE tacks back and fourth and finally made it back to matts right as the sun set, took about an hour and a half. both of us were strapless surfboards.