Winter months are a drag! It’s cold! Water turns to ice, the other day I drove by a park and it was loaded with slushy water, my thought process went as follows: get Dewey, get winch, load Port O’ Rail in truck, install, ride. Then the grim reminder of how cold it was when I was nearly clipped by the often fabled, rarely seen snow plows of West Jordan.
It got me thinking about what makes wake riding so much fun, was it the first dunk in the water on those hot summer days, the new boards that come out each year, landing that trick you have tried all summer to land, the rush when the cops pull up to check out your riding spot, then the rush when you realize that they are stoked about it and aren’t going to make you stop, or just the view from behind the boat. The list could go on and on of the things that people love about wakeboarding, but I have come to find out what I enjoy most about wakeboarding and that has to be the people.
In the early days of my riding we spent hours upon hours on the lake, sometimes we weren’t riding, most times we were, but hanging out with the crew was always good times. I remember those after work sets where we would roll into the harbor to find that the lake wasn’t happy and just chilling in the lot to see if would calm down. Now I look forward to the chances we have to get out and ride with people who I have never met before. Then we have the competitions it gives us a chance to hang out with other people in our skill level and meet a whole new group of people who share a common bond of love for the sport. Watching the riders pull off some big moves or fail in a major way, chatting on the dock with riders like Scott Lyons as he tells about his 5th job or listening to Zach rile up the crowd with some SWAG or some amusingly lame humor, not forgetting the guy who always asks me if I’m Scotty Lyons, if only I could ride that good.
A while back the WakeUtah crew got together to discuss some major events for 2011, as the conversation drifted from wakeboarding to cars to giant purses to music to the state that had the most millionaires per capita and rounding back to wakeboarding I couldn’t help but think that these guys aren’t just awesome on the water they are also awesome people, I have as much fun talking wakeboarding as I do riding!
I’m going to put it out there and I hope you all don’t mind, but if you see someone at a competition or on the water it’s ok to tell them “hey great riding”, or “can you show me how you did that sweet trick?” I know Zach White can look intimidating, but I really don’t think he would mind if you asked him how many tattoos he has or if he would show you his newest one. If you want to know how to build a rail, I know Dewey would give you more than enough input to get the job done. If you see K-biz or Ryan Shima, why not ask them what they are looking for when they are judging competitions (or how to pronounce their last names) or Scott Bagley for a few pointers on your run, cause he knows how to win. I really don’t think Jenacee Jackson would be upset to sign a few Hyperlite posters if you ask, she’s really nice! Or ask Ryan Webster how to get a hot wife like his, he has some good tips! If you see the pudgy ginger kid (old man) walking around with the camera wearing long sleeves and a beanie and you want your picture taken, just ask it’s a digital camera if you don’t like it I can delete it. Even Jason from Wakeology, he is one of the nicest guys that I have met and always looking to expand his wake army team.
I guess the point to all this is we as a whole make up the wake scene in Utah, and there are so many awesome people out there riding and doing their thing that we have so much to build on, we have a great scene now but I think the more we open up and work together the bigger and better we will be.
I will see you at the boat show, OMJ out!