Saturday, July 16, 2005

Riverboarding

What's an avid surfer from San Clemente to do over the weekend in Golden, CO? Thanks to Shane of RipBoard, the answer is riverboarding. Basically it's like lying on an oversized boogie board molded out of plastic and sledding down the rapids. Golden's Clear Creek river park is the epicenter for this new sport.

Jeansie and I took the four hour introductory lesson. She was a real trooper and as you can see from the smile, she enjoyed herself. Believe it or not, she was the first in our group to perform a full roll-over after dropping into one of the more active rapids. I was floating down river in the second group, and after seeing Jeansie's roll-over and recovery, the guy next to me commented..."jezz, that old broad can really board!".

It was a fun day and great way to get out of the heat. Only surprises - going down river past where we were supposed to turn-out, and getting out of the way of kayakers who sometimes didn't see since us since you ride very low in the water on these boards.