Me and the boys flew up to Virginia Beach this past week/weekend to hangout, surf and watch the the 48th annual East Coast Surfing Championships. With the summer ending I needed this little getaway, before Septembers hectic schedule kicks in. We had a sweet condo rental right on the beach just down from the competition. It was really cool right from the start. When we got there, people were in the surf enjoying the last of the free surfing in the contest zone at The Jetty. One of the most localized surf spots in Virginia Beach looked downright inviting with kids, women, and longboarders all enjoying a friendly surf. All that changed fast, as the competition got under way. It’s a serious business, with dollars, sponsorships, and pride on the line. Many surfers have entered the contest, but few have won. Kind of like Mad Max in the Thunderdome haha, Two men enter, one man leaves. Skim boarding, skating, beach volleyball, bikinis, bands, parties, friends, and tons of surfing. Highlights for me were seeing Bucky Lasek and Neil Hendrix skate, my boys in Set Your Goals rock the Monster stage and for sure the Joel Tudor Duct Tape Invitational. I’ll let the pictures I took speak for themselves, although you really had to be there. I am convinced I was meant to live at the beach, any beach, I love everything about it. Epic times.
Here is a look at a recent collab between Hurley and Livery Design Gruppe on a fixed gear bike. It features a geometrically vivacious blend of color and form, with artwork by world-renowned artist Dalek (James Marshall). These bikes were commissioned by Hurley to compliment their ultra high-end line of Phantom boardshorts and swimwear. The bike pictured below was raffled off at the US Open of Surfing in Huntington Beach, CA last weekend. Some lucky bastard won that shit. UGH!
Hahaha this is great. When I tell people I surf everyday on the river in Montreal they give me weird looks. Try taking several subways with your board to surf NYC? Amazing! In4mant Rhandy Tambio continues his ever-evolving video series with this rad self edit of a surf mission to Long Beach during New York City’s recent heat wave. If you’ve never done it, trooping on two subways with your surfboard is more fun than you’d think, or so Im told.
My surfing has become a daily ritual now. There is truly no better way to start your day. Wake up, grab my board and hit the water. I have been lucky enough to been given quite a few boards to shred on through the blog, as most of you have seen. But this is something that I just needed to try for myself. Surfing in the ancient style on a finless wood board has been overlooked for many years now. In Hawaii the board was called alaia. In Japan it was called itaka. There is evidence of early surfers riding this style from all around the world but in the early 1900’s this style vanished. The thin, flat rockered board moves across the wave very quickly. The hard edge of the rail bites into the wave like a long fin and the gentle curves on the bottom hold the board into the face of the wave. The board is as light as possible so it accelerates quickly and the wood is sealed with oil which is slippery in the water. This makes the board move faster through the water like a fish. The ancient Hawaiians had a special word for how to surf the alaia. It was “lala.”. It is the controlled slide in the pocket. The way you do it is you use the edge of the board to hold in across a wall, then break free for a controlled sideways slide in the pocket, then grab the wave again to gain forward momentum. When you want to continue with forward momentum, you put weight on the inside rail and the board grips the wave and takes off again. Last week I received my very own Alaia from Jon at Wegener Surfboards. I won’t lie, I was sceptical at first look. But that disappeared quickly once I got it in the water. I can’t thank Jon enough for hooking me up. And now in a partnership with my friends J.F. & Vivian at CRUX Magazine, we are gonna hook you up! Head over to their site for more details on how you can walk away with your very own Alaia right now!!
Here at Truth of a Liar getting packages in the mail has turned into an almost everyday deal, and Im certainly not complaining. From the big stuff to the little stuff I am thankful for it all. Yesterday I got a small but very cool package. Best known for their Colored Nosecoat, Zinka has been “painting” the faces of many for over twenty years. As recreational surfers, skiers and outdoor lovers they see first hand the importance of sun protection and how damaging sunburns and UV rays can be, thus Zinka was created. Taking the past proven technology of zinc oxide, after seeing it bright and white on lifeguard’s noses years ago, they set out to make colorful and powerful Nosecoats and Sunblocks for the most avid water and snow athletes and sun lovers alike. I am super stoked to have received a bundle of all the Zinka Products.
If you have been following the blog lately you can clearly see a lot of surfing posts going up. Simply because what is going on in my personal life, reflects what goes down on the blog. Last week I got my hands on a new springsuit wetsuit from Excel. The Infiniti system suits are new to the market but are definitely amazing. I hit the waves before work yesterday morning with my homie Tony, who not only is an avid surfer but builds custom bikes. Once my body was submerged in the water, instantly I remarked about the suit to him. Completely different from my other suits. Less seams = more stretch. The 1 piece top sleeve design maximizes the stretch to fit your body better. Although at first I was a little confused as how to put it on being that there is no back zip, that went away quickly. Driving to the wave I actually checked to see if I was tied in with the seatbelt because the suit just morphed to my body. Im thrilled to have received this suit. The only negative thing I have to say about it is I hate the colour, but thats just cause Im a bitch ahaha. Check out the Excel site, Im sure you will find a wetsuit for all your surfing needs.
Check out this amazing footage and interview of Flynn Novak’s ridiculously sick Flynnstone Flip, a backflip trick he’s been trying to perfect for almost a decade. Clearly the dedication paid off, this is a game changer on the scale of the McTwist. Fuck me……
A few weeks ago I was watching this surf movie called Dude Cruise. It was basically 3 team riders surfing the globe. I turend to my buddies in the room and said lets do this asap. A week later Max called and said his time share in Cabo St Lucas was available, and do we wanna go surf? Boards packed, tickets bought within minutes haha. And so became the first of many Dude Cruise trips I hope in the future. We only went for a few days but it was amazing surf everyday. And the water was sooo fuckin blue. I mean I can’t even remember seeing water like that before. It was epic. On the first day the sky was gray and almost felt as if a storm would blow in. Max caught this great shot of me coming in off a wave. I think this was the first trip my camera wasn’t attached to me. I had replaced it with my board, and I didn’t leave its side the whole time. I absolutely can’t wait to go back. I love surfing the river in Montreal, but nothing beats ocean waves.
Posted on August 30th, 2010 by Chris Is A Liar
Posted in: Events, Road Trips & Vacations, Surfs Up
8 Comments »