Unridden Wednesday

The more perceptive of you may have realised that I originally promised Big Wednesday but have gone back on that now.  Yes, sorry for those of you who were looking forward to the big and girthy.
2 reasons:
1 - there are only so many mind blowing big wave images, and we've probably seen the best examples already.
2 - there are so many sick pictures out there that didn't have a category to fit in to.
So, I give you Unridden Wednesday - a day when either a wave will stand alone unridden, or there may be no wave at all.  There are so many surf related pictures out there that don't display a wave, much less a rider.  But they do contain a subject that you will recognise immediately: Stoke.  And that's what it's all about.  

Photographer: Bryce Lowe

 

You' ve had many moments like this.  You know it's about to get dark.  You know the session is about to end.  You can feel the salt crystallising on your soon to be drying skin.  You can almost taste the chilled beer. All you want is one last good wave to call it a day.  Your mates are on the beach.  Trying to watch you in the half-light.  You want to put on a show for them.  You want them to stand rapt as your shadow tears through the dusk.  Just a silouette of majesty against the bruised screen of a wave.  You want them to nod in your direction in the parking lot and say 'that last wave of yours was good'.  And the darkness hides the flash of your smile. You know it was.

Thanks to Surfer mag for the image.