Chicks Mat Meet 2 (Now With No Pictures!)

Yes, I know. Pictures would have been nice. But when it's just you, a fellow female matter, four 4GFs, a dirt trail and a break full of kelp, it becomes a matter of "first things first". The first thing was meeting at the spot. We were coming from opposite directions. I am notorious for having lived in L.A. forever (except for the years in college and the short time I spent living in Europe) and still having no idea of the names of streets. I use landmarks in order to get to places. I always have and always will. So I didn't know how to tell Val to get there. Thankfully, she is a diehard surfer who's going to find a break by hook or by crook. She ended up finding it without much problem.

Once there, we stood on the overlooking cliff to check it out. It was breaking. The kelp was thick. The board surfers were confined to a small takeoff zone. Score!!!!

The next task was deciding which mats to take with us down the trail to the spot. It's not exactly a place where you feel comfortable leaving valuable stuff on the shore. For one thing, it's a long paddle out so the idea of coming all the way in to switch mats wasn't that enticing. Second, there's always the fear of someone walking off with your stuff (because it's a rather deserted break). We each decided it was a day for the Trackers. I took the Square Tail and Val took her new Round Tail.

And the rest, is mat riding history (?) as we had a blast!

One of the things we talked about while in the water was the mat meet at Cottons. Neither one of us had ridden mats much prior to that day. We both agreed that we didn't really know how to ride mats prior to that day. The word "scared" came up a few times as we talked about the conditions. It was perfect for experienced mat riders. For those of us new to the fold, it was a bit daunting, what with those overhead waves and nasty shorepound. With that said, that event was the turning point for both of us. After that, it seems we both were on a mission to become bona fide riders of the mat.

I know I'm speaking subjectively when I say we would have made the matting community proud. We were all over those waves. Kelp be damned! One of my best memories was riding behind Valerie and watching her set the rail on her mat and head down the line. We certainly got our fill. I know my mat riding has come a long way as my mind is no longer going a mile a minute when I take waves. On one wave, I even took my hands off the mat and rode it Superman style. Yes, we've come a long way in our mat riding.

Now I'm already thinking it's time for Chicks Mat Meet 3. If possible, I'd like to hook up with Cher and Gilda. If Steve comes (and, of course, men are always welcome since it's a mat thing, not a gender thing), we shall call it Chicks (and Steve) Mat Meet 3.