Pete Dudchenko

Yesterday I went to the Del Mar Fair which is held every year at this time at the Del Mar Racetrack. There were a couple of things that surprised me about this fair compared to others. The first was the duration that its in town. I think this fair is around from now until after the 4th of July which is about a month or so. Second, and someone pointed this out to me, was how all the “carnies” were wearing the same t-shirt. Almost like a uniform. I kind of missed the torn shirts (or no shirts) that I have come to associate with fair-folk. Third was the lack of funnel cake stands around the area. We actually had to look for one and hunt it down. I always thought that funnel cakes and cotton candy were the two easiest things to get at a fair. Overall it was fun though and the June Gloom was nowhere to be seen which made for a great day.

I’m also in the process of trying to fix my surf board. Its acquired a few dings which I like to think is from all the great waves I’m riding but which is probably more from carrying down the stairs to my car and smacking it on the stairway. On Saturday I bought some ding repair and tried to apply it to the board. Its this gel like goo that you put over the ding and then let cure in the sunlight to harden.  I have no idea what I’m doing but the one bad ding that was on the end of my board is a lot more solid now. The only thing that is left is to sand down the gel to be flush with the board.

I went surfing again last night after work. Its funny to hear me say that. I guess I’m still not used to being so close to the ocean that I can hit the beach after the day-job is done. It used to be only something that I could do on vacation. Now I do it in between work and dinner. How cool is that?

Anyway I hit the same beach that I was at on Monday although things weren’t as good as they were that day. The tide was at high-tide which pretty much made the beach disappear. Plus with the water crashing into the cliffs and then bouncing back, it disrupted the waves enough to make it tough to ride one.

I did see some body-boarders hanging out by the cliff base though. It was pretty amazing. The cliff was basically a natural stone wall that the waves would roll into and then crash up against. The body-boarders would hang out around there and as a wave hit the wall and bounced back, they would ride it back out to sea until they hit a big wave coming at them which would launch them into the air where they could flip. Pretty amazing.

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So I went surfing again this Memorial Day and this was my best set ever. I still suck of course (I fall more than I stand up) but there were a couple of good rides in there. I relate surfing to golf in a lot of ways. It takes a lot of patience and persistence and can be very frustrating, but it only takes one good ride to make it all worth it. Plus, in order to be any good, you have to keep doing it.

Yesterday, I had two good rides that really showed me that I was making progress. The first one was on a bigger wave and although I crashed right away, my timing was just where it needed to be. I actually dropped into the wave and it was because I wasn’t used to timing it just right, that the board shot out under me. Why would a crash be such a good ride? It was because I knew what I was doing wrong and I now had a feeling of what its like to drop into a wave.

The next ride was the same thing although this time I learned from my previous mistake and stayed up. That was the one “great tee shot” that makes me want to go back.

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I went golfing at The Bridges this weekend. I think there is a tournament called “Battle at the Bridges” which includes pro golfers like Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson that have played on this course before. Its not an easy course for putting that’s for sure. I had an awful time reading the greens.

I’m not a very good golfer but on the 17th hole I almost made a hole-in-one. It was a 180 yard par 3 hole and when I hit it, it landed on the green and rolled to the cup, hitting the pin and bounced away. So close but not quite there. I did get the birdie though.

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Ok, I have to work tomorrow and I’m only trying to kill some time before going to bed so I can get a decent night’s sleep. If I crashed as soon as I got in this evening I would have been up at 4:00 in the morning. We went to Vegas this weekend and it was incredible.

I’m too tired to write any more about it…besides what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas

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I just got an invitation in the mail the other day for Ryan’s wedding. Its towards the middle of March so it looks like I’ll be back in Lafayette, Indiana around that time. It should be nice to see everyone again.

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