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Ride Incognito on the Train, Ride Known on the Beach
On the LIRR train. Note Bisect in luggage rack above.
Conductors used to kick me off with my longboard. Not now!
Taking the Bisect on New York City's Trains
Once upon a time I was a surfer who stuck out like a sore thumb. An eight foot six inch sore thumb. Every surfer gets attention; people marvel at your spraying cutback or they chortle at your akimbo wipeout. For a surfer in New York City, the attention starts as soon as you pull your board out of your apartment.
Your neighbor sees you in the hallway-- "hey, is that a surfboard?"
The mailman asks-- "are there really waves here?".
The guys on the corner drinking beer start singing-- "he's going surfing, surfin' U.S.Aaay."
The expression on the subway token booth attendant's face says "You're taking THAT on the train?"
Little kids on the subway train to the beach climb on my board and ask, balancing on the fin-- "what's this wing do?"
Their parents ask "is it a kayak?"
And there's the rare and refreshing fellow surfer who inquires knowledgeably "hey is that a 9 foot longboard? I used to surf in Puerto Rico. But the water's too cold up here!"
The most attention I've attracted as a surfer was the day I bought a longboard in early winter in Long Beach and brought it home on the train in a clear plastic bag. It had a big lime green stripe and must have looked like a Christmas lemondrop for a giant. Walking down the corridor at Penn Station I felt like the Pied Piper. People were following me, and actually yelling and screaming at me. I couldn't even make out half their comments as they came from all directions. One guy ran up and slapped the board and said "where you going, Vermont?" He must have thought it was a giant snowboard!
Those were my days as Surfer Sore Thumb. Now I'm Surfer Incognito. All that attention has diminished since I bought my Pope Bisect. Now instead of a giant longboard bag that screams "surfer dude" to every bystander, I carry a simple 5 foot rectangular bag that looks more like an artist's portfolio or a musician's keyboard case. Rides out to Rockaway Beach are peaceful and free of heckling. Occasionally someone's curiosity about the blue mystery bag overwhelms them and prompts a sincere "uh, what is that in that bag, if ya don't mind me asking?" If I feel like keeping the conversation short I say "oh, just construction materials." If I want to be truthful but not provoke too much response I say, "it's a surfboard, a little one, for the beach." And if I want to engage their interest, or blow their mind, I say the truth, which is "it's a surfboard, a big one, in two pieces."
Sometimes I miss the icebreaking power of my old longboard. You meet a lot of people and get a lot of looks. But I sure don't miss the discomfort of trying to get it off the train at rush hour when the train has slowly filled up to cattle car populations on the way home from the beach. I don't miss getting on with a nine foot zeppelin and the horrible split second decisions as the door is about to close, choosing between getting stuck in the guillotine-like door or shoving it against possibly hostile train riders like a giant cattle prod.
Getting attention where you want it: on the beach
When I get to the beach and take the board out of the bag, the old power to grab attention comes back. Taking what looks like two boogie boards out of a bag doesn't seem to arouse much attention. But when I attach them together the lifeguards and surfers come sauntering over. "That's pretty sick, how it goes together like that," one teenage female lifeguard complimented in slang of the day.
Curious onlookers watch Thane Pope assemble a prototype carbon Bisect on Long Beach, Long Island.
I don't mind the curiosity attached to owning an unusual gadjet, but in New York, people can be very nosy about money. Perfect strangers want to know what the board cost. In fact, their opening line may well be "hey, how much 'd that board cost ya?" I tell them as nicely as possible "well, imagine two little surfboards. Then stick 'em together and that about sums it up."
A one piece of this size would be hard to get on the train even in off peak hours. Big boards don't fit well in apartments, and they're almost impossible to get up the stairs. The Bisect goes on trains, through building double doors, up stairs, and into closets and corners to store easily.
Cool, but doesn't that seam slow down your ride?
As to how the board surfs, I wouldn't be kidding to say it changed my life. For me, the Bisect opened up a door, enabling me to pursue the kind of big board surfing I became interested in, and which suits this area very well. I first tried riding a 9 foot 10'' Yater board on a trip to my home town of Santa Cruz, and found I liked its smooth turning power and stability for trimming. When I got back to New York, I decided to abandon my light 8'6 for a 10 foot Yater Bisect, and put in an order to have one shipped.
On a typically surf starved May afternoon I took it out to Rockaway to ride some small mushburgers. I had a blast. Where I would have been struggling with a short longboard or funboard, I was cruising with plenty of speed and control. Given where I live, it simply would not have been possible to ride a big board without the Pope Bisect.
