Was pretty excited to make it through my Brazil trip this year without any injuries and some new tricks in the bag... until the last week of filming. I had a pretty gnarly crash that left me with some torn ligaments in my left ankle and a bunch of tricks left to film. So it was home to do some physio therapy at Great Lakes Pysio... pretty disappointing.
After a month of physio I made the choice to skip Cape Town's high wind conditions and head to Florida to try to work on some slider progression figuring it would be pretty low impact for my ankle . North International Team Rider Colleen Carroll was planning on being in the Keys as well as some other friends so it seemed like a good idea!
The first day at OWC cable park I quickly realized I was getting way ahead of myself and my ankle was still going to need a good amount of time before I really tried to ride so it was back to the sidelines for another few weeks. Watching your friends ride is not the easiest thing to do but I tried to stay busy spending the majority of my time watching youtube tutorials on video editing and shooting the crew.
Matt Sexton and Alex Fox from Otherside Boardsports had set up a kicker and slider one day in the Florida Keys and it was no longer possible to just watch... I knew I had to stay away from the kicker but I just couldn't sit around any longer. I needed to go hit that slider, have some fun and try to bang out a few shots! My ankle surprisingly felt pretty good and we all had a great day of shredding. After that my spirits were up and I thought it was just a matter of keeping it moving. We spent a bunch of time riding at the Keys Cable Park and mucking around in the Keys until once again a slightly sketchy landing sent me back a few weeks... pretty frustrating.
I managed to get a few more short sessions in trying to get a couple clips but nothing really panned out and it was time to head back to the city, a little disappointed but definitely eager to come back to this spot healthy and ready to ride. The Keys are a unique place with lots more than just kiteboarding to offer and the riding locations are endless!
So it was off to the airport in Orlando but not without a quick stop at OWC once again. Feeling a bit better than the last time I was there I couldn't leave without hitting the UNIT pool gap. I'd watched all the videos from OWC and I needed to get down on it... Amaaaaazing! So much FUN! We need something like this for kiting ASAP!
Well, all in all Florida was a pretty cool place with lots of good spots, good friends and some good times for sure! Wish I could've been healthy and shredded way harder but it's definitely leaving me wanting to come back and has me more motivated than ever to get back on the water 110%.
NITRO CITY, PANAMA... here I come!!!
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