February 3, 2008 Sunday

Superbowl Sunday

 

Palos Verdes	Indicator
5:00 pm	Huge, blown out
Low tide	Strong on-shore wind (25 – 30 mph)
Rain, wind and cold	Unrideable

In the above photo, son Kevin is checking out the Indicator, a break in Palos Verdes. It’s half time of the Superbowl, about 5:00 pm in the evening. The wind has been blowing hard for 24 hours, the ocean is all stirred up and the waves are huge. The Indicator, which is located on the northwest side of the Palos Verdes Peninsula, is further west than Bluff Cove, and thus the swells break there first before wrapping into the Cove. Bluff Cove is still a classic long board break and was the favorite spot for the first generation of California surfers in the forties and fifties. The old timers would sit way outside at the Cove and watch the distance breaking waves at the far point to the south. Big waves at the point would “indicate” that a big set was approaching Bluff Cove, thus the name Indicator.

Kevin and I have surfed the Indicator a couple of times. It’s a “hairy” break. First it’s difficult and dangerous to get to. One has to descent a narrow, steep footpath that cuts back and forth across a 200-foot cliff. The waves break over huge bounders, making surfing at low tide impossible. It’s a powerful left break that only happens on big north swells. 

The Indicator is across the street from my mother’s house on Paseo del Mar. Her house is a surfer’s dream. 180 degree view of the Santa Monica Bay, a world class break in the Indicator out the front door, a solid long board break at Bluff Cove down the street and great fast left walls at Haggerty’s around the bend. Whenever Kevin and I are at my mother’s house we always check the surf by walking across the street and peering over the cliff down at the Indicator, which is what Kevin is doing in the above photo. We check the surf year round even though we know that it only breaks on big winter north swells. 

This morning Kevin, Allison and I ran in the Redondo Beach Superbowl Sunday 10K Race. This is an annual event for me. Brother Carl and I ran it together for 10 years until Carl’s knees could no longer take it. Kevin has taken Carl’s place. We ran it last year. Allison joined us this year for the first time. When we awoke at 6:30 am this morning, it was raining and raining hard. I was ready to throw in the towel. I think Kevin was neutral. But Allison set us straight. “I just flew 3000 miles across the country to run in this race, so I’m running.” Allison, who is a grad student at Brown University in Providence RI, had used her Christmas money that my mother had given her to purchase airfare to join the annual Superbowl family reunion. Well that did it. We all went for it. 

The race was miserable. It was nothing but wind and rain, rain and wind. At the start of the race, we managed to stay dry under the large, spacious awning of the Crown Plaza Hotel, which sits next to the starting line. We stood there along with about 200 other runners until the countdown to the start of the race began, then we moved out onto the street in front of the starting line. Once we started running the cold and rain didn’t bother us. All three of us stayed together with me the old one setting the slowest pace. Towards the end in the fifth mile I ran out of gas. Wet and tired, I had to walk up the last hill. Our time was 1 hour, seven minutes; not bad. But I felt terrible. I revived at the Ashi tent with a free Ashi lite. When I told Kate about this in our phone conversation that afternoon, she cut to the source. “Did you drink a lot of wine and have a big dinner the night before?” Bingo! Revealed again. I’m not young anymore and cannot go to excesses and then run 6.2 miles the next day. 

Sticking to my Superbowl Sunday traditions, we went to CJ’s Pantry for breakfast, a small, down home, one owner operation, big omelets and bottomless coffee pots café. Usually there is a 30-minute wait to get a seat. Not today, due to the rain we were seated immediately. After a great breakfast, all three of us agreed to do it again next year. 

I had a great time doing the usual Superbowl Sunday family event. The game itself was outstanding, one of the best Superbowls ever. In the family pool, brother Carl was the big winner. But my number (4) was winning up to the final 35 seconds of the game when the Giants scored the winning touchdown and forged ahead 17 to 14 over the favored New England Patriots.