(11/1-2/06)
Inner City Strife is an absolutely amazing wave that forms on the Black River in Watertown, NY at extremely high flows. This wave could be compared to such greats as Garborator, Big Joe, and the near wave at the Dries. The kicker is that ICS has eddy access and is roadside!!!
Seth, Joe, Rachel, Steve, and myself piled into the new Go Big Rig (more on that later) on Wednesday evening after everyone had gotten off work. I drove the 7 and 1/2 hrs to Watertown and we all passed out at the Econo Lodge. We slept in a bit, as we were waiting for the water level to drop a bit anyway. We were also hoping for it to warm up a bit, but the forcast didn't look promising. We ended up braving the high winds, cloudy skies, occasional snow, and low 40's temps. We did build a fire by the river to try and get circulation back in the fingers between sessions.
Steve was the hero of the day staying on the wave for nearly the entire 4 or so hours that we were there. Steve was the energizer bunny and never seemed to get tired or cold. Seth was the young guy of the group and kept up his reputation of having "stamina" by going absolutely huge all day long, all while only wearing shorts on his legs! Rachel had some great rides, but was feeling the cold weather. Joe and I were both feeling old and cold most of the day. Joe threw some signature big air and also had a few surfs in his Mega surf kayak. I had some epic front surfs and some nasty air, but in the end couldn't paddle as much as I would have liked due to the fact that I couldn't feel my fingers for most of the day.
We ate a hearty and hot meal by the fireplace at the Barrel in Watertown and then headed home. High winds, ice, snow, and darkness made for a fun drive after our long day. In the end road trips to sweet waves with good friends is living life to the fullest, and that is the only way to live.
See you on the river- Bryon
