Gang Life - An Intermediate to Advanced Trip to Waco

I’ve never looked into what an initiation for a biker gang is like. My imagination goes to some dark places thanks to television true crime dramas. But it’s unlikely to be similar to the gang we formed while in Waco for the intermediate to advanced surf trip.

What I do know is that biker gangs are dedicated communities. They have motorcycles. They have jackets. They have tattoos (or at least quite a few do).

Biker gangs do a lot of things together – kind of like a swarm in the animal kingdom. And their philosophies have common themes like “ride or die”, and having each others’ backs when things “get real”.

Yeah, I sound like an idiot talking about this. I know I do. But for a brief moment during our Waco trip, I felt like we had formed a biker gang.

Except, it wasn’t a biker gang.

It was… a mini-van gang.

Yes, you read that right. We were a mini-van gang without even knowing it. Our “bikes” were replaced with mini-vans (rentals) without us even coordinating. It was ordained to be.

Our “jackets” were replaced with rashies and board shorts. Several of us did have the same surf shirts to protect us and show everyone else how “core” we were.

And best of all, we all took away a few tattoos from the trip – incidents with the bottom which left us with cuts and bruises. “Reef tattoos”. Because we were core and didn’t hold back.

The mini-van gang was fanatic when it was our turn to surf, charging to the wall to get the most waves possible during our sessions. We swarmed the lineups, not just in our private sessions, but also in the public sessions.

And best of all, we had each others’ backs when things “got real”. Yep, things got real. We toyed with an opponent so powerful that other gangs were even afraid of them. No, it wasn’t another surf group – the energetic groms, the bachelor party crew, or the locals. It wasn’t any other group at Torchy’s or Terry Black’s. This opponent is one we battle every time we paddle out. It’s powerful, and devious. Some days dancing with this opponent brought us bliss, and other days utter frustration and anguish.

You guessed right – the waves were that opponent. We took poundings, but we did it together and got back up to have another go at it.

Mini-van gang 4 life.

Most video and photos by Rob Henson at RobHensonSurfShots:

https://www.instagram.com/robhensonsurfshots/

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