December 17th 2013: Inverted

We're pretty lucky in this job. Not only do we get to share lots of our magical experiences from the early hours, but we also get to meet some amazing people. Like this guy above. He's one of those classic characters that you might stumble upon in the surf, chat to him, laugh with him and then paddle away without really knowing that you had just spoken to one of the world's best mountain bikers in one of the toughest disciplines of the sport.

Conor spreads his time between Dunedin and Queenstown during the summer – he builds massive dirt ramps and then sessions them until he is as comfortable upside down as he is spinning through them. He also works his butt off all summer in his day job so he can spend the winter in Europe and America competing in various competitions.

Originally from Invers, Conor is one of the nicest guys you could meet and when he puts his mind to something he nails it. Like this session above the city in the early hours of the morning last week – we shot part of a trick called a flair, but he didn't quite get the landing right so he worked and worked at it until he had it dialled. And he got it perfect ... now that's a 23-year-old with their head in some amazing space.

More swell at the end of the week with Thursday and Friday looking good on the south coast and a few secret spots. Couple of windows toward the end of the week up north.

Apologies for a few broken links in our ads last week – gremlins in the new system. If you were trying to find the link to Workshop 41 in time for Christmas then here it is here.

See you at the beach ...

Derek

PS If you're after something a little different check out local board shaper Jeremy Buis's range of fern-impregnated handmade fins (featured in this edition). They're pretty epic ... check them out here.