Pre-Season Tune-Up

Last night I took my board into a nearby shop for a tune-up and wax. After I wrote out my claim check, the shop employee said "By the way, we're not going to start grinding for a few more weeks."

What?

I had called the shop back in August, and the person I spoke with said that they would start tuning in early October. Now it sounds like mid to late October. Oh well. I'm not going to need the board for a while, anyway. I'm not going to any locale with snow anytime soon. (By the way, if you hurry, you can check out this snow picture from Terry Peak, South Dakota.)

Here's something about tuning I did not know. The employee asked if my board had come without bindings, or if I had taken them off. I said that I had taken them off. He asked that I keep them on next time. It helps them hold onto the board during the tuning. "It's a lot easier," he told me.

And here I had thought that it would be easier for them to remove most of the bulk of the board. I use Flow bindings. They're great, but they may not fold down as well as strap bindings. In any case, it was time to clean off the "naked" board anyway.