As we walked along, Doodle kept turning round and looking back at Bee. It was as though he knew I wasn’t a proper dog handler. I tried not to catch his eye. I’m not exactly scared of dogs, I just don’t like their teeth.
I could see Marco up ahead, trying out tricks on the path.
‘Marco,’ I shouted. He looked up and smiled. ‘Can I have a go on your board with the dog?’
‘Sure,’ he said. ‘You’re a good surfer, makes good boarder.’ Marco’s been surfing with me. He’s amazing.
‘I hope so,’ I said, but I wasn’t sure. Surfing on water is a bit different from four wheels on bumpy ground. And falling in water, or a wipe-out as we surfers call it, is most definitely better than a tumble on the concrete.
He pushed the board with his foot, I stopped it with mine. So far so good. Marco waited for me to get on, but I didn’t. It’s embarrassing when you have a go at something you can’t do, or don’t know if you can do. I wanted him to go away, or at least turn round, but I couldn’t say that to him, could I?
‘You want help?’ he said.
I nodded and handed over the lead. Marco hooked the loop over his foot. Funny way to keep hold of a dog.
‘OK,’ he said. Marco wasn’t a bad teacher. Or maybe I was a good pupil. He showed me which foot to put at the front (your leading leg), how to get on without the board slipping away (make sure it’s on the flat) and how to use your knees, heels and toes to move and steer. I messed about a bit at the top of the hill. It was easy.
‘Down the hill,’ said Marco.
I looked down. I’ve walked down the hill loads of times. I’ve run down it, cycled down it. But I’ve never gone down it on four wheels, without brakes.
‘Go . . .’ Marco couldn’t find the word he wanted. He used his hands instead. They pointed diagonally. That made sense. I was going to slip my front foot out of the binding to turn the board to face the direction of Marco’s hand but he shook his head and did a little jump. I got it. I was meant to jump to turn the board round. Here goes, I thought.
Jumping with a board attached to both your feet was weird. But it worked. I was ready. I bent my knees, the board set off with me on it. I headed across the slope, and only remembered when I needed to turn and head the other way that Marco hadn’t explained how to turn. Great! Or how to brake. Even more great! Luckily, it turned out to be just like surfing. I’m goofy (that means right foot forward – left foot forward is ‘natural’) so I just leant back on my heels and round I went. I did a few turns on the way down and to stop I turned back up the hill. Marco started clapping. I bowed. Time to try it with the dog!