Learn to surf — sort of — at Rhodes Aquatic Center in Mesa.
There are only so many ways to make the best of an endless Arizona summer, and learning to ride the FlowRider is one of them. The continuous wave crosses boogie boarding, snowboarding, skateboarding and wakeboarding into an exciting ride with plenty of challenges and a whole lot of fun.
Anyone can do it. Grown-ups or kids with no experience can jump on a boogie board and almost instantly start carving and doing tricks. Try your hand at surfing or body boarding.
Riders must be at least 42 inches tall to ride a boogie board and 52 inches tall to ride a stand-up “flowboard.”
Public hours run through Labor Day. For those looking for one-on-one coaching, a new schedule of lessons is available beginning Aug. 8. Information on lessons is available at www.mesaaz.gov/parksrec/aquatics/flowrider.aspx. Click on “Programs and Classes,” then on “2012 Fall Program Listing: Aquatic Programs.”
If you go
What: FlowRider
When: 1 p.m. to 9 p.m. Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays; 1 p.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesdays and Fridays; 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturdays; and 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Sundays
Where: Rhodes Aquatic Complex, 1860 S. Longmore, Mesa
Cost: $5.50 per one-hour session for youth 17 and younger, $11 per one-hour session for adults. Ladies ride for 50 percent off the regular price from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. Thursdays.
Information: (480) 644-2550 or www.mesaaz.gov/parksrec/aquatics/flowrider.aspx
Big Island Public Pool Rail Jam
Watch as riders tethered to a high-speed winch are pulled over ramps and rails, flying as high as 10 feet in the air to perform tricks before splashing into the pool.
Professional and novice riders will face the wakeboarding course, which is being built on Rhodes Aquatic Complex’s deck and pool for this cash-prize competition.
The event is free for the public, and spectators are welcome to hang out on deck, in the pool or in the bleachers. The Rail Jam starts at 1 p.m. Saturday, July 28. Food and drink will be available for purchase, and the FlowRider will be open for one-hour ride sessions at the regular fee.
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firefly1818 posted at 6:08 am on Sat, Jul 28, 2012.
Will the city of mesa be providing transportation to all the families that live around mesa junior high who may not have the means to get to this wonderful extravaganza? The Mesa Jr. High community is one of the poorest and most neediest and yet they are the only ones that do not have a public pool nearby.. (nor a jr. high anymore either, which used to provide these families with summer school programs, sports, the pool, breakfasts and lunches and all the other perks that go with having your school right in your own neighborhood). So does anyone else think this stinks..a community that has a private pool in just about every yard has this wonderful, state of the art public pool and the poorest have nada....