That Bieber won't stop staring at me.

I'm in Shoppers, texting Chrissy, when I get that creepy feeling someone is staring at me. Head down, I catch a figure just on my periphery in a wide-legged, confrontational stance. Is it someone I know? This is going on a little too long to be natural. It takes a few breaths to realize it's a cardboard cutout of Justin Bieber - an advert for the Bieb's new perfume. Chin resting on thumb, it's no wonder the intense gaze made the hair on my arms stand up.They're in every Shoppers, sometimes staring out the window at the sidewalk or peeking into the store from behind shelving. Whatever, it seems effective since ggle tells me he made perfume-launch history with sales topping $3mil in just 4 weeks.

Anyway, I was at the drugstore after going for a paddle with Doug. He has a couple of the 404s that Danny Ching is selling. I loved the board! It's narrower so your feel for the water is greater than on the super-stable Barks. The 12'6" I took out had some delamination on the bottom that apparently happened because the board was rushed through production to get it up to canada in time for a sup race. It wasn't allowed to cure for the requisite amount of time so a little too long in the sun caused it to ripple like a lays potato chip. I checked online forums, blogs and review sites and can't find any incidence or statements of a delaminition issue with 404s so accept that explanation.

I would love to own one of these boards - they're light, smooth running and expensive ($2500-$2600). Realistically, if I'm going to get anything it'll be at the opposite end of the sprectrum from the competitor, a little more like a surfboard. I've seen a couple around and, bonus, they're fairly inexpensive - around $1000. Dav is dropping by to take at look at the leak in my outrigger so he'll bring one of his boards for me to try. In the meantime, I'm happy with the competitor in spite of it's rigid bottom that makes it difficult for me to grab a wave. Thank goodness I surfed before I SUPped, otherwise I'd never know that the board makes a difference and it's not just me.

I paddled oc-2 with the oakville group last night - (8,1,6,1,4,1,2,1) 1 minutes were sprints with 1 minute rest between. Perfect workout after our 35km race around Cape Ann last weekend.

Chanda and I met for a paddle this morning. A beautiful flat day on the lake with a little wind and swell from the S-E pushing us back in.