"Where ya headed, bro brahs?" Jib Jab yells.

"We're gonna go run the local gnar gnar upriver." Boat in hand, Jib Jab jumps on, arriving at the put-in 20 minutes later with 656 of his closest friends. "Sweet, I get to run the gnar with all my buds," he yells. "I'm so amped up, I can barely control myself." Jib Jab unloads his Super Freaking River Machine. It's a tri-fin, planing hull, turbineÜpowered, thruster. The design's a total freakin' rip off but that doesn't matter because he can pull triple 360 wave wheels.

Walking to the put in, Jib Jab looks over his shoulder and there's Bubble Buddy pulling a triple cow pow wow off of a double bubble 200 footer. Jib Jab throws him the finger and heads to the put-in. All the while Loaded Gun is capturing the action on the latest hi 8 video. D.F.T.O. (Dorks for the Outdoors) takes Jib Jab's ticket as he enters the rapid arena. Jib Jab, 50th in line and totally stoked, gears up. The river is 2,000 feet per mile for 50 miles and Jib Jab plans to run it without scouting. Ya! Nobody's done that before! All the hot chicks will surely flock by the millions and Loaded Gun will bring the live uncut porn action via the Web: www.getsome.com.

Is this what kayaking is all about? Glam? Not! Rock Stars? Not! Winning a rodeo or competition? Not! Making it into the next sick flick? Not! It's all crap. Why? Because if that's why you kayak, you're kayaking for the wrong reasons.

Kayaking is about exploring the unknown, traveling to exotic places, staying in control. It's about your mind, your body, your balance and, most importantly, your survival. It's about ignoring what other people think. It's about being passionate enough to give up everything in life to experience what echoes - kayaking. It's about pushing the extreme limits of what is personally attainable, anywhere on the globe. It's not about kayaking for the money or for the sake of being recognized, it's simply about wanting to paddle more than anything else. That is core.

Running a river with my closest friends is far superior to jerking off at the same play spot or showing up for the local gnar during a competition. It's easy for me to stay focused where I go because there are no crowds and no one to impress. Rodeo events are boring and overcrowded - give me a wave or a hole that's hard to find or let me charge down a river where there are no judges. This is competition amongst nature and I'll let the river be the judge of my ability - not some rodeo judge who tries to count how many ends I throw in a weak, overcrowded play spot.

- Scott Lindgren is an owner of Driftwood Productions. He recently took fifth place at the Nugget Rodeo on the Rogue.