There were Ripboards. There were Carlson's. There were Kern Riverboards (and the Koutzoukis clan that makes them). There were even a few funny-looking things that people took to calling "hydrospeeds" (they were).

But it didn't matter what type of board they were riding, because this past weekend on the Kern River in sunny So Cal was what gatherings of riverboarders can be, and should be - a great time had by everybody.

In fact, the camraderie was so strong that nearly all of the boarders present rode nearly all of the boards. A little impromptu R&D time, if you will.

And oh, yes, there was some friendly competition. Maybe a bit too friendly - Team FLI's Alex Koutzoukis is also the man behind the new Kern Riverboards brand, and he generously lent his own personal board to Ice for the slalom race. Ice somehow squeezed out a win, beating Alex's time by a scant 1/2 second. We're doubting Alex will be so nice at the Gorge Games.

RACE RESULTS

With a good half dozen runs on the Kern River, and all of them roadside, there was hardly any lack for fun whitewater to hit during the long weekend. In fact, several of the guys decided they didn't even care if the sun was shining. Moonlight riverboarding? Yes indeed. Alex, Stephen Pink, and River Dave jumped in above Ewing's rapid for a moonlight run down through the park.

Of course, no night riverboarding is complete without sneaking up on unsuspecting campers like a bevy of Navy SEALS - the half-drunk and fully startled revelers could be heard screaming for nearly three miles. (Ok, we made that part up.)