“Surf culture is weird. When I was surfing it felt angry and moody. After a few months I stopped altogether and never really did it again."

Around seven years ago, a filmmaker pal who had skills that filled me with jealousy and sadness, the ability to go above the lip and weightlessly conquer deep-water sections, one of surfing’s most valuable citizens in a sea of VALS, holstered his five-six for good. 

Luke Farquhar, whom you’ll remember from such BeachGrit classics as the Filipe Toledo film Candid and the Chips Wilson soft board tester Twenty, got turned onto bikes after making a campaign for a pal who owned a bike apparel company. 

“After I was exposed to their cult-like Saturday rides The stereotypes I had in my head were immediately gone and I found myself looking at onshore Sydney shite and becoming angry that my whole weekend was now ruined because of this,” says Farquhar, who just turned forty and is now chasing bike dreams in Mallorca, Spain, with his gorgeous Jewess wife. “Then seeing those same guys at a park drinking long necks having the time of their lives after riding 100km. It had a certain skate hang feel when you see a group of friends hanging out around a rail or stairs with beers in the sun.”

Farquhar qualifies the skate thing. 

“I can’t skate and don’t think anyone should over 25, so thought this would be the next best thing.”

Which isn’t quite true. He learned the art of mid-face airs from ollying curbs in Brisbane.

I ask if there is one specific moment that made you wanna ride more than surf. 

“I surfed for 20 years and would always plan holidays around coastlines. When I realised there was a whole world out there to see that doesn’t have waves and to experience it by bike was when I realised it was better than surf for me. Better in the sense of travel, socialising and being able to be on ground in different cities. I rode with my friend (designer Rama McCabe) from Berlin to Copenhagen in 2019 (first film below) and that was definitely the experience that put the final nail in my surfing coffin. After that trip I rode Melbourne to Sydney, Madrid to Ibiza (second film below) and all these trips outweighed any fun I’ve had surfing.”

The last time Farquhar surfed was three years at the tank in Melbourne. 

“I couldn’t last the full hour because my arms are useless now. But my legs are strong and I felt way more power in my turns.”

Do you miss anything specific about surfing? 

“Pits.” 

How do you view surfing, and surf culture, before and after? 

“Surf culture is a weird one. When I was surfing it felt quite angry and moody especially in Sydney. I loved watching the WSL, but now I can’t tell you anything about it. I still watch some Italo clips, but even that doesn’t do much for me these days.”

What are the parallels between the two sports? You see any similarities or synergies as they might call ’em in an office?

“Like surfing, cycling is also a super selfish sport which you generally find out by people being quite cunty towards materialistic things. Whether it’s the brand of bike or what logo you’re rolling in, the colour of your shoes and height of your socks. Both offer so much fun and social aspects. Surfing is definitely more fun in the moment, cycling is more fun when it’s done.

“Both are weather dependent with tan lines and leave little imagination to the outline of your cock. There are also the content branding and clothes design similarities. Half of the most successful cycling brands (in Australia at least) are from the surf industry or work in the surf biz but are weapons on the bike. Both sports share an overload of shit content of user-generated videos with little substance or any reason for one to stop the endless scroll. For me borrowing…copying… concepts from surfing and using it for cycling has been great. It still seems fresh in a sport where there are still so many rules and traditionalism and feels a bit “controversial”. It’s hard to come up with ideas for something so repetitive. With surfing at least every time someone catches a wave the narrative is sort of reset. But getting them to stay engaged is the hard part. Whereas cycling, if you approach the off-bike parts as important as the on-bike you can keep a journey going in your story telling.”

What’s the diff between biking, surfing?

“Cyclists seem to have a way of connecting with strangers which I don’t think surfing has as much. A cyclist can DM a complete stranger on the other side of the world, meet up, have beers and ride. Maybe surfing has changed but there is no way I would just text another surfer and ask to have a beer and go for a surf without knowing them, just ’causes we both surf. Feels creepy. For some reason, it’s completely normal in cycling.”

Why do so many surfers get turned onto bikes? 

“The longevity in cycling might be greater than in surfing, perhaps that’s related to age. I’d feel pretty stupid at 40 flip-flopping around a shorebreak now. So it still creates a sub-culture and hobby of mind cleansing, like surfing without feeling a little too old to do so.”

What happens to your body when there ain’t no paddling only kicking your stilts up and down? No arms, beautiful legs? 

“Yeah, my pectorals and arms are now super weak. I wouldn’t say they are completely gone but they may as well be. My legs though, hairless and magnificent. It’s like being circumcised. No real need for it, but aesthetically way more pleasing.”

Is biking getting cool, like, with your lil movies, prettier outfits etc? 

“It’s definitely become cooler. A lot of brands are contributing a lot to this, similar to running now. Outfits are getting very nice to wear and have become a massive trend worldwide. They make you look and feel good on the bike or even after the ride down the boozer. It’s a real moment ordering your first pint in Lycra. My cycling films have mixed reviews. Anyone from a surf or skate background seems to enjoy ’em. the more traditional cyclist, not so much.”

Where you think is bike culture on a timeline, same as surfing in the eighties, say? 

“The Tour (UCI not WSL) seems to be as crazy as ever especially seeing races here in Europe. It feels like a WSL event in Brazil but at every single stage. Fans are crazy, cities shut down, people drinking from sunrise screaming, the passion is like nothing I’ve ever seen.”

Culturally?

“Culturally, it’s somewhere between, The Bruce Movie and Dion’s peak.”