Tessa Vexley

Backstory

Tessa did not discover foil biking while looking for a graceful new water sport. She discovered it because she was spectacularly bad at sitting still.

Legend says Tessa first rolled a strange homemade beach cruiser down to the lagoon after hearing someone say, “It is kind of like pumping a foil, but on a bike.” Naturally, she misunderstood this as a challenge, showed up with goggles, snacks, and way too much confidence, and immediately spent the next forty minutes bouncing in place, going nowhere, and insisting she was “almost on foil.”

Unlike prop-driven foil bikes, Tessa’s ride runs on body timing, pressure, and rhythm. No pedaling. No propeller. Just a series of coordinated pumps that load and unload the foil to build speed and maintain lift. Once she finally felt that first clean rise out of the water, something clicked. It was not just the foil. It was her whole outlook.

She loved that the sport rewarded persistence more than brute force. Every awkward stall, splashy touchdown, and wobbly restart taught her something. Tessa became the unofficial patron saint of riders who work hard for every second of flight. Beginners love her because she remembers exactly what it feels like to struggle. Experienced foilers love her because she never loses respect for good technique, clean rhythm, and the joy of earning speed the hard way.

Now Tessa spends her days carving tropical flats and poaching fishing boat wakes, helping newcomers find their cadence, and reminding everyone that progress in foiling often looks ridiculous right before it looks amazing.

Tessa Vexley's Merch Shop

Tessa Vexley's Foiling Discipline

First Flight

Tessa’s first real flight happened near the end of a session that had already included several spectacular splashes, one lost snack, and a long argument with Bouncy about who was responsible for their lack of progress. She had spent nearly an hour trying to force the foil bike upward with fast, frantic movements. The harder she worked, the more the bike slapped against the surface, refusing to cooperate.

Eventually, exhaustion made her slow down. Instead of bouncing wildly, she compressed smoothly, hopped up, let the pump foil bike rise beneath her, and followed it with a controlled release. For the first time, the foil loaded, responded properly, and carried her clear of the water. She flew only a short distance, but those few quiet seconds changed everything.

That first bike foiling run taught Tessa that a human-powered hydrofoil does not respond well to panic. It rewards patience, timing, and movements that work with the foil instead of against it. She touched down with a splash, climbed back onto the bike, and announced that she had completely mastered foil biking. Nobody believed her, including Tessa, but she had finally discovered the feeling she would spend years chasing.

Personality

Tessa approaches every foil biking session with the enthusiasm of someone entering a championship and the preparation of someone attending a beach picnic. She is energetic, stubborn, curious, and almost impossible to discourage. A difficult session does not make her want to quit. It makes her want to rename the problem, study it from three angles, and try again after eating something.

She is also a patient and surprisingly observant coach. Tessa understands that learning to ride a pedal-free foil bike can feel confusing because the rider must create lift through coordinated body movement rather than pedaling or relying on a motor. She watches posture, cadence, and weight transfer closely, but she never buries beginners under a mountain of technical instructions.

Her greatest talent is making failure feel temporary. She treats every rough touchdown as information and every short flight as proof that the next one can be longer. Whether she is helping someone learn pump foiling or refining her own hydrofoil cycling technique, Tessa brings the same combination of focus and humor. She takes improvement seriously, but she refuses to make it miserable.

Favorite Conditions

Tessa prefers calm, warm water with light wind and a smooth surface that makes every movement of the foil bike easy to feel. A sheltered lagoon, quiet bay, or protected tropical flat gives her enough space to establish rhythm without fighting chop. Waist-deep water is ideal because it allows easy starts, quick recoveries, and fewer dramatic complaints when she falls.

For long pump foiling runs, Tessa looks for glassy water and gentle rolling energy from a distant boat wake. A small, clean wake can give her hydrofoil bike just enough assistance to extend a run without turning the session into a chase for speed. She enjoys linking the wake back into flat-water pumping and seeing how long she can preserve the momentum.

Tessa avoids strong gusts and confused surface chop whenever possible. Water-bike foiling already requires careful timing, and unpredictable conditions can disrupt the smooth loading and unloading of the foil. She will still ride when the water is less than perfect, but her favorite sessions are the quiet ones where every compression feels clean, and the only sound is the foil moving beneath the surface.

Tessa's Code

Tessa’s first rule is simple: never blame the equipment until you have attempted the same movement with better timing. She loves Bouncy, but she knows that most problems on a pump foil bike begin above the water, not below it.

Her second rule is to protect the rhythm. Riders often lose efficiency because they rush, stiffen their legs, or try to generate lift with a single oversized movement. Tessa believes smooth, repeatable pumps are more valuable than dramatic bursts of effort. On a human-powered hydrofoil, consistency keeps the bike flying.

Her third rule is to celebrate measurable progress. A cleaner start matters. One fewer touchdown matters. Five additional seconds of flight matter. Tessa does not compare a beginner’s first day of bike foiling with an experienced rider’s polished technique.

Her final rule is that every session should include at least one laugh. Foil biking can be technical, physically demanding, and occasionally ridiculous. Tessa believes riders learn faster when they remain curious, patient, and willing to enjoy the awkward parts.

Beginner Tips

Start by learning the movement slowly. A pedal-free foil bike is controlled through compression, release, and weight transfer, so frantic bouncing usually wastes energy. Practice creating a smooth rhythm before trying to pump harder or travel farther. She’s keen to try a pedal foil bike when one shows up in her lagoon - that would be an easier bike foil to master.

Keep your body centered over the hydrofoil bike. Avoid leaning too far forward when trying to build speed or falling behind the bike as it rises. Balanced body positioning gives the foil room to climb and descend without sudden stalls.

Use your legs and hips together. Efficient pump foiling comes from coordinated movement through the whole body, not from repeatedly jumping on the bike. Compress as the foil descends, then extend smoothly as it begins to rise.

Choose forgiving conditions for your first foil biking sessions. Calm water, light wind, and enough depth for the foil and mast will make learning safer and more productive. A protected area also makes it easier to notice how small changes in timing affect lift.

Expect short flights at first. Hydrofoil cycling takes practice because the rider must continue generating momentum after the initial rise. Treat each brief flight as part of the process, reset calmly after every touchdown, and focus on making the next attempt slightly smoother.

Most importantly, do not mistake effort for progress. Tessa’s favorite reminder to beginners is that a foil bike often begins working when the rider stops fighting it. Build a steady cadence, stay relaxed, and allow good timing to do more of the work.

Preferred Ride

Tessa’s favorite ride is a glassy, waist-deep tropical lagoon with just enough room to build momentum and link long, flowing pump sections. She loves conditions where the water is calm, the foil stays efficient, and every rise and compression feels smooth and deliberate.

Her ideal session is not about top speed. It is about rhythm, flow, and seeing how long she can keep the bike flying without a single sloppy touchdown.

What Makes Her Tessa

Tessa is equal parts grit, mischief, and encouragement. She has the energy of someone who will laugh at a wipeout, analyze it like a coach, then go right back out and try again.

What really makes Tessa who she is is her belief that style starts with persistence. She does not chase perfection. She chases feelings. She trusts repetition, celebrates tiny improvements, and somehow makes even the most technical session feel fun. She is the kind of monster who will cheer the loudest for someone else’s first successful flight, then immediately challenge them to go five seconds longer on the next run.

She is competitive, but mostly with yesterday’s version of herself.

Signature Move

The Coral Cadence: The Coral Cadence is Tessa’s signature long-link pump sequence where she compresses low over the bike, drives a clean upward release, then settles into a steady tempo of efficient body pumps that keep the foil flying over flat water just clearing the coral underneath for an improbably long distance.

What makes it special is not a flashy jump or impossible trick. It is the control. Tessa times each pump to maintain speed and lift without overworking the foil. She can arc through subtle turns while holding the rhythm, making the whole move look smooth, quiet, and almost effortless. It is technically possible because it relies on sustained pumping efficiency, smart body positioning, and precise timing rather than any unrealistic burst of propulsion.

Fun Facts

• Tessa still refers to her first failed session as “the longest three feet of my life.”
• She names all her foil bikes, and her favorite one is called Bouncy.
• She claims coconut water tastes better after a session in which she touched down at least 10 times.
• Her unofficial coaching method is “one tip, one laugh, one more try.”
• She can spot bad pump timing from fifty yards away and will somehow make the correction sound encouraging.
• She keeps a shell collection from beaches where she learned a new skill.
• She believes the best foilers are not the ones who never fall, but the ones who get less dramatic about falling.
• Her personal record for motivating a frustrated beginner is turning “I cannot do this” into “okay, one more attempt” in under thirty seconds.

Tessa's Motto

“Flight is something you build, one honest pump at a time.”