Odds are you remember this from your first intro flight: Shortly after takeoff, the aircraft was rocked by some little burble in the air. If you're like most people, you turned to the instructor to ask in alarm, "Did I do that?" Later in training, we learned to view bumpy conditions as a potential checkride ally that might persuade a pilot examiner to interpret the published performance standards a little more flexibly. Still later, even "light" turbulence might have posed an obstacle to sharing your love of flight with friends and family.
This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://www.avweb.com/flight-safety/catching-a-wave