Power Kite Forum

East meets West

BeamerBob - 22-3-2010 at 08:10 AM

Well, after 6 months of planning and moving, I finally got to meet and fly with some real Nor Cal power kiters after my move from Augusta, GA. Dino (of Dakitez and pink skirt fame:P) pinged me to see if we could get together on Sunday. We jostled schedules, wind forecasts and wives to get a pass to go play Sunday afternoon. Also in attendance was AD72. Great bunch of guys that are even nicer in person than you can gather from a forum. Dino has an awesome place to ride. It is a sodfarm where we used a strip of groomed, smoothed well mowed sod field. By my best estimate it is about a half mile long and about 200 feet wide for half of it and double that for the other half. Plenty of room to let your speed build and have room to slow down at the end. I took my sons with me and I can't hold them back. Wexler was zipping back and forth on the smooth grass on his landboard and was very impressed with the changes in the Montana V. He got yanked by a gust and put it down into some water in an irrigation ditch. The bar is a bit muddy but Wexler is uninjured and the mud is nothing a little time with a water hose won't fix. We turned around while setting up some kites and noticed that my 10 year old son Jared was making his way down the field on Wexler's landboard. He was slightly underpowered with a 3m Beamer IV, but was making tracks in the grass for sure. On the way home, he said he knew what he wanted for his birthday now and that was his very own landboard. The spell is cast and the hook is set. Ahh to have gotten this bug at 10 years old.

I look forward to more visits there with Dino, Adrian, and the many other locals that I haven't met in person yet. We have video and pictures to follow.

lunchbox - 22-3-2010 at 08:16 AM

Sounds like a great time...looking forward to seeing the pics! Good prep for NABX...

PHREERIDER - 22-3-2010 at 08:17 AM

right on BB.

my daughter and wife are ready but the cold turns them off, maybe in the summer

acampbell - 22-3-2010 at 08:27 AM

Excellent! Way to go Wexler and Jared!
Glad to hear you hooked up with Dino and the gang out there. Can't wait for the pics.

DAKITEZ - 22-3-2010 at 09:45 AM

definitely a good time and hope there are many more to follow. it sure was good to finally put a face with the name.

Man i sure hope there is no video of me. If there is I bet you can see the rust just falling off of me. :no:

NorCalWinds - 22-3-2010 at 10:04 AM

I drove down to Manteca Sunday. Please please please tell me I was nowhere close to where you were. It would make me feel better knowing I was far far away. I ALMOST threw my buggy in the back of the truck just in case I found a field on the way down. Hey NorCal people, don't forget the new guys.

DAKITEZ - 22-3-2010 at 10:05 AM

you were about 30 minutes south

BeamerBob - 22-3-2010 at 10:36 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by DAKITEZ
definitely a good time and hope there are many more to follow. it sure was good to finally put a face with the name.

Man i sure hope there is no video of me. If there is I bet you can see the rust just falling off of me. :no:


Dino, I didn't hear any squeaks when you went by. I'll have my little tires on next time so maybe I can keep up better.

dtoast - 22-3-2010 at 11:34 AM

Sounds awesome :thumbup:, wish I got my kite and board at 10 too. Anyone have a time machine :dunno:

Bladerunner - 22-3-2010 at 04:46 PM

Sounds a lot better than our annual trip to Mud Bay last weekend!

Having BOTH of your kids enjoy a sport that you enjoy is an amazing gift. Will Wexler make it to NABX?

Cya'll soon! :roll:

AD72 - 22-3-2010 at 08:49 PM

We got some good runs in. It was nice having some smooth wind and rabbit hole free surface after the last two gusty sessions I had.
It was good to finally meet you and your sons. Now I have to build a buggy with a back platform for my kid and get hm into the sport.
Have fun at NABX!

BeamerBob - 22-3-2010 at 10:43 PM

I'm going solo to nabx this year but he will go with me next year I'm sure. Having the kids involved has really added an element to the kiting. This weekend rekindled it all for Wexler (about to turn 15) and now Jared (10 years old) is on wheels too. It adds some red tape when we go, but I know the kids are growing up with me instead of separating as they grow older.

The back porch has really added something to the buggy that we didn't expect. It was a gift from Angus to help with portage to the flying area, gives a place to carry stuff with me when I'm buggying, and it turned out to be a fun place for the kids to join me. Helmets required and must be predictable slightly underpowered conditions.

Uploading video now, funny thing is we can't find Dino. :puzzled: There are some yellow blurrs going through the video at times and it must be that he is going too fast for the camera. He must've been practicing and is planning on a big upstage for Ripsessions at Nabx. But you didn't hear it from me!

highazakite - 22-3-2010 at 10:57 PM

Also a norcal guy here, next time you guys plan something post it, id love to run into some other kiters. So far the only kiters i know i converted.

heliboy50 - 22-3-2010 at 11:15 PM

Got a little treat coming for you Nor-Cal guys. SCREWYFITS knows what it is. See ya' at NABX. Man I sure wish I had time for some tune up riding.

BeamerBob - 23-3-2010 at 07:21 AM

video from the day.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ryS8g8g-uho

Wexler posted on my login. This is his first stab at videoing a kite outing. I was telling him while we were going with him on the back of my buggy to get shots of the other guys. He had some weird angles too but he learned some stuff about how to improve the next one.

DAKITEZ - 23-3-2010 at 07:13 PM

nice one :thumbup:

I'm getting all excited again .. is the wind blowing??

acampbell - 24-3-2010 at 05:22 AM

Great field! Wexler did a good job with the camera. Liked the undercarriage shots.

PHREERIDER - 24-3-2010 at 06:02 AM

right on bob!

nice tunes

C U @ NABX

tridude - 24-3-2010 at 06:47 AM

nice vid...................a bit of California cruisin................sweet:thumbup::thumbup:

mougl - 1-4-2010 at 09:45 AM

so jealous of that location! Was that a flash of pink i saw under that Apex II 7.5?? :smilegrin:

NorCalWinds - 8-4-2010 at 11:49 AM

Quote:
Got a little treat coming for you Nor-Cal guys. SCREWYFITS knows what it is.


You going to spill the beans?