doomwheels - 12-5-2003 at 10:56 PM
I get this question a lot... "What is the fastest you have ever gone on kiteskates?".
How fast? It's hard to say. I've been clocked at 56, but I admit it's not the fastest I've gone. Maybe someday I'll get a GPS
if I deicide it really matters. Until then, I'll just dig in and take it as it comes.
Of course, my true fastest speed on skates was not with a kite but actually pulled behind my truck. One day just before the Bonneville Buggy Enduro
(BBE) we were waiting on wind. I was curious what my skates felt like over 40mph so we threw a line from my truck and took out across the salt desert.
I kept signaling to my driver to increase the speed until the truck was doing 70mph. I swung from side to side like waterskiing and suppose I was
doing about 3-5 mph faster than the truck at the midpoint.
Here's the funny part...
As we slowed down, I let go of the rope at about 35 mph and coasted into the wind toward camp. I looked down at my skates and realized that the bolts
on one of the front wheels had completely backed out and it was only my forward motion holding the wheel in place. I had just been rolling at 70+ mph
over the crystal sharp salt surface nearly loosing a front wheel at any moment. When I came to a stop, I reached down, pulled off the wheel with one
hand and held it over my head. Everyone understood right away what had happened.
If dumb luck were a river... I would never be thirsty!
So, how fast have YOU kiteskated?
BC
BTW: Towing skaters or buggiers from cars usually ends badly. Don't try this at home.