after the GoPro misadventure a group of us decide to head to another small lake about 45 min north - it was surprising to see a nice fresh 6 inches of snow on the lake when it's melted down to ice everywhere else. It's going to be a nice day kite skiing, got everything .....except a coat! I can't believe in my rush to get going I forgot to wear a coat! I suck!
Good thing i brought a few extra layers and a Peter Lynn hoodie - layered up and good to go.

Then Monday eve I head back to my small lake to have a sunset session on the ice buggy - GoPro definitely running, fresh batteries in GPS...I'm off. A nice ride, beautiful sunset colors on the ice, nice comfortable speed and I pop the chicken loop off, then i don't know how many times I try a full 360 (Suicide jibe) and pull the top hat on the Montana de-power, then the chicken loop pops off and look down and the new GPS batteries are dead after only a few minutes in the cold - I suck.
But....I did manage to pull off one complete 360 and caught it on camera...it really doesn't look that interesting from pilot point of view but I got some beautiful video in the sunset.

Ran back tonight to catch the last 45 min of sunlight, wind dropping off quickly, kite falling out of the sky - throw up an 8.6 Reactor to try and milk one more run, working the kite just to get a few hundred yards out toward a big island where a little wind streams through a gap, a little underpowered and need sharper blades (the skeleton back on the Gopro makes it sound way windier than it was)....well here you go... feeling like I suck a little less tonight

nicely done ....

Nice job!
I'll join in with an "I suck" story. 40 minute drive to Ivanpah plus the load up of gear, buggy rack, buggy, cooler, lunch, etc. Get down there and unload the buggy, and get my Phantom II 12m filling up and go back to put my harness on. Harness? Where is my harness? It's the one thing I forgot to load.

I've learned that making mistakes like that makes it much less likely to do it again. Also don't talk on the phone when you are loading either, since you need all your brain to go through the mental checklist.

Another instance that was not entirely my fault but forever changed my routine when I go to buggy. I got to Ivanpah and had just gotten out of the car to feel the wind and my younger son Jared got out right after me. Apparently, he rolled out of the car and his elbow hit the lock button on the door. I had left the keys in the floorboard and they were now locked up inside the car, with the kites, harnesses, and tools required to get the buggy off the rack. Oh well. I had always wanted to get the wife down there. She drove the 40 minutes, arrived with a smile on her face and clicked the key fob to unlock the car. She headed right back home without even unbuckling. Now I never get out of the car there without my keys. Thank goodness I had my phone in my pocket! I was 3 miles from civilization.

I wish i could "suck" as bad as you. Very Nice- now lets see it at jekyll in May.

I wish i could "suck" as bad as you. Very Nice- now lets see it at jekyll in May.

You made that look so easy markite.

Quote: Originally posted by BeamerBob

Nice job! I'll join in with an "I suck" story. 40 minute drive to Ivanpah plus the load up of gear, buggy rack, buggy, cooler, lunch, etc. Get down there and unload the buggy, and get my Phantom II 12m filling up and go back to put my harness on. Harness? Where is my harness? It's the one thing I forgot to load.

I suck. I live a little further away than you and arrived at Ivanpah without my axle bolts.

Quote: Originally posted by flyguy0101

I wish i could "suck" as bad as you. Very Nice- now lets see it at jekyll in May.

Hey Scott
I did a dozen or so of them at JIBE last year right in that wide patch front of the staging area - I think you were usually further down the beach. Looking forward to it this year!
The ice buggy needs sharper blades, it has quite a bit of side slip right now after bouncing it on rough ice the last week and I'm loosing line tension too fast and taking a wider arc of travel. Temperatures look like they are going to a warming trend now so that could be the last days of ice bugging. It's been fun getting out and playing on the ice.

Quote: Originally posted by RedSky

You made that look so easy markite. Quote: Originally posted by BeamerBob   Nice job! I'll join in with an "I suck" story. 40 minute drive to Ivanpah plus the load up of gear, buggy rack, buggy, cooler, lunch, etc. Get down there and unload the buggy, and get my Phantom II 12m filling up and go back to put my harness on. Harness? Where is my harness? It's the one thing I forgot to load. I suck. I live a little further away than you and arrived at Ivanpah without my axle bolts.

That would be a downer Redsky!

The first 360 is always the best, your just one of the few that has it recorded. Great shot.
Even with 6 cameras you would think you would get 1 video, right? I was glad my wife had the forthought to have the 7th one in the RV and was using it correctly. She got a great video of the little birds feeding as the tide went out, and a quick shot of my wheels as I went by.

I dont suck, I'm just getting old(er).

sweet!!

Awesomeness, Mark... I've got one day at JIBE this May... You gotta show me how to do that!!!

No problem Spencer - you want a kite that like to fly fast so it'll sit out front and get around faster. Then a nice comfortable speed - not your top end but a good speed makes it better than slow. It's all about keeping enough tension on the lines to keep the kite flying and steering the buggy to keep pressure on the lines without taking too big of an arc. It was a little harder on the ice buggy because the ice was patchy and hitting a small crusty section while coasting around really dropped the speed and not having sharp blades i was skidding a bit.
I did quite a few using the 8.6 reactor at JIBE and then also some of them with my arcs but usually run a bit lighter and slightly shorter line sets and on the smaller arc sizes that are running faster.
As soon as you throw the kite and get used to the buggy turning it's not a big deal and just playing with timing and pressure. I'm sure we can get you doing them if we get the typical building breeze.
I really wanted to give it a go with Fiona in the tandem but i think she has the ideas that it's more aggressive than it is and she'll get tossed out of the buggy - it's really more finesse steering the arc and feeling the kite. The last thing is to prepare for the kite coming around and re-entering the wind window. From your perspective the kite is going opposite to you and as it re- enters the wind window it enters at the far side and it starts to pick up power accelerating to the centre of the power zone directly downwind and you'll need to quickly do a snap turn to follow the kite if doing it at higher speed. The kite will go from slow and possibly coaxing through the upwind and all of the sudden - boom - power! I have a video tucked away somewhere where I threw one at NABX a few years ago with a 6.5 Spirit and it caught me smiling for the camera and I had a nice tuck and roll OBE and, as Glen described it, I lost a bit of bark (playa rash) - another I suck moment.

HA! You make it sound so easy... Ok, well I'm planning on bringing a few traffic cones to play around with on the beach like we were discussing on the JIBE forum so we can meet up on the south end of the beach like we were talking about. Unfortunately I'll only be there on Thursday. I've got a 5.5m and an 8.6m RII as well, though I must say my comfortable cruising speed is likely excessively slower than yours! I really LOVE the 5.5m RII on grass in about 8-10mph wind if that gives you an idea. Probably just a matter of building confidence.

I'm planning on bring my Tandem as well (mostly for hauling gear down the beach, LOL). It has a really nice deep seat (the VTT rail kit on an extra wide PL back axle) so if Fiona wants to feel "more secure" you're welcome to try that out.

Mark is one of the most accomplished and confident buggiers I've ever gotten to ride with. I'm always watching him to see what I can learn when we've ridden together. If I see him running in the buggy, I go get with him. He will be comfortable as fast as he can go on a beach, but he's not full of himself either and would love the opportunity to help you grow your skills.

I've never attempted a deadman turn before since it's more trick than turn. But I think I've decided it's cool enough to give a try just because the kite isn't supposed to do that. I totally get the concept in my head but need to dive the kite and give it a whirl.

You guys have me wanting to try it with Black Betty!