So my Comp95 landboard arrived and in my excitement to get it ready to ride, I popped the tube in one of the tires . I was attempting to disassemble the handbrake and trying to remove the disc brakes from the wheels. I don't know what I was thinking, but I figured out that you need to let the air out of the tire before removing the bolts from the hub/wheel. Anyway, there was a nice loud explosion in my kitchen and parts were everywhere. Lesson learned.

So I ordered a new inner tube and 4 days later I was able to try out my board. Although the wind was blowing at 16MPH (with gusts to 25), I headed for the largest grassy area I could find and proceeded to start with my 1.5 meter kite on handles. I figured for my first time, this would be sufficient to get a feel for it.

Now for the interesting part. Since we have such dirty wind with so many trees and houses around, it made it quite difficult to do much riding. I determined that the only way not to have to do the walk of shame, would be to ride perpendicular to the wind. So I set my board in that same direction and hopped on. I swept my kite across the window and ended up promptly on my face as it jerked me right out of the bindings. The second time I was prepared and leaned back as the kite started catching the wind. When the kite reached about 2 'o clock, I started to move - just a little. Of course being so gusty, the wind let up and this time I landed on my butt. For the next 30 minutes it was rinse and repeat and I began wondering if this was going to be worth the effort. :puzzled: The kite just didn't want to stay in one place (2 'o clock) and I found myself having to quickly turn the kite back and forth just to keep myself from getting pulled off of one side while going the other direction.

Eventually, I just turned my board directly into the wind and started cruising. I actually built up quite a bit of speed with that little kite. I was having a blast! Until I stopped and looked back. Spent the next 15 min trying to push the board back with my feet while keeping the kite in the sky. Also I noticed that the shocks on that board are stiff enough (and I'm so light weight) that I found my turning radius to be about a city block.

All in all though, it was a good time and I'm really looking forward to going back out! I've realized that the logical next step will be to buy a depower and start riding with a bar. Hopefully I can get one that can absorb some of these gusts! Any suggestions are certainly welcome.

I don't landboard but I do get your wind. It's been gusty all day today and we have had a fair amount of gusty wind lately. My advice is to constantly be on the look out for better places to ride. I use various schools and parks on the edge of town that are surrounded by cornfields. You will get the best winds there. Also look for fields that are higher in altitude from the surrounding areas. It never works to try and use athletic fields that are low and next to a creek (just an example). Other than that try using the 3.5 but keeping the kite higher. That's what I do when its gusty in the buggy. It gives me the ability to have enough power in the lulls but if its near zenith you can quickly fly it up in a gust our you can try and mirror the gust. That last maneuver is probably easier to do in a buggy since you can't turn quick on a board. Just keep practicing and you will get it. Depower might help but you will be a better pilot and rider if you tame the fixed bridles first imo. Also, you probably know this but there will be days that are less gusty than others that will make it easier. Especially in the summer. I initially wanted to landboard as well but our wind and riding in fields is what pushed me to buggy. If you stick with it long enough you will probably get a buggy as well and they can be used no matter what the wind is doing as long as you don't hook in when its gusty. I've had some of my best sessions on gusty days.

cool man your doing it!

oh i remember staring out wow! npw 5 ON A STROP in 25 knots !....crazy!



oh yeah get and peter lynn arc !

As you probably know you want to be able to eventually cruise across the wind rather than just downwind. Think about a line perpendicular to the direction of the wind. Set your board pointing say 30 degrees downwind of this line in the direction you want to go. Fly your kite to the edge of the window on the same side/direction as you want to go. From this high up edge of the window position downloop the kite into the edge of the power zone and then point the kite sideways in the direction you want to travel. Bending your knees and leaning back will help stop the kite from tossing you off.
The point of this maneuver is to get you a yank or burst of speed to get you moving and creating apparent wind. This way you can travel basically across the wind and not have to hike back upwind.
Work the kite up and down in a snake like motion always traveling to the side in your initial direction of travel. If you are underpowered you can throw some loops in there.
If you have enough power you may be able to turn slightly upwind. Keeping the kite low at the edge the window will better allow you to travel upwind. The perfect height being about one kite height above the ground. Heres a #@%$#!ty picture I drew to try and illustrate it. Keep going it will get much easier. Have fun and good luck.

^ I dig the "8bit" instruction!

@propylene22

Thanks for the illustration. I understand what you are saying and I'll give it a go!

To everyone else, thanks for the feedback and encouragement. Very exciting!!!

Sounds a lot like my first attempts - glad you're getting out there!

Yeah, if you're used to skateboarding, these mountain boards will feel very strange - strapped in and no turning radius. Become a good "hopper" to get the board redirected quickly.

The rolling resistance of your turf plays a huge role in the learning curve - the less rolling resistance (hard pack beach or short pressed grass), the easier it is to get moving with less power, and less power means less chance of being pulled over by gusts. The next time you head directly downwind, once you get moving, start turning perpendicular to the wind and lean against the pull of the kite. Try to keep your elbows bent to help absorb gusts. Also, keeping the kite moving up and down (sining), instead of parking it near the edge of the wind window, is a good way of regulating power as you build up your speed. That's 2 cents + lint...

You really need to search for a better location . Obstacles upwind will cause turbulent winds for about 7 - 10 times there height downwind. Trying to learn in turbulent wind is dangerous and difficult. Always size for the gusts.

While you had a big enough kite to travel down wind it sounds like it was too small to take you cross wind? You did the right thing just enjoying the down winders because that is the best you could do !

I found learning well powered ( in clean winds) to be easiest. You can only park the kite at the edge if it is well powered. If not you must sine the kite and try to cut upwind with each power stroke. Your track will end up in a sine wave as well as you cut upwind , relax , repeat along with the kite.