So we were chatting on another thread about the possibility of breaking my top speed (26.6mph) when this challenge was made:

Quote: Originally posted by ssayre

I will race you to 27. You can't let a nasa beat you. You've got plenty of time. I hit my fastest the first week I got them and haven't got past 20 since then.

So Sean,... ITS ON!

Tomorrow will be my first attempt. A major cold front is blowing into Atlanta and it will be about 30 degrees and blowing 13-14 gusting to 17-18 the initial forecast was showing 20mph wind, and I was sure I'd hit it or soil my pants one, but the forecast dropped off as usual here. I have very limited space on my field close to work, but I'm going to try to make it happen. I could've tried today, it was blowing 15mph, but it was wet out and I was too busy at work. We'll see what happens!

WUHOO:wee:

No fair. We just got some snow that will keep me from trying. The wind was great here today and looks to be good the next couple of days. It's also suppose to be record setting cold. I might give it a go. There is only an inch or 2 snow. Good luck and be safe.

Nice! I love a throwdown to spice things up a little. Come on ssayre, no excuses. Someone is going to put up and someone is going to shut up. Who's who?

Hmm. Okay, I will start getting the gear ready. Tomorrow is going to be great wind and I'm not exactly sure how the snow will affect me. Ground will be frozen so it should be fast and fun as long as I don't slip too much.

Pics/video or it didn't happen.... :evil:

I'll do my best cheezy... But this will be a lunch break session meaning really just 45min of riding. I can photograph the GPS for sure, but not so sure about the GoPro.

Be safe Sean!

I will. Hopefully the turf is good and frozen. If it's wet and soft at all, I won't be able to use due to possible damage. It was in perfect dry shape last week.

Quote: Originally posted by cheezycheese

Pics/video or it didn't happen.... :evil:

I'll be there w Spenser and bring my camcorder to make it official. I will post it on youtube.

Thanks Randy... I know we'll get some decent wind, but not sure it'll be enough to get to 27mph in our limited space at Swift Cantrell, but I sure can try!!!

I intended to bring my GoPro and charge it at work this morning but I forgot!!!!

DRAT

Quote: Originally posted by BeamerBob

Someone is going to put up and someone is going to shut up. Who's who?

I won't be surprised if I end up being the one who "shut's up"

Limited time, space, and crappy wind are all contributing factors. But hey... I'm gonna give 'er a go!

It's all in fun.

You should have plenty of time to work on it. I'm going to give it a try, but I have a feeling the snow will cause me to slip and slow me down. It's suppose to warm up this weekend and rain which means my conditions may worsen. However, If I can get the ground to freeze and not snow, I will have as good as opportunity as ever. This normally would be a great time of year for me, but winter decided to come early.

Many of my fastest runs do not feel like I'm getting pulled sideways. See if a little more downwind angle helps with speed and traction.

My first attempt was fun but not at all competitive. Slipping wasn't the issue, but the 2" of powder and drifts took all of my speed away. Wides might have helped. I could have stepped up kite size but the 2.5 was frightening enough in the gusts. It's negative wind chill and by myself so I wasn't taking any chances. Also, it was neat being hooked to a 2.5 m kite in high wind even if it is a nasa.

Nothing to worry about yet spencer.

I gave it a good try today with the 5.5m. Randy and his daughter met up with me for my shorty sesh and she filmed as I ripped around the field, while he worked on his board skills with his 5.5m NS2 and doing pretty well for his first time riding on grass. He will hopefully get the footage up in a couple of days. Unfortunately, I think the wind had dropped off a bit and I was only able to get up to 19.8mph, which I believe is pretty good for the smallness of that field. I'm really not sure if I'm going to be able to build up the speed to get to 27mph there. The temp was hovering around 30 deg and the wind was fluctuating between 9 and 15 mph (guessing), so needless to say, it was pretty friggin cold... prob not as cold as you Sean, but cold for this time of year in GA... plus the humidity here makes the cold cut through you to the bones.

Had a nice OBE; the kind where the kite just picks you up out of the seat, lifts you a few feet up, and deposits you behind the bug as it keeps rolling... did an up-turn that turned out to be a little too high ... also a really nice side drag... see the pic below

Thanks for coming out Randy, and it was good to see you.

Here's some pics for proof...



Here's where I got pulled sideways in a gust... I stepped it off and it was roughly 24 feet... awesome



and here's Randy and his NS2





Randy just texted me that there is some really good footage, so I'm excited to see it.

Looks like you did your attempt down under Spencer! :D

(Photos are displaying up side down) - sorry they display up side down when I view this thread on the iPad but correct when viewed on my work station.


Love the thread like Bobby said good challenge and makes entertainment for the rest of us to follow

Hahah this is a good read. Go get it boys!!!:D

When you get enough snow We hope to see some of this potential excitement entered into the HWK speed ranking. Might have to have some flavor of special prize just for the throw down between you two.

Snow? what is this snow you speak of?.... hey Feyd... GA snow is usually in liquid form :D

Thanks for the encouragement guys!!!!

Where'd you top out at Sean?

I topped out at an abysmal 9.5. Wind was high teens gusting to high 20's. My 2.5 nasa felt like it would have had plenty of power on a normal day, but the snow made it feel like I was stuck in the mud. I thought about trying the 4 meter but then I would have been grossly overpowered in the gusts. I have the new version of Imovie and I was trying to edit just a short clip to show my conditions but for some reason, I can't figure out how to use the new version.

Wow, Mark... Your right... Viewing this on my iPad and the pics are all upside down... What the cr@p???

The new iMovie is opposite of the old version, your bank of footage is upper right while you cut and paste clips to the bottom half of the screen... I like it better than the older versions. (If that helps at all...)

Glad you had a good day with some decent speed. I wasn't able to get any speed, but that was the first time I used the 2.5 in the buggy so it was fun. I can't figure out my video so here is a couple pictures that show what my conditions were. It was 15 degrees with negative wind chill. I didn't stay out long.

I bet that 2.6m Viper woulda been a blast in those conditions too!!!

Looks like fun!

I'm really enjoying being stropped in and holding down more umph... I've never had a sideways slide that long.

I need to get a aqr or at least qr before I start hooking in with my foils. Are you using qr and pulley or wheel spreader.

I'm using the QR... Didn't like the Bullet spreader.

Here's the video. I thought we got Spencer's slide job somewhere on video, but must have cut it by mistake. Maybe he can find it later.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MxNZlmhldRU

Thanks Randy! Fun day.

Drinking hot cocoa and enjoying the thread. Thanks guys!

Go Go Spencer! Nice footage of try #1. The field looks larger on video than you are running. Are you stuck turning around in the spots as shown? I can feel you going if only I had another 20 seconds of room here! It's screaming at me across the internet through the video :-)

Sean, that looks cold and you had to plow snow to do it. An excellent effort and you are a braver man than me to try in those conditions. On second thought though, I've never buggied in snow.. hmm :-)

Thanks bud,... Yea it's cold... But then it's supposed to be 65 degrees on Monday.

As for riding space, it's one part caution, one part avoiding wind shadows.

If I go all the way south (to the right) there's a pretty big shadow from 4 huge trees, going all the way north (to the left) there's an even bigger shadow from a veritable forest. I could probably go another 30 feet or so but that creates 2 problems: 1 being it getting awfully close to the walking path and trees (with the kite) and 2 the wind shadow from the trees means that if it drops to the ground it is a royal PITA to get back up. Further north might work but for the wind shadow, plus it's the bottom of the hill... Same problems really.

Ok soliver your dew point is only 12 degrees. Mine is 16 in Henderson. But 30 F in the buggy would be cold anywhere.

Ssayre you needed that viper. Don't worry about hooking in for a short ride. That's a peach of a kite and it hurting you would almost certainly be because you told it too. Try just hooking in on the hook in the straights and then unhook for the turns to build your confidence. Don't try this in double the wind-gusts.

Thanks for the entertainment guys!

Thanks for the tips Bob. I was hooking in no matter what kite I flew yesterday. When its that cold, my hands will freeze in a minute or 2 if not hooked in. The combination of squeezing the handles and my hands being elevated will freeze your hands to numbness in no time, even with decent gloves on.

Cool video Randy, you captured his obe. Also, is that a standard atb your on. The wheels look large.