I was talking to someone today who jokingly said, "it seems like this buggy thing is a mid-life crisis" I went on to explain that it is not anything like that. Mid-life crisis is turning 40 years old and going out and buying a little red sports car etc, to impress people. Why aren't people who live to play golf everyday going through a "mid-life crisis"? And what I said about the sports car,,, I know there are people who do that type of thing just because they like them. I have always been into the things that were different,, recumbent bikes, unicycles, and now power-kites and starting the buggies. Its not a mid-life crisis for me,,, its freaking fun! You must be in decent physical shape, use your mind, there are a lot worse things that one could be doing with their life.. What do you think?

I agree with you joecat. I am pushing mid 40's, and I am having great fun. They say that youth is wasted on the young, in some cases I think this is true. I got into pwer kites when my son was growing up 13 or 14 years old. Now he is 18 he is off doing stuff that 18 year olds do, and not interested as much. which means I get the kite all to myself.
Bad Dad, very bad Dad

Nah, kiting's just a healthy way of life, the rag top mustang I'm looking at is for the mid life crisis.:singing:

I tell folks I haven't felt this much passion for anything since sex in the seventies ! It's a whole new passion but this time I'm wearing protective gear. One big mistake at this game and my :moon: is surely on the line !

I think that people see a kite and buggy and think that theres no way they could do that...That you have to be slightly a pretty well off middle aged guy..like a yachter or a sports car driver....or they think that it is like kitesurfing which seems to be dominated by well off young dudes...so when you mix the two it sounds as if the older dude is trying to reclaim his youth by doing something that is like a young man's sport but ok for an older man.....the way I see it, those surfers have nice soft water to faceplant into...us buggiers/boarders have a very painful learning curve that usually scares the #@%$#! out of us for a while.....we learn not how to buggy ...but how not to crash a buggy...but thats half the fun...there is no other sport like it..I don't think any other sport makes a person go temporarily insane either...."oo ooo is it windy today" "how bout now" "what about now".....

etc....

I think my mid-life crisis was a pony-tail a few years back.

It is a different phase of life for me, however. I did 20 + years in Manhattan, NY running a 24/7 x 365 business

Now I live in Coastal Georgia and my official work uniform consists of cargo shorts and top-siders. Crisis? Uh-uh, just very fortunate.

True, when I try to describe to others what I do, most look at me like I have two heads, or just say "that's nice" (code for clueless). But when people see it, they love it!

Last night at sunset it was low tide and 9-14 mph blowing straight off the water on to the beach. Took turns witha Montana 2 and Sabre 2 parked off my shoulder, flying with one hand and wishing I had a beer for the other. Words I heard tossed to the wind from people both young and old as I gohsted by were "awesome", "cool", "envious".

Even my wife, who finally got to see my in the bug the other day, had to reluctantly admit that it was "pretty cool".

No crisis, just new priorities. Still working on that beer holder...

I think it is a matter of timing! I just turned 40 in March and got into power kiting about 2 years ago. The funny thing is I saw a guy about 50 flying a Flexi 8 and I was not going to be happy till I had one! Once I was able to breath again after seeing the high prices [on Ebay-thought it was to be so cheap!] of the kite I bought one and have been looking at trees and weather reports since!
My wife even mentioned the 'mid life crisis' thing but
1) it had nothing to do with age
2) It does not need a key or have boobs! -These are the typical mid life crisis items right?! As Joe cat said: we all seem to be into slightly off beat activities. This makes us originals in my humble opinion.

Heres what it comes down to: I don't go out drinking-I don't cheat and if I am wrong and this is a midlife crisis thing then I am glad I turned 40!!

Where the hell is my Bullet I'm going flying!:D

I think I'm like you other old guys. I turn 45 this year but have always been into things that were different and that the majority of the populace either didn't know about or couldn't do. I've also always been into things that fly. Remote control cox planes on strings. Frisbees, Aerobies, boomerangs and a bunch of kites. I have 5 that I can steer now. I wanted to get into the kiteboarding thing but the training and support aren't there. Power kiting fits right into that. It isn't a crisis, but just another progression in the way I live my life. Now I don't really want a bigger kite but want to experience different ones. This may never stop!

Good Stuff!

No dought! Good stuff. I love this forum. I'm 40 and I am going to say I am doing it so my kids don't think I am old. I have 5 kids three of them boys so I have to hold up! Blades don't come any bigger than 10m do they?:puzzled::puzzled: lol.

Quote:

Originally posted by Sthrasher38 No dought! Good stuff. I love this forum. I'm 40 and I am going to say I am doing it so my kids don't think I am old. I have 5 kids three of them boys so I have to hold up! Blades don't come any bigger than 10m do they?:puzzled::puzzled: lol.

Combats hit 15.4m, Jon has a 16m RM+, both fixed bridal monsters, I saw Eli on some monster of a Yakuza as well, so just need to anti up, grow a set and go big.

Don't worry though, with big kites comes really big float.

Ok!

I'm a little younger at 32, but my interest in kiting has certainly turned some heads--and the faces have had that "oh grow up!" look! LOL However, I have had a few people come up to me on the beach and ask about the sport.

Hey, if you're going to the beach anyway, why lay with your back on the sand when you could be plowing the beach with your face! No-brainer!!! :saint:

Everyone I've shared the handles with has had a blast learning to fly and that's what it's all about--sharing the passion and enjoying life. As long as it remains fun, challenging, and only moderately painful, I'm looking to fly!

One of the local buggiers here is a young 74 years and loves every minute of it. We buggy together every chance I get - he's retired so he rides pretty much any time the wind blows. Ye got YANKED out of the buggy a couple years ago with his Little Devil 2.1 and broke his hip. He went into the hospital on Saturday and
WALKED out on the following thursday. Back in the buggy a month or so later and still riding. He says it keeps him young, I think it keeps him young and in shape.

I love kiting and also get the "two heads" look when I talk to new people about it. Like everyone else tho, once someone gets a hold of the kites they have a really hard time putting them back down. I wish I would have found this sport 30 years ago. When I first got into power kiting and met up with the locals, I was one of the "young-ens". Now turning 41 and heading out to NABX, I see a lot of younger people getting into the sport but still feel like one of the "young-ens" when buggying with some of the legends that have been doing this for many more years.

Mid life crisis?? Nah....full life crisis that I hope never ends.

Quote:

Originally posted by Sthrasher38 No dought! Good stuff. I love this forum. I'm 40 : lol.

:wow: With your need to find big air I had you pegged as a 20 something :wow:

If you can get just 2 or 3 of those kids hooked on kites imagine how many you'll be allowed to have :smug:

Oh man, Kiting makes me feel twenty. Wait I am twenty! Who has to be young to get big air. In my case the older the less fear. I have kids to carry on. If I go out kiting I could be a legend to my kids.:D Oh, 2 of them are already hooked. so, yea good news. And the LOL was after (They don't make a blade bigger than 10m do they?) Not after 40!

I have to say that I LOVE OUR SPORT!!

There is something about being on the Playa with the wind blowing so nice and smooth dont even have to step back to launch the kite.....its already trying to take off without you....then getting into the buggy and zipping along....

I want to be there now.....tee hee.....but as far as a Mid-Life Crisis...Im still a little off as far as any type of Crisis....Rofl.

So I say if you cant beat them make them join you.....and forgot the sport cars....young girls.....(ok maybe not the young girls) and hanging on and enjoy the ride while you can.

Flyin High
Shannon:singing::singing:

I really love kites too. I love to see them in the air. I love to fly. And love the look on my kids faces as they go sliding by.

Quote:

Originally posted by Sthrasher38 I really love kites too. I love to see them in the air. I love to fly. And love the look on my kids faces as they go sliding by.

Can I get an AMEN!!

Tee Hee
Shannon

AMEN SISTER.

Susan

What I love is that feeling you get when you pop the lines back and see the kite fill with air and then lift off. Sometimes I land my kite just to watch it take off again.:singing:

I also like it when my bored 12 year old makes me get another kite out because I can't fly the one he wanted to fly for just a minute. He thinks I'm cool in part because of this hobby. He brags about me to his friends. You can't buy that with money. I just need one more kite.

Oh, you'll need more than one!

I know. John D. Rockefeller once answered the question about how much more money does he really need with "just a little more". The just one more kite attitude is my method of denial that allows me to justify the next one because "it" will be enough and therefore the last one. This isn't a mid life crisis for me, but just a continuation of a lifestyle that loves to be outdoors, and doing something a little more on the edge than the general public. Besides, I really have something to do now when we go to the beach.

I have learned on the forum:P To buy kites of the same color and maybe the wife wont notice. Or better yet buy her one!

Hey, I started this topic back in May.... I had no idea that it was still continuing into the end of August. I have to give myself credit,,, this was a good topic......Since I started this in May I have been flying the kites just about every week. Now that the summer is over I have been breaking out the buggy whenever posible. Based on the posts above and my own experience now I have to say to answer that persons question,,,,,,, NO this is not a Mid-life crisis it only becomes a crisis when the Wind Stops Blowing....

This hobby is much better for you than medication or going to meetings too! I just hope my wife doesn't cruise through here and see some of these guys that have dozens of kites. She doesn't see the possibilities of how many kites a flyer could end up with in this. She thinks I'm on the fringe now with 4 foils. I'm not sure she completely believes me about these other loaner kites that are coming in the mail. I guess she'll know the deal when I put them back in the mail.

Well, put it this way, I spent the day sitting at the park in the rain watching boats go by waiting for the predicted clearing and 30-40mph winds, never happened, but I got in a couple wet rides across the park and went home happy to have gotten out.

I guess I live in the land of wind. Some people call Winnipeg, Windy peg oh darn. I have never had my small kites out so much as winds are in the 15 to 25 mph range lots.
Been having great fun but still flying alone never seem to catch up with the crew, think they like the warm weather and me just got to have wind...lol

50 years old this year and still going strong.

Cheers

Got out again last night on the Wildwood New Jersey beach.. The beach is pretty big and I had the entire thing to myself... Winds were good, ok,,, but the direction was not the best, sort of an angle... The other day I was there with maybe 7-8mph winds was about to leave and the wind changed direction and kicked in like a son-of-a-..... being realatively new,,, 9 months or so I was almost afraid to sit in the buggy with my 2 meter,,,, but then threw caution to the "wind" and sat down,,, took off like a rocket,, cool as hell. Most twenty year olds around here wouldn't think of doing that.........

Yay! i got the up side this time! (in like forever) I found kiting at 15 hooray! I guess this is like my "beginning life crisis" LOL! no jk jk its not a crisis its just really flipping fun!!!!! wee its cool tho cuz i am passing it around colorado (our school now has a kiting club) in which i provide kites (for now) and the buggy/skateboard/ATB/doomwheels. And we are looking into a snowkiting field trip this winter. And a few people have given me their E-mails and have since bought a 1-3 meter kite. And my favorite is when you are flying and another guy sees you from the road and decides to go get his kite and come back. (already happened like thrice) in like 2 months. Yeah i havnt been kiting for very long. LOL! and i already need more!!!!