I been blessed with two weeks of epic winds and riding from as early as 10am

but today
avg 54mph with spikes of mid and upper 60s


perfect day high clouds chance of thunder and rain but didin't happen... 4.5m and just a few beach combers low tide 1:pm speed speed and more speed but slow coming out of the long sweping turns ..I ended more towards the soft sand but still plenty of wind to plow through....

tomorrow forcast ....higher winds:singing:

I just can't imagine flying in wind like that yet. How the hell do you guys hang on? You are extreme!

I pretty comfortable in that wind our beach other than having one large hotel and highway 1 down wind there plenty of soft real estate down wind....

and in that kind of wind not to many obstacles to avoid except seagulls and the humans are off the beach from the blowing sand....


I did how ever ended up being hauled up to the 3rd floor once and ended clinging onto the hotel balcony and factor the abduction happen on the seashore 20 feet below the ground level of the hotel so that was maybe 50 foot OBE
I came out of it w/o a scratch but my wing ended up on the hotels roof that was just hot moped the day before

and 2 weeks later almost ended up landing in the freeway:sniff:

Dry lake are not to bad in 40+ winds but the dang dust starts and not very forgiving w/o having clear line of sight of your target

Off the hook! Hanging from a hotel. almost blown ito the highway. Are you crazy?

NAW!

I been by that hotel a million times but that particular day my 10m hit an upwards draft and before I could kill the wing or drive it out of the bubble I was already in the air.... in the short period all my options were running through my head...
big plate glass windows, solid fire rated doors and the a/c units that stick out of ever room that if I should hit if I don't aim for the balcony that runs the full length of the hotel on every floor...

PANIC ......NAW! I knew I had to do something to avoid disaster.. I pulled in the bar to get more lift thinking how my arch would be after I pull the OH! $H!t button and like spider man once I killed the kite my hands and feet were ready to deflect or grab on to... the kite came out worse than I did.... frickin tar all over it, but I'll take that over removing an A/C unit from my chromosomes

The HWY thingy was me just being stupid and seeing how much lift the frenzy can pump out..... but seeing 4 lanes of cars and trucks speeding 65+mph kind of kills the feeling fun any more....+ I shouldn't have been so close to the sand dunes.... once again I got caught in the bubble

Being fairly new to the bug experience I don't have that much time in the seat yet. This is something I am just going to have to witness at Nabx this year. I don't see how you guy's do it. I can barely gain control of the bug with a 4.5 in 25 mph. 54mph I won't even think of it.

Quote:

Originally posted by Sthrasher38 Are you crazy?

Hmm good question...

Quote:

Originally posted by KYTE SLINGER NAW!

No, no. YOU ARE!!!!;-)

Aha, that's crazy. How's the kite doing now?

Yea he is crazy I have seen the hotel and aiming for the balcony when its only a max 4-5 ft wide if that 3 stories up. Enough said. Hot tar on a kite! That would suck.

cool heads prevail, again.

hehehe!

if you think that's crazy try operating heavy equipment...

I work in the Santa Lucia Mt. along the back side of Big Sur coast cutting roads ,driveways, clear & ruff grade building sites for custom multi -million dollar homes{like 60,000sq feet} with variable pitches as much as 50 and 60 percent at 22, 243 feet...
the type that will make you pee your pants scary or kill you, with deep ravines w/ poison oak and ive so thick you and taste it in the air

and top of all that Mt.lions, bob cats, wild boar and LOTS of rattle snakes and in the late summer season Tarantulas... add in the high mt. bugs{ horse fly, deer flys, nats, ticks} that trying to eat your lunch impossible ...

Thats a rush!... you can never let you guard down

at lease power kiting is 2nd nature to me and more rewarding

Are you operating a scraper or a Cat. I have done some heavey equipmet operating pushing scrappers with a big ol D-8 but I envy those chosen few who fly on those slopes with those scrappers! That is truly living on the edge.

I've taken tranquilizers, I've drunk tequila.i'm not so sure I would be scared of a TRANQUILA!;-)

I been exposed to lots of rattlers but these tend to be aggressive espesically during mating season, the Tarantulas are cool but you'll never know when they pop up especially if you under greasing up the the equipment

Mostly the dozers ,loaders, excavators and hoes.... But we all get experience on every peice of equipment my boss owns
..it just so happens that the guy who scrapes has the EYE frickin guy can lay down the dirt like he been doing it 4 years longer than GOD!

Oh, tarantulas . I used to have one of those as a pet. Man ,I was gonna see if he would send me one of those "Tranquilas" and let it bite me. Maybe then I would be able to sleep without seeing the big green BLURR!

That story about ending up on the 3rd floor hotel balcony is the craziest kite related story that I've every heard.:o I can't imagine what that would have looked like. Incredible. That would be a youtube sensation if someone had it on video. That you were able to think and properly react while getting yanked 20 feet into the air at a building is very impressive.

I'm thinkin golden Horseshoe, and you know where they keep them.;-) don't bother playin lotto, you mighta shot your whole load on that one.

Oh! I did chain smoke about 5 or 6 cigarettes about a hour after the maintenance worker was able to get my kite off the roof after that is when the adrenaline rush kicked in



my motto in power kiting PANIC IS NOT AN OPTION things can and will happen knowing what to do is key to not getting others hurt as well as your self.

i practice a lot of recoveries when the tides are not ride-able
by body drags in every position imaginable and even on my back in different directions programing muscle memory in a control situation..

same thing before I try a new trick I walk the kite as if I was on the buggy to get the feeling were that kites is in relationship with my body in a control manner then transfer that towards the buggy....

my two scary kitemares were in off shore winds... bottom line is ...I don't play with off shore winds on the beaches that have large rock out- crops ...THE END

I hope you make it to Nabx So I can get a close up of those kite stakes and kites you are making.

I don't have many of the kite stakes left except a few of my own personal stash...i might have 3 or 4 unpainted ones around and about 2 or 3 "other"ones that I donate to NABX for prizes and auction items......

I'm trying to sew up a few more banners to donate as well.. but my sewing machine is giving grief on the last few items:flaming:

my tax return is set aside for a new sewing / embroidery machine so I can make hats , shirts and jackets

David talk to Dean about machine he have 3 for sale now,heavy duty monsters.

Slawek

thanks for the heads up... I'll do that, be nice to find one with a larger throat were i don't have to stuff 3yards of material in such a small opening....


Hey! you been getting in all the wind action for the last 3 weeks and low tides, ...... it's been the most consecutive season in a long time... let me know when stupid dave and the rest of the UK riders get into town.... maybe I can head up to SF for a few sessions