Sometimes it pays to wait

There was a whiff of wind tonight, so I thought I'd go to the park and just have a play.

Arrived and there was more than a whiff - might be worth trying to board this after all! Unpacked the Rebble - which was a bit messy cos of the big wind I packed it away in last time ... I had just sorta stuffed the kite into the bag so in a sulk it had somehow contrived to wrap the right hand power and brake lines around and around themselves, so that was fun to sort out.

Anyway, got it in the air and gave it a go and was sort of wobbling back and forth for a while, which was fine - my arms and back were stiff from last time I was out. Yes I'm old and doddery. The back-strap seemed to be getting in the way of me flapping my arms around like a pre-pubescent seagull learning to fly (it's all about style you know) so I took it off and HELLO! who turned on the wind? Suddenly I got power to carve and edge and slide and stuff!

Once I was sure I wasn't imagining the strength of the wind, I put the back-strap back on and really got into it ... got maybe 30 minutes of hard-core (for me) runs back and forth, well-powered and even over-powered at times, gusty and twitchy though it was. So gusty, at one point the wind collapsed the kite and wrapped the left brake bridle around the right power bridle knot and made a great mess. The wet dirt added to the fun too; the rain last night had added soggy patches that sorta sloshed by under wheel.

Sorted out the bridle tangle and kept going till dark, then did some impressive (to me only) pendulum jumps and some - I don't know the name but you park the kite at zenith then apply the brakes and let it drop then power it up and jump as it shoot back up to the zenith - erm jumps.

Whee, was a good evening! Worth the wait, made a nice change from the wind just dying off as the sun sets.