On the Locus webcam, the wind looked like it was going to buck the forecast so I trotted down to the beach.
Took the Speed2 to the beach with the 'door and the 'radical. Beach was all mucky still from the typhoon the previous day, and the sand was muddy :( washed-up branches and bamboo stalks and crap everywhere, so I had to pick my way through the junk to lay out lines. Ended up doing a side-launch a la an arc, so the kite got muddy. Doh.
Nicely powered with the 'door so I came back in and got the 'radical. Easy to ride for sure, although the back-foot kept skipping out on me - I must be doing something wrong. Seem to remember a tip about it somewhere, will have to search the interweb again.
Riding around, trying some jumps and whatnot but the wind is steadily picking up. I'm starting to feel over-powered on the big foil so I head in and get Soh to land the kite for me ... he's had tuition at landing foils :D
Back to the car, I grab the 13m Crossbow and run around pumping it up blah blah blah. Get on the water and ... doh. Under-powered on the 'radical, so back to the 'door ... now only slightly under-powered :( throw some silly jumps, not much height but I land them all holy crap!
Wind dies off, I stand on the beach wondering if I should go get the SA2 again. Soh tried out the Flydoor and the Flyradical ... he's riding MILES upwind on the 'door and is surprised by how easy it is to ride, once he gets used to it. He thought the 'radical was ok but he's a wakestyle rider - too flat for him!
I run back to the car for the Speed2 again but now it's really gone off and as I unpack, the wind dies right away. Wait around for a while then give up ...
Got out on the water with the 720-armour Shark's too ...
• Very good anti-fog, I'm sure the little holes in the lens help. Better than the Wiley-X's so far. Full head dunking made a little fogging that cleared as soon as I got moving.
• The Hyrdrophobic lens coating works well until the dirty spots the water leaves start to build up but that wipes off easy. Good to know cos that seems to be a problem with the GoPro - no matter how much Rain-X I use ... looks like I'm going to have to resort to licking the lens after all LOL
• Very comfy - don't even notice they're on at all and they wrap around the face nicely too. The rubber on the nose and top/bottom of the frames is comfy but not intrusive.
• Field of view not restricted noticeable - I never tried to peer over the top like I have done with the others ...
• Stayed on the head ok when I did a bum dunk, the method I lost all the Seaspecs with. It wasn't from as great a height though as the wind wasn't up to much. And I had them leashed to the wetsuit ;)
So far, very good glasses, I'm greatly impressed - better fit, comfort and satisfaction than the Wiley-X; so I'd rank Sharks as #1, SeaSpecs #2 and Wily-X in at #3.
I got mine from ChainReactionCycles.com who seem to be the only internet vendor ... 720-armour.com told me they're working on Shark ver 2 so if they're better - they'll be pretty bloody good!
As I'm typing this I look at my hands and see red gloves :o guess I got my first burn for the season! And I forgot to put sunblock on my lips ... ouchie.
Wind was from 6 to 14 knots.
What I learned today ...
• Flyradical L - awesome board! Thanks Ripsesssionkites - again!
• 720-armour Sharks - awesome glasses!
• Getting my jumps & redirections sorted - awesome!
• Shoulda taken my P4 15 ... that might have seen me riding for longer and pumping less.
• white kites and mud ... bad.
No comments:
Post a Comment