Typhoon caused havoc on the weekend and it's still messing my wind up ... gusty as hell and the wind rose and fell all afternoon. We had 17 knots at 2pm but that had fallen to 14 by the time I got to the lake after work at 4:30-ish. I hummed and harred about what kite to put up. It continued to drop so I went with the Speed2 19 and the Flyradical. Good choice to start with ...
Nicely powered, good riding ... board feels too light under my feet still but gets around nicely for back rolls. The solitary front roll I did was nice too - good rotation, clean landing ... I need to do more of them. Cos it was Back-roll Central out there - doing them non-stop.
Also did the longest hang time jump I've ever done! Not the highest, but I floated around so long I had time to think "... what do I do if I don't come down? When should I redirect? Now? If I redirect too soon, will I overfly the kite? Perhaps I should try a grab ... oh no it's ok now I'm coming down ..." Great fun!
Wind had fallen a bit so I grabbed the Flydoor and kept riding ... and kept riding. The herd had thinned out - Freestyle Chick from Hamamatsu & Lil Grom and his pops were there too, on top of the regulars - and there was only the 2 of us out there. So I didn't have to work so hard upwind to clear them and relaxed and had fun until the sun set ... I was the last one on the water again ;)
Oh and ... have to take a break because I used up my supply of swim shorts - the storm blew my favourite pair into the garden (must get them!) and I've been using regular ol shorts but that leaves things flapping in the breeze. I go commando you know.
Moment of the Day was busting a big, fat, lazy back roll and STOMPING down my feet to hit the landing - I'm sure it doesn't get better than that!
Wind speed was recorded as 12 to 9 knots while I was there, with a gust to 22. Probably accurate as that's what it felt like. The Speed was nothing but gravy!
What I learned today ...
• So long as you get your feet down and the board between you and the kite, you can land and ride off from any jump no matter how twisted up you are.
• Need to send the kite more for front rolls at the moment - I don't have the speed or technique perhaps to just throw down off the lip of waves.
• A little bit of send for back rolls makes them seem more controlled and gives time to spot the landing and stomp it down.
• What I remembered today was getting my knees up and leaning back in the big jumps! More control.
• There's a beginners 'freestyle' contest soon - Soh said I should enter but a. I'm crap and b. I don't want to compete any more - except against myself, my abilities and the weather.
• Unless the above was to get me a sponsorship deal :D
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