Good forecast at Mie but I have to work in Shiga at 5pm... looks like I'll miss the best wind after 3pm when I pack up and head home. (Which wasn't the case as the hourly forecast shows the wind died after I left... oh, how sweet!)
Anyway, got to Machiya about 12 and onto the water with the Speed3 15 about 20 past. On the beach, was nice and floaty. On the water, going upwind. But jumps are just average... goes that way for the next 3 hours. A couple of tacks on the Flyradical in there but it's too much work so I stick with the 'door.
A few nice jumps, most were pretty average though. So I started playing with back-rolls using the kite like you're supposed to. Not bad but tough in the chop. Doing one of them, I dropped on my ankle hard and tweaked it again. Dang.
Choppy choppy! bouncin' around like a rental car down a rutted dirt road...
Loop-transitions working fine - both ways! Got a good one that was like a proper loop - pulled me forwards and as it went up, lifted me up softly for a sweet landing! Couldn't repeat it though :(
So it was a good session, especially after the shite of Locus recently. Gloves Guy turned up as I was leaving... had the beach mostly to myself though, a couple of pole dancers and a couple of kiters from 'the other end' but it was pretty empty out there. Sweet!
Oh, forgot to add - I got mugged by a fish! I'm cruising along when suddenly a silver torpedo leaps out of the water and makes a dive at my crotch :o BAAAAH! clonk right into my knee-cap.
And PPS the wife says I have matching bruises across my ass cheeks... bottom of the harness, maybe?
Mood of the session was hot premature bone-rattling.
Moment of the Day was that loop that went really well.
It sucks when you have to pack up early and go to work.
Weather was reported as 12.8 knots climbing to 14.4 with gusts to 19.8; 32°C at 67%.
Wind felt like I should have been jumping bigger...
What I learned today...
• How a proper loop feels.
• It is possible to get in 3 hours riding and back to Shiga for work... just. Damned traffic jams cos smacktards can't merge!!!
• 'Proper' back-rolls feel good.
• 15-20 knots is easy riding on the S3 15, 10-15 is working it hard... 20+ is necessary for the 'radical.
• Wave-riding... not as easy as it looks. Especially when the waves don't really have the push to actually surf on 0_o
• Back-roll transitions... it's necessary to start the dive sooner to not stall it and to pull you in the right direction...
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