Checked the weather, some wind was promised around 1pm so I loaded up the car and headed off to the lake ... it's all been a bit flukey lately, so I took the SA2 19, both Crossbows and the Psycho4 15 just in case.
Nobody else was there when I arrived and set up, taking out the 16m Crossbow cos the wind was light. Or so I thought ... the wind quickly picked up to the point where I was pretty much over-powered and wishing I'd set up my 13 or brought a smaller board! So it was survival mode for about an hour although I managed some huge jumps, I landed what felt like none of them and lost another pair of sunglasses :( SeaSpecs - they don't float AT ALL and I mean they sink like a freakin' stone! So there's 2 pairs of glasses rolling around the bottom of Biwako there ... I didn't mind losing the Colbalt Blue pair but I was quite fond of the Copper Blaze ones :(
People started turning up just as the wind started dropping and I was comfy on the 16 except in the gusts, then the wind dropped right out and it was fighting through the lulls to ride the gusts. I had some great fun in the gusts though, with some cracking good jumps that I started to land - including one that started well, became an "OH CRAP!" in the middle and then I actually landed toe-side then rode it out ...!
I gave up on it all about 4:30pm and packed up. Thank crap I hadn't launched the SA2 19 like I was considering!!!
What I learned today ...
• Wide stance on the board is good - I think ... see below. Didn't notice as much of a difference from the neutral stance as I did last time, but it seemed easier to ride through the chop and land jumps that were erm landable.
• HOLY BAR PRESSURE, Batman! Either I've been spoiled by the 13 or the wide stance means I gotta hang on a lot more but DAH-YUM! are my forearms killing me! At the end of the session, I could hardly hold onto the bar ... I haven't experienced that EVER (even on the massive Flysurfers!) so I can only assume that either I'm out of shape so bad (damned winter!) or the gloves somehow increased the work-out! Yikes!
• I seem to be sending the kite wrong ... spent a lot of time launching miles into the air, swinging under the kite and splashing down, or landing facing the wrong way. A few times I got it right and while I think I know why, will require more testing.
• Got a perfect edge, launch and land going goofy on flat water. Lucky technique!
• Peeing in your wetsuit is just nasty.
• Either leash my final pair of SeaSpecs or just buy some new ones. I'm shopping as we speak ;)
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