Wind was up and it was warm (ish) where I was so I thought I'd head out to the lake for the first session of the year at Locus. Forecast was good; wind didn't look so great though so I didn't get my 10m from the house...
Got to the club house and nobody else was there. Wind was cold making my ears go numb, clouds covered the hills over the other side of the lake which means it's snowing so I thought "Nah!" and got back in the car to go home... as I approached the other way of getting to the club house, I thought "Sissy!!!" at myself and turned the car back around.
Suited up, grabbed my 13m 'bow and the Mako and waddled over to the lake. Bit chilly in the already damp wetsuit (should have hung it up to dry after Saturday :-/ ) but I'm sure I'll warm up with the pumping.
Setting up with gloves on wasn't too difficult and by about 4pm, I'm getting into the water. Bit cold eh :)
Plenty of power, little gusty and I'd have been happier on the 10m for sure but I'm feeling ok. Mako goes upwind nicely but the water is choppy as hell, all over the place! Carves great through the erm carving turns, really locked in and surfy feeling... or at least, how I imagine a surfboard must feel!
Try some jumps and it's all over the place. Water isn't the best, wind is gusty and I'm rusty so it's a pretty mixed bag... a few refreshing face-plants wake me up and I get it under control. Seems the Mako is a very stiff board and you can't 'ollie' it like I do my other Flyboards. Will work on that some more...
Did a solitary back-roll but a blast of icy water down the back of the wetsuit puts paid to that.
Enjoying my ride but my hands have become two unfeeling lumps - time to head back to the shore...
Got another nasty surprise when I got back to the club house, eagerly anticipating a hot shower - no water. At all. Not even cold water to rinse the sand off... WTF Miyachi!!!
Moment of the Day was realizing I can ride in those conditions, still have fun and not freeze to death. 5mm wetsuit and decent gloves (and maybe a hoodie thing) means I might be able to ride almost year round :o
Weather was reported as 8.6m/s (17.2knots) from 4 to 5pm with gusts up to 24knots. It was also 4.6°C, falling to 3.6 when I packed up. Obviously, the colder, denser air of winter means I need to size down my kite selection...
What I learned today...
• 4°C is kiteable which means most of winter is doable... with the right gear.
• NeoGear work gloves are not the right gear. At least, the naval camo ones aren't. My old ones are but have too many holes now... will try to find some more. The bike shop has $30 gloves that might be good too but $30 versus $10 for the NeoGear - I know where I'm shopping first!
• Want 5mm suit and hoodie.
• HyperFlex gear rocks! Seriously, $80 3/2mm wetsuit in winter and I'm cold but only notice it when I stop moving. Or get wet :D
• Mako is going to be a great board - very surfy feel to it and it carves like a knife!
• I think the Mako is very stiff - and I think for jumping, I prefer a flexible board. We'll see - I might need to learn the new technique before I moan too much more :D
• Crossbows are awesome. Even when over-powered they're still super-stable!
No comments:
Post a Comment