Well you can tell by the way I use my walk, I'm having a day off work and there's wind in the PM. How hip!
Got to the lake a 3, onto the water about 10 past but it was light as - Flydoor and just holding ground, occasional jumps or spins but not much else. Wind picks up around 4 - as it was supposed to - and it's much better now. Big ol' jumps but it's gusty... I switch to the Radical and am happy again.
For a while, it's survival mode - I contemplated getting the S3 15 but decided to stick out the 21... the jumps are fun and floaty though. As the wind drops off, I start doing back rolls - good backrolls! - and frontrolls...
Then it gets punchy - the kite is behaving badly and I'm getting yanked around... then I get dropped from a jump, the kite inverts, nose-dives then bowties - twice - but I manage to untangle the kite and relaunch. After a bit, I notice the lines are wrapped and I'll need to un-invert the kite. I ride around for a bit then the same thing happens. I let the bowtie plop on the shore and pull the safety to flag it out. Reset, sort out the bar & lines then relaunch and get back on the water for another 1/2 hour.
I can't do the Dead Man cos I can only take one hand off the bar - so I do the Disco Man! Imagine this - but a fat guy in a blue t-shirt, hanging upside down from a kite 20 feet above a lake... disco, baby yeah!
Had a great time, did some kick-ass jumps... but I have to pack up and go to work. Oh crap look - I've ripped a seam sometime. That damned short SZ1 line pulled it... there's a bridle line with a broken LCL on it but I can't see it in the dark...
Nuts.
Moment of the day was finally clicking with boosted backrolls!
Mood of the session was elated amused energized.
It sucks when you break your kite :( and have to send it overseas to fix it :((
Song stuck in my head was the closing theme from Star Trek TOS... Oooooooh oooooooh ooh ooh oh ooooooh!
Weather was reported as 10-8-9-9 knots from 3 to 6pm. Gusts to 18 knots, 26°C at 60%.
Wind felt like I was ok-powered most of the time, occasionally happily overpowered and a few times a bit worried.
What I learned today...
• Don't try to rotate 360° for a back roll and ride back up; aim for 270° and land riding away slightly downwind.
• I think the same goes for front rolls but you need to use the kite more.
• Air transition on the big Speed - keep it right over head, float around under it then redirect hard... you'll need velocity for riding out the landing.
• Heel-to-toe transitions on the Flydoor need more upright body - you can't rely on the toeside fins cos there are none and the edge slides out too easy.
• Relaxing under the kite... makes life easier to ride out the cock-ups. And pull off tricks - like turning over-rotations into doubles :D
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