Low Speed, Long Distance and a Blue Goose. Racing The Mille Lacs Snowkite Crossing.
Snow kiting in New England is a bit of a “Love/Hate” thing for me. On one hand we have several options for places to ride and most of them are only 10-20 minutes away, which allows us to pick and choose our riding areas based on wind and surface conditions. So, we get a lot of sessions in. When you live in the mountains one lake may be dead calm but a 5minute drive to the next one and you have wind and having that kind of ready access leaves you a bit spoiled and unmotivated to travel very far to ride. That is the “Love” part. On the other hand our wind is often punchy, mean and in every direction at once or it’s the definition of “light and variable”. Yup, “Hate” right there.
We’re also isolated. We have tons of riding but very few snow kiters here (see “Love”) and little access to events without a lot of driving. Kitestorm is the closest kite event and it’s 3 hours away. As one of the few Peter Lynn Team snowkiters I really want to show what Peter Lynn kites can do and a great way to do that is to ride them in new locations with other riders who don’t get a chance to see an Arc in action. But beyond Kitestorm the only other venues are WISSA Events way up in Quebec (mmmm poutine) and the Mille Lacs Crossing in Garrison Minnesota. The Mille Lacs event appeals to me because it’s a timed endurance race. That, and Joe Levins, the first guy in the Stormboarding Speed Ranking to break 70mph on a kite, has been known (so I’m told) to kick ass in it. I have to say I really like the idea of endurance racing
Less B.S., more riding.
I’ve wanted to see what the Mille Lacs Kite Crossing was all about for some time. Lake Mille Lacs is pretty impressive and happens to also be the home turf of fellow Peter Lynn Team snowkiter Aaron “Rude Boy” Saude. Mille Lacs Crossing was one of my goals in what has turned out to be a less than stellar snowkite season. The weather has been about as sucky as sucky gets for kiting here. I coordinated with Aaron and before I knew it I was on a flight to Minnesota.
I used to love flying. But this nonsense half assed security, post 9/11 has pretty much killed it for me. To quote the great William Shatner “I hate flying, flat out hate its guts”. I’m pretty much right there with ya Billy. Travel on a plane with gear is a not a new thing for me but traveling with kite gear is a little different. I’ve been flying for years with bikes and all the gear that goes with riding bikes at a certain level and I was hoping this was going to be easier. I always ended up carrying my helmet on the plane with me when traveling with a bike. Hauling kite stuff turns out to be almost as big a pain in the ass as the bike thing. Imagine bringing everything you need for a ski trip. Then add 3 kites (Aaron had kites on site), protective gear, harness etc. and it turns into a decent project to get it all packed up. Fortunately Southwest doesn’t charge for ski equipment and 2 checked bags. I got everything in a ski bag and backpack but still managed to end up with a helmet with me on the plane. People look at you a little uneasy when you get on the plane with a full- face helmet.
Maybe it would be better if I weren’t wearing it the whole flight. Oh well, safety first.
Friday I flew into Minneapolis and was met at the airport by kiter Seth Downs. From the airport we proceeded to a tiny apartment in a seedy part of Minneapolis that he shares with his girlfriend Thea, a blond twenty something who tends bar in Minneapolis, a Tibetan Bar no less. I asked if it was full of Tibetans. I was told that it’s usually full of Somalis. Huh, who knew? Does that make it a “Tomali” bar? We got to the apartment and parked where we had a clear view of Seth’s rig incase someone messed tried to break into it and snag our gear. Apparently we weren’t in the “garden spot” of Minneapolis. I met Thea’s dog Helly who is apparently half pug and half Boston terrier but was described by Seth described as a pug/Boston terrier/pig/snake/rodent/ and a bunch of other unflattering things.
At least I think he was describing Helly. If he was describing Thea she’s going to kick his ass when she reads this. Sorry Seth. Helly is awesome. We shoe horned all our gear into Seth’s rig and headed to doggie day care to get Helly a room for the weekend and continued up to Garrison
We got to Mille Lacs late in the afternoon and when I got first sight of it I was not disappointed, the lake is huge. We have some big lakes where we live but they all have islands all over them so they don’t seem so vast. Mille Lacs is just empty-empty and huge. The lake is big enough that from the Southeast end of the lake I was unable to see the other side. Of course the whole drive up we saw wind and I was already “chomping at the bit” before we got to the lake and now that I see the lake I’m really getting fired up. We continue around to the west shore and I see kites.
Yeah, at this point I’m losing control.
We arrive at a log “cabin” right on the shore that has been rented out by Aaron’s and a few of his friends. I say cabin but this place is really just a ridiculously large log house. The room that Seth, Thea and I shared had it’s own kitchen for crying out loud. I can’t wait to get in my gear on and get out on the ice. Aaron and Jeremy are already out there riding. I want to get a feel for the surface and the wind before the race the next day.
Impulsively I open the door to the house without knocking. Danyelle, Jeremy’s wife and smarter half, was sitting on the living room floor with their daughters Julia “I can Take Brock any day of the week” and Lauren. She’s a little taken aback when this jackass from New Hampshire just walks in without even a knock. (Sorry Danyelle) I explain that I’m a guest of Aaron’s and she seemed a bit more at ease.
Aaron and I had been talking about what kites to bring and what kites he had on site. We discussed my second place finish at Kitestorm and we didn’t want to repeat that. The wind reports for the weekend were not great so we decided he should bring his 24m Peter Lynn Synergy just incase the wind was light like Kitestorm.
I got my gear on and met up with Aaron. The wind was blowing 18-20mph with some higher gusts. I decided I would try the 24m and try to get a feel for it before I had to race it. The wind was on the high end of what Aaron thought the kite would be useful for (he bought it to pull his Peter Lynn catamaran AKA, Kite Cat) but I figured I needed to know how high a wind I could handle with it. I was concerned that I could be over powered if the weather reports were wrong and I didn’t want to find that out in the middle of a race if the wind speed increased.
We launched the 24m just as Aaron’s family showed up. He went in to visit and I took off across the lake. I noticed a few things immediately. The wind was punchy, I was heavily over powered and I brought the wrong skis for the surface conditions.
Punchy wind, okay no biggie I can deal with that. Being overpowered, not a problem, I like being on the OP side of things and the Syn has a ton of depower. Half trimmed and I could muscle the kite where I needed.
The skis, well there wasn’t a whole lot I can do about that but just deal with it. The Rossi Phantom is a hell of a versatile kite ski but the conditions were ice/wind slab 40/60. I would crank on the slab and even with my edges razor sharp the powder ski side of the Phantom showed through on the ice patches. I just had to make it work.
Getting a feel for 24m of Syn.
I flew around for a while in front of the house just getting a feel for the kite. The big girl was awesome and after a few minutes I decided to fly upwind to the staging area of the event where some other kiters were flying. When I got there I noticed a blue and white Ozone Manta cooking along at a good clip, heading the same direction I was and looking like he was going to overtake me. I couldn’t believe he was catching me until I realized that I had the Syn partially trimmed.
So I let the trim off and pinned it.
I met guy on the Ozone later. His name is Mike, stout guy in his 40’s (I would guess). When he rides he appears a lot lighter than you would imagine. Good kiter and like pretty much everyone I ran into on this trip, a wicked nice guy. I rode until sunset and once the sun went down you could really get a sense of the size of the lake. Small lights on the other side glittered like little stars and vehicles on the lake seemed like satellites passing slowly by. All I wanted to do was pick a “star” and head for it. Just to see what was on the other end but it was getting late and I needed to save my legs for race day.
Once I was back at the house I got to meet everyone, get unpacked and grab a little grub. Later we went down to one of the local bars for the registration. I signed up, got my number (#03) and headed back to the house, tired and a little concerned about the potential light wind for the race day.
Saturday.
I woke up to beaming sunlight and to my surprise blowing wind. Blowing a fair amount actually, maybe enough that I could ride the 19m Charger I thought. We ate breakfast and made our way out to the Mille Lacs Kite Crossing staging area. The lake has a network of ice roads on it and the staging area was on one that came right out of Garrison. There were quite a few vehicles out there already when we arrived. It was a beautiful sunny day and the wind was blowing steady.
When we rolled onto the ice one thing became immediately clear. This was an inflato-fest. There were more Slingshots here than I’ve ever seen in my life. There were a few Ozone foils but mostly LEIs (Leading Edge Inflatable aka Water Kite). Apparently I was going to have the only Peter Lynn in the air. I was a Peter Lynn riding pilgrim in an unholy LEI land. I had no idea how this was going to turn out. I took out the Charger 19m and flew for a few minutes. I had power but I was on the verge of not having enough. Time to bust out the big girl!
Aaron helped me get set up and launch the 24m Syn. I got out on it, checked out what other riders were riding and got a feel for how things were. The Syn had me a little overpowered. I could handle it but it was at the brink of being too much and I didn’t know what the wind out in the middle of the lake was like. I rode it for a while to get an overall feel and scope out potential competition. I noticed two riders immediately. One was on a Slingshot Turbine 17m, Slingshot’s light wind rig. The rider was on skis and ripping around with a fair amount of speed. The other was a huge Cabrinha Crossbow. I was told that the rider of that kite has owned the crossing when the winds were light. With the current winds I felt I still had a chance but it was going to be tight.
But instead of starting the race while there was wind the race didn’t start until just after noon and just before noon, yes you guessed it, the wind went to complete and utter dog doo.
The wind was so light I could hardly keep the 24m Syn in the air. Of course at the same time I’m still watching that guy on the 17m Turbine rip around like it’s his job. What a kick in the junk. Aaron and I were not feeling good about my chances now and it’s looking like this was going to be another “bringing a knife to a gunfight” deal. I was really starting to think I was totally boned. It was looking like the Turbine and the Crossbow were going to be the top dogs in this race and that I would have to struggle just to keep the Syn in the air.
I wasn’t looking forward to skating with kite in tow for 28 miles. Worse, I didn’t want to let myself down or my friends or my sponsors. I had resigned myself to the thought that I might not win but I would push myself to collapse trying. Anyone who knows me knows how I operate. If I want something, I kill myself to get it.
We had the racers meeting and went over the rules, the course and how everything works. Figure 8-style course, which means crossing paths with other kiters heading in opposite directions. If there was wind I thought this might be interesting but since I’m going to be skating and dragging my kite behind me I guess I’ll be safe. Actually after the racer meeting the wind had all but died. They race officials even decided to cancel the race but of course as soon as they cancelled the wind came back and they decided to go for it.
The race was on and now it’s started.
I watched the line of racers head out as I tried to get my kite to stay in the air. One thing that was interesting was the manner in which they started us. It’s not a mass start instead we all have to pass through a “Start Box” which means we go one after the other and the timing starts then. It sounds a little sketchy but it worked amazingly well.
The flag at the start line was actually moving and I thought maybe as I got further out there would be wind. I passed through the start box and grabbed some of that wind that was making the start flags flutter. My hope grew as I built speed following the kiters that left before me and I thought that at the very least I would be able to finish the race with my kite in the air.
Yeah, those hopes took a kick to the “groinal region” when I ran into what awaited me just after I left the start area.
You know those scenes in movies after a battle or explosion when they have dead and wounded lying all over the place, moaning. People screaming “Mediiiiic!!!”? Yeah, welcome to the start of the 2011 Mille Lacs Crossing because that kind of scene is what I ran into after I left the start box. That wind at the start, WAS ONLY AT THE START. A bunch of kites left before me immediately fell out of the sky like moths killed by a bug zapper. Dead kites and riders scattered across the ice, everywhere. I’m still in the air and I’m skating to maintain my apparent wind but I have to slowly tip toe through the dead and down and as I watch the leaders pulling away.
But, they look powered. At least compared to these poor bastards that are dead in the water. I figure if I can get out to the broads I might get some wind and make some distance.
I pick my way through the “dead and down” and manage to grab just the slightest puff. Enough to build a little speed and get the kite to build more apparent wind. I know, I keep saying “Apparent Wind”. Here’s a quick explanation for non-kiters. Apparent Wind is airflow over the wing as the wing is in forward motion. When combined with the actual wind the kite can generate more power than if it is stationary and flying in the actual wind only. Does that make sense? How about, if there is no wind, and you run forward and feel wind in your face, that’s apparent wind. So if you have a little wind and you run forward it feels like more wind. That’s how it works with the kite. I think?
The first kiter I came across after the "battlefield scene" was Todd Hanson. Todd is the maker of the Switchblade, a bolt on blade for snowboards to allow them to ride hard ice. It works amazingly well. I met Todd the night before and he seems a really nice guy.
The next kite I saw was an Ozone inflatable followed by some kind of brown LEI. I don’t know who the rider was on the Ozone but he was working that kite pretty well to get some pull out of it. As I approached the Ozone I realized the large brown LEI had already passed him. It still looked like it was behind the Ozone, an illusion caused by the ridiculous size of the kite. Turned out to be a 21m Machine flown by Eric Oppen.
I passed the Ozone and closed on Eric and his Machine. Just as I was lined up to pass Eric brought his kite down to block my pass. I thought “You bastard, that-is-awesome!” This is starting to get fun now. I have three options. If I go up wind of him I’ll slow down too much to pass in a reasonable amount of time. If I stay on my current path I’ll pass him steady but I have to get my kite around him somehow. I could go downwind a bit to get around him but I would have to go off my line (off course) too much and have to make it up later to get around the marker.
I opt to hold my line and continue closing with a slight upwind drift towards Eric. My plan is to get close to him and under pass, which is squeeze below his blocking kite and lines. We fly close a lot at home. Close enough to punch each other or grab each other’s bars and nonsense like that. This won’t be that tight but if I mess up we’ll both be dead in the water.
I cozy up to Eric and then get a little closer. I’m close enough that I have to turn my head sideways to duck under the leader lines on his bar. The Syn, rock steady and smooth, slides just about a foot below the big brown Machine. I cruise by slowly, get clear and start working the big Syn and pull away. Wicked fun!
Cozy
The last person I had to catch was the lead kiter Peter Hill. And he was the guy on the Slingshot Turbine that was ripping around earlier. He was the leader and I figured, as it’s a timed race all I have to do is keep up with him and I’ll win. But I’m a little greedy and couldn’t be happy with that. There was someone in front of me and I wanted to pass him.
I almost had Peter at the marker. But of course as I approached the marker the already light wind was getting lighter, a lot lighter. About the same as the wind out the start area but this was worse because I have to turn the kite, which will make it want to fall out of the sky. Eric Oppen is still a long way behind me as I get to the turn. Peter is smart and down loops the Turbine and cruises around the corner. I’ screwed up and I’m too low to down loop the 24m in the light wind so I basically up loop it and fly it like I’m launching in zero wind.
I creep around the cones and glance over my shoulder just in time to see a big brown monster of kite closing in on me. Eric made up a ton of distance while I was turning and was threatening to pass. Fortunately I don’t think he had the room to squeeze around me and his monster of a kite slowed down a lot in the turn as well.
I’m around the marker and I see Peter with his wing locked in position cruising toward the start area. I work the big Syn and get some speed built up and start pulling away from Eric to close in on Peter. After a few minutes I get close enough to pass and drop downwind a little to get a little extra speed and then work to maintain it once I pass him. Peter and I exchange greetings (the finger) and I continue on toward the finish.
Okay, we didn’t give each other the finger I just wanted to make sure you’re still awake.
So now I’m in front. Great! Awesome! Who would have thought?! Uhhhh, where the hell are we going?! I can’t see the finish area I can only see a few incoming kites. I just keep heading in the direction that Peter was in hopes that I’ll get there. I look back to make sure he’s still chasing me so I know that either I’m going the right direction or I’m leading everyone the wrong way.
One of the few powered moments on the Syn.
The ride back was better than the ride out. I knew where there was wind and where I’d have to work. I opted to work in the “windy” areas as well to make more of a gap between Peter and me. I was following the tracks we made on the way out until a snowmobile came up to lead the way.
On the way in I passed a bunch of kiters. Some had kites in the air but a lot were down on the ice. Everyone was friendly though and willing to exchange encouragement though I have to be honest I pitied the riders that were still heading out to the marker. I didn’t have much hope for them getting back in on kite power.
One guy that I passed on the way out was still dead in the water on the way back.
I finally catch sight of the finish marker. I’m doing about 20mph, Peter is nowhere in sight and I have enough speed to actually make this turn into the second lap and maintain power. I cruise around the marker, down loop and fly through the start box and make my way back out for lap #2 still dreading how much I’m going to have to work the kite but happy with how things have worked out so far.
As I get further into lap #2 away from the start area and closer to the center of the lake I can see the long line of kites making their way back to the start. I continue on a little further and find that the wind has lightened and I’m working a lot harder to keep the Syn in the air. Then I look again at the approaching kites and I can see them one by one falling out of the sky in front of me. Before I know it the line of kites in the air is quickly turning into a line of kites on the ground. The wind situation is going downhill fast and the next thing I know my kite is almost falling out of the sky. And that guy that was down when I went out and was still down on my return leg was still down on my second lap. Bummer.
Helmet Cam Race Footage.
Soon someone on a snowmobile is closing in on me. They tell me the race is being ended dearly due to lack of wind. I look back at where the start is and find myself wishing they had told me when I was there instead of out here in the middle of the Lake. I watch as Peter and Eric set their kites down at the start area.
I get the big Syn airborne and limp back to where we parked.
Talking to the gang from Koti Kites.
The wind has died and we head back to the Cabin-Majal for some grub. Aaron’s wife braved the Wal-Martians and brought in a 50 gal barrel of Utz’s Cheese balls, which must have been laced with heroine because none of us could stop eating the damn things. Really, it was messed up. I couldn’t stop. And the level in the barrel never seemed to go down. It was a “Great Barrel Of Cheese Ball Plenty” that was just bottomless. We ate these things all night and they were the first things I ate when I woke up the next day.
HEAVEN
Okay, enough about the cheese balls, I’m getting the shakes just writing about ‘em.
After the race there was a banquet at the Garrison VFW. Dinner was made at the cabin and I opted to stay put and relax. I had been at the VFW earlier with Jeremy and his friend Mike. It seems like VFW’s are the same pretty much everywhere and I gotta say there’s a certain attraction. A bunch of locals sitting around drinking beers and sharing stories, the ladies playing that game where you rip tickets and win cash. I saw one woman in the VFW when Jeremy, Mike and I were there and we stopped in briefly after supper, 3 hours later and she was still ripping tickets. She had literally buckets of ripped tickets. Get some help lady!
Anyway the VFW was awesome. We met the woman who runs the place. She moved up to Garrison after she retired. She spent 30yrs in the city doing some corporate gig. After she took the job of running the VFW she realized that it was 30yrs she wasted and that this was what made her happy. We talked about kite stuff and Garrison and the talk eventually went to fishing. When I was a kid I used to fish a little in Wisconsin with my father and I really miss it sometimes. Here I was in the Garrison Minnesota talking fishing and something about it really struck a chord in me. Felt like home.
Then I spilled Jeremy’s beer all over myself and we left. It was really nice coming back to the cabin smelling like beer.
Later that night I was lucky enough to head out for a night on the town with Emily and Danyelle over at a bar called the “Blue Goose”. The boys agreed to take care of the kids. I’m not so sure that Emily and Danyelle were too sure about that but they both deserved a little time away and went for it. The post Mille Lacs Dinner Ho-Down was to be held at the Blue Goose and eventually kiters started filling up the place. The bar was big, the band was to our surprise, actually really good. There was a good mix of locals and kiters and it was great just people watching, having a drink with two of coolest women in the joint.
On Sunday the event was pretty much done. A figure eight short track course was set up but I wasn’t interested in another light wind race. I opted to just ride for a while until the wind let up. I just wanted to spend more time with that 24m Syn to be honest. Man what a ride! Snow squalls started rolling in and I kept heading out into the walls of white and cruising the big lake in low visibility conditions. I always stayed just barely in sight of the north shore to find my way back. Ran into some kid rippin around on a pair of twin tips doing speed runs back and forth near me. Turned out to be Eric Oppen. Came up and introduced himself and we had a good chuckle about the race.
Nice guy and a great rider from what I saw.
Nice guy and a great rider from what I saw.
Working the 12m proto in Sunday's light winds.
I love that sense of desolation. I was never more than a few miles from the race area but it felt like I was in the middle of nowhere.
Around early afternoon we had the post race awards and then headed to Aaron and Emily’s home in Sandstone. I got to hang out for a while, eat all kinds of awesome stuff that Emily whipped up, and watch Cora and Brock do their thing.
Saude’s, you guys are great and I really appreciate your hospitality. And thanks for the photos in this blog installment Arron.
Monday morning Arron drove me to the airport with a quick stop at the “Pump and Munch” to grab Molly a T-Shirt. (I didn’t see the “Kum ‘n Go” or I would have grabbed a shirt there too.) I caught my flight and managed to get to Manchester early but Southworst lost my ski/kite bag. Never made it on the plane in Minneapolis. I guess you get what you pay for with those baggage fees. I’m just glad they didn’t lose my stuff on the way out.
I got it eventually so no worries, things happen.
So at the end of it all the Mille Lacs Crossing was a great experience. The race itself was fun but meeting everyone and the whole human element and getting out of my normal groove/rut really made the trip worthwhile. Maybe I'll get the chance to hit it again next year.
Maybe I’ll see more Peter Lynns in the air next time.
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