Hardwater Kiter

As many of you are well aware the U.S. has been having a bit of a heat wave the last couple of weeks. It was in the Midwest roasting everyone from the Gulf Coast to the top of Minnesota (pronounced MinneSohhhta I think) and now the "Heat Dome" as the media likes to call it is apparently hanging out over my house here in New England. It was 101F in the shade (inspite of the fact that the local weather moron said it was 95f) I'm okay with it, there's nothing I can do about it and I have access to lakes and rivers to cool off in, I drive a topless Jeep Wrangler and there's a 7-11 down the street to refill my 84oz mega-gulp for around a buck. What else do I need? Seriously, bitchin' and whining about the heat every 5 minutes only makes you and everyone around you more miserable. So the interesting thing about this heat is I've never flown a kite in anything like it. There are some things that I didn't take into consideration, which in hindsight should h...

Okay so this last session went pretty damn well. (I think)  I didn't get hurt, I had a ball and a learned some pretty important stuff (again, I THINK). The wind was better this time around.  Still kinda flaky but not bad and mostly in the same direction.  It was lighter than the last time I went out with Molly and it was so punchy and strong I couldn't get on the damn board.  My theory after that was big kite, light wind was the route.  To improve my chances of getting moving I swapped out to some 9" wheels I had kicking around. I decided to use the 19m Charger and tuned it down to steer a little slower. Much like the first time I tried this I powered up, jumped on and took off across the field with hardly a thought.  This was followed by about 30 minutes of multiple failed and frustrating attempts.  That's okay, I have a lot of patience. After a while I got back on and flew back across the field.  For me the ground board thin...

I'm going to make this short and sweet. I finally got a chance to get the new mountain board out with a kite last night.  There was pretty good wind blowing all day but I didn't get out till late and of course as soon as I threw a kite in the air the wind died out. I managed to get a couple of good little runs.  No turns, no airs, just trying to get the board rolling and powered by the kite.  The grass was a little tall and the surface was uneven but I did get it moving in spite of the lack of wind and the rolling resistance. I had to wait until the wind would spool up. Then I'd launch the kite, climb onto the board, loop th kite into the power zone annnnnnd "TA DAAAAA!" I was moving.  I was moving and it was actually pretty damn cool. I needed more wind.  Tomorrow it's supposed to blow so maybe I'll get a shot at it again. I can't wait!

A board. A mountain board to be exact. Picked it up today and played around with it tonight. The plan was to try it with a kite but the wind sucked so I was reduced to playing in the streets and on the trails behind the house. I gotta say, boards have come a long way since '97. I can't believe how nice it is to ride. Really I did'nt think I'd consider riding it on a trail but after tonight I actually started thinking of the local mountain bike trails that would work well with this thing. Who knew? I will say I took the bindings off. For now I don't need any hassle bailing off it. I was able to bail off with the bindings but I'm not airing out so I don't need to be locked in. Honestly I think if I ride it with my 5.10's it will feel almost as good as a binding if how they grip flatty pedals is any indication. I played with the suspension a bit, suprisingly sensitive to adjustment.  I feel pretty good on it.  It doesn't feel completely alien fo...