Third Learning Session and Paydirt!
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 thing is a lot like the snowkite thing in the sense that after an infuriating string of failures you immediately forget about the failures as soon as you get moving again. The frustration just vanishes. Awesome.
Eventually I got long string of really good runs back and forth across the field. I gotta say it really is awesome. It's kinda like when I picked up Tele-skiing. It makes an area the I'm very familiar with, almost bored with, new again. A few runs I got lofted and ended up doing a few small 10 footers. Since I'm still just riding the board with grip tape and my 5.10s (http://fiveten.com/) every time I launched I left the board behind. The first time was a little unnerving but it's a lot better to lauch in motion that just static flying and comming down is a lot better. I just slide in like a skate crash, get up, walk back and get on the board.
After a while my starts got more consistent. I really had to focus on getting my weight back and low, power up, feel the board slide a little bit down wind until it hooked up and then I was off. It feels great! I can imagine that when you have it dialed that you can get really agressive with the starts.
I got the transitions (switching direction) from right to left down pretty good. Gotta work on cosistency but consistent wind would really help too. At one point I did a big sweeping tunr and came back across the field riding toe side. THAT WAS FREAKIN' AWESOME!!!! Then the wind let up just the slightest amount and I lost my balance and had to bail. But the turn and the ride up to that point were great. I never got another good pull like that the rest of the afternoon. But I'm looking forward to getting that again.
I had one "fast" run. And by "fast" I mean maybe 20mph. 20 isn't fast in the big scheme but when you're learning its plenty fast enough. So here I was humming along, heading to the edge of the field and running out of room quick. 10% of my brain was thinking "Okay, how are we gonna stop this thing?" while 80% was thinking "WOOO HOOO GO! GO! GO!". The other 10% was wonder "Hmmm, what's that buzzing sound?" Then I adjusted my front foot just slightly and heard a loud "BRAAAP!" followed but a sudden ejection off a suddenly stopped mountain board.
I apparently stepped on one of the front wheels. That buzzing sound was my shoe just grazing the tire tread.
I layed there for about 5 minutes laughing my ass off. I guess that stuff doesn't happen with the bindings on. Oh well, it was awesome up to that point and it solved my stopping dilema. I got up without injury. Grass is nicer to slap than ice. I didn't hit my head which is good as I already wrecked a helmet Saturday in a roadbike crash and I didn't want to have to pony up the cash for two new helmets.
I don't know why people don't wear helmets.
Anyway, I flew for a couple hours, rode for a couple minutes (hehehe). I learned a lot and now I'm thinking about hitting the coast where the wind is better and see how much I can progress with just haveing to deal with getting my board skills down.
Until next time.....
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 thing is a lot like the snowkite thing in the sense that after an infuriating string of failures you immediately forget about the failures as soon as you get moving again. The frustration just vanishes. Awesome.
Eventually I got long string of really good runs back and forth across the field. I gotta say it really is awesome. It's kinda like when I picked up Tele-skiing. It makes an area the I'm very familiar with, almost bored with, new again. A few runs I got lofted and ended up doing a few small 10 footers. Since I'm still just riding the board with grip tape and my 5.10s (http://fiveten.com/) every time I launched I left the board behind. The first time was a little unnerving but it's a lot better to lauch in motion that just static flying and comming down is a lot better. I just slide in like a skate crash, get up, walk back and get on the board.
After a while my starts got more consistent. I really had to focus on getting my weight back and low, power up, feel the board slide a little bit down wind until it hooked up and then I was off. It feels great! I can imagine that when you have it dialed that you can get really agressive with the starts.
I got the transitions (switching direction) from right to left down pretty good. Gotta work on cosistency but consistent wind would really help too. At one point I did a big sweeping tunr and came back across the field riding toe side. THAT WAS FREAKIN' AWESOME!!!! Then the wind let up just the slightest amount and I lost my balance and had to bail. But the turn and the ride up to that point were great. I never got another good pull like that the rest of the afternoon. But I'm looking forward to getting that again.
I had one "fast" run. And by "fast" I mean maybe 20mph. 20 isn't fast in the big scheme but when you're learning its plenty fast enough. So here I was humming along, heading to the edge of the field and running out of room quick. 10% of my brain was thinking "Okay, how are we gonna stop this thing?" while 80% was thinking "WOOO HOOO GO! GO! GO!". The other 10% was wonder "Hmmm, what's that buzzing sound?" Then I adjusted my front foot just slightly and heard a loud "BRAAAP!" followed but a sudden ejection off a suddenly stopped mountain board.
I apparently stepped on one of the front wheels. That buzzing sound was my shoe just grazing the tire tread.
I layed there for about 5 minutes laughing my ass off. I guess that stuff doesn't happen with the bindings on. Oh well, it was awesome up to that point and it solved my stopping dilema. I got up without injury. Grass is nicer to slap than ice. I didn't hit my head which is good as I already wrecked a helmet Saturday in a roadbike crash and I didn't want to have to pony up the cash for two new helmets.
I don't know why people don't wear helmets.
Anyway, I flew for a couple hours, rode for a couple minutes (hehehe). I learned a lot and now I'm thinking about hitting the coast where the wind is better and see how much I can progress with just haveing to deal with getting my board skills down.
Until next time.....
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