Hardwater Kiter

Here in New England we occasionally get hit with a certain type of storm refered to in this part of the world as a "Nor' Easter".   To put it simply it's a hurricane like storm system that  usually follows the eastern coastline heading North East and really pumps out snow and wind. With it's rotation winds come out of the North East and can be REALLY punchy, even for around here.  They can make a hell of a mess but at the same time they can dump a ton of snow in a short period of time and with the wind they produce you can go from having no snow, no wind, and nowhere to ride to having plenty of snow, crazy wind and riding in the fields. That's what we got on October 29th. I heard the weather report a few days prior but didn't give it much thought.  They said there would be a Nor' Easter and that some snow was expected but it's been unseasonably warm this fall, the trees still hadn't lost many leaves (in fact many were still green) and i...

Early Morning Mini car and Mega Bike A while back I said that over the summer I might sneak a mountain bike installment into this blog nonsense. What does mountain biking have to do with kiting? I’m not sure to be honest, they’re really very different activities. Biking builds strength and maybe more importantly endurance. Dh’ing (downhill riding) builds a lot of muscle both in the upper body and legs. I don’t do shuttle runs or lift access riding I either pedal up or hike with the bike up on my back. Anyway I ride bikes. I’m a better mountain biker than a kiter but I have a few more years in the saddle than I do the harness and those years have mostly been spent riding here in New England where we have of some of the most technical riding on the planet. As the saying goes for pretty much everything that people seem to do outside in New England “I you can do it here you can do it anywhere.” I used to live, eat and breathe mountain biking. I got my first bike when I...

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...

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. The shifty/punchy makes for pretty hard flying some days but it’s better than no wind at all and I think it makes us better kiters. 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...