All about Kiting...

There was no wind today, so I couldn't kite. Me, Kite Sheriff, and Gerald just putzed around at the beachz, waiting and talking. Yesterday, though, was another story.

J-Man met me at the Starbucks by Trancas market at around noon. We were both so eager to see the wind kick up. I guess overly eager. J-Man's friend, Casey, who was visiting from Chicago also came down to watch us kite. We waited, waited, and waited. Waited 4 hours, in fact. Yes, we were desperate. Yes, both of us are addicted to the wind. Mhm. Finally, at around 4pm, the wind started to kick up, and we started to set up (YEA!). When the wind kicked up another notch, Kite Sheriff helped me launch my kite, and I bodydragged out past the waves and started working the kite. Up on the board, I went. (woohoo!) But I still couldn't maintain staying on the kite for too long. I just need more practice, I think. The wind would die and I would sink, I would gain too much speed and crash, I couldn't keep working the kite longer than I wanted to (right now, I think the longest ride that I've had has been about 10 dives), etc... I am getting a feel for going over the bumps on the waves - keep the nose up! I even managed to do a little hop. I imagined that I was on my snowboard, getting ready to do a jump, and I made the hop without crashing! Woohoo! I tried going on the other awkward side a few times too. Failed. But I am starting to get the feel for it a bit. Next session, I will try it a few more times... actually, many more times. I NEEED to be able to come back into the beach, man. Oh, another note, I bodydragged upwind with the board in my hand. That was the first time that I did that. At Mojave, I was bodydragging upwind but without the board. This time, it was with the board in my hand. Woohoo! When I got back to the beach, Kite Sheriff congratulated me on bodydraging upwind with the board. I am hoping that by the end of the Mexico trip, I will be able to ride upwind. That would be awesome... or "SICK!" as Kitemaster T would say. Ahh...another good day of kiting.

Now, with each session, I feel myself getting better on the board, learning something new every time. Now, I'm going to kick it up a notch and try to accelerate my riding the board. Mexico will be my breakthrough, I think. I can't wait! It's gonna be ALL ABOUT KITING.