Sunday, February 03, 2008

Kiting Weekend










This weekend proved to be a great kiting weekend. Saturday Caleb, Jackie, and myself headed out to Calhoun to get some kite time in, only to find the lake perfectly calm. With no winds to fly in, we tried heading over to the skating rink at Lake of the Isles for some hockey. Since I didn't have my skates along, I got to try out a pair of ancient leather skates that had no support in them at all. Anyone who's played hockey with me would have gotten a kick out of it because my ankles were constantly buckling as if I'd never skated before. Mercifully, the wind came up after about an hour at the rink so the three of us headed back to Calhoun. The winds were light, but workable and Jackie wound up getting in some great riding and learning how to squeeze every ounce of strength out of the kite. Caleb didn't have his board along, so got his flying skills dialed on the trainer. Though off to a slow start, the day turned out to be really good.

Sunday had a better wind forecast and Caleb and I headed out to Calhoun again. This time Caleb had his board and I had all of my gear. The winds were light, but enough to zip around with the 15m and even get some small boosts. After struggling to get the 5m to pull him, Caleb gave the big kite a shot and did very well. It's a lot of power to get used to, but he got the hang of it quickly. Unfortunately the hard surface made edging the snowboard more difficult, but he did get some solid runs in and is definitely ready to go when conditions improve. All in all it was great to get out on the lake, really fun to see the newbies riding, and nice to get some rides in myself.

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