Polar Plunge 2010

From Polar Plunge '10

I'm a little late getting this up, but definitely wanted to put it out there as a Thank You to all the people that donated to my pledge drive, and to our team's other pledge drives. Together we raised almost $1500.00 for Special Olympics!

From Polar Plunge '10

We had a beautiful day, with temps in 40's and warm sunshine. Unfortunately, that only made the water feel all that much colder! There's nothing that will take your breath away like going all-under in freezing water.

From Polar Plunge '10

From Polar Plunge '10

It was a great day, we all had fun, and the Special Olympics got some much-needed support. Thanks again to all who donated!

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.

Great Day on Calhoun

Yesterday Nora and I (later joined by Pete) went out to hit the wind at Calhoun. The conditions (aside from a couple of lulls) were perfect - 42 degrees, packed snow, and great wind speed (maybe 10-12?). I'm finally getting comfortable on the big kite and spent most of my time practicing boosts. Got a couple nice ones and lots of tiny ones, but more importantly I'm starting to get my confidence back after having a few mishaps earlier this season. Cruising around at pretty fast speeds, leaning against the kite hard enough to touch the snow with one hand, and feeling like I finally have some control over my boosts was awesome. I probably looked like an elephant on ice skates, but I felt like Ruben Lenten on skiis. It was great. Nora also did great and was zooming around like a pro, dispite being a little underpowered on her 10m. She's really getting good at working that kite! I can't wait to get out on Pepin and see her really rock! All in all, it was one of the most fun days I've had kiting yet. The only problem was that we were having such a good time that nobody wanted to stop to pick up a camera, so there's no pics from the lake. The final highlight of the day was that Nora made me an awesome weight bag with a "Z" patch on it just for me! Now I can leave the kite set up without it blowing around the lake, and make self-launching easier. Thanks again, Nora -- You Rock!