Oh yes. The 6 hours of travel was quite worth it. Yesterday, the cape winds were mighty.
Upon arriving in Falmouth, I helped Ryan pack up the car with our gear. Ruth looked on, prepared for windy beach adventures.
There are two kites in the picture to the right, the one on the right is my 15meter, and the one on the left is Ryan’s 9meter. We figured between the two we’d be prepared for most wind scenarios.
I got in a few great runs, and started getting the hang of leaning back and powering the kite properly. I would say my longest run lasted for about 15-25 seconds and felt great.
The wind continued to strengthen as the afternoon progressed, so we switched to Ryan’s 9meter kite. His kite has significantly longer lines and a different aspect ratio (width vs. length). As a result, you can get killer speed with his kite, and killer ‘torque’ with my kite.
The killer speed was indeed killer. During one particular launch, I maneuvered the kite unexpectedly and was whipped forward. The kiteboard which had been calmly sitting in the water, waiting for my eager feet, smashed into my shins. The resulting pain was sharp and lenthy. A few minutes passed before I could comfortably stand.
Ryan pulled off a successful backflip. Check it out on YouTube here.
I like how the kite sweeps into view at the end of the clip.
While the kiteboarding was good, the post-kiteboarding action was not. As we drove home Ryan’s Subaru died. When put in drive, the transmission sounded like someone was throwing rocks down a gutter. So we waited patiently for a friend to come pick us up and as we locked up the car to leave it there for later towing, Ryan mistakenly locked the keys in the car… while it was running.
We went back to the house, and as Ryan zipped off on his scooter with the spare key to turn off the broken subaru, Ruth made some speghetti and I headed home. I got back to CT around 11:30, and I’m feeling it this morning. It was worth it though, I am one weekend closer to complete Kiteboard domination.
Was your weekend Righteous?
My weekend was uneventful, which isn’t always a bad thing. Kiteboarding looks like fun.
My weekend was beyond Spectacular. Lets see here…where to begin. Well lets start at the beginning.
Friday immediately following work me and shauna went on a little bit of a date to Legal Seafood. I had some sort of Cake with crab in it, and she had green things. then the fun began! We went to see Pirate of the Carribean: Dead Man’s Chest (PotC:DMC). I thought it was a good movie. First reason it was good. Pirates. Second reason it was good. More pirates.
Then on saturday we had an action filled adventure. We first went to the Wrentham Outlets. We purchased 3 pairs of Puma’s , 2 for me 1 for her. We also bought some sort of cheese ssauce from Harry and davids. After we left there we met up with Micah and Evie, john Duell and Naomi, and Neal and Allison. We went to the Nordic Lodge! We drove down to Rhode Island to eat food. TONS OF FOOD! A fatty like you MikeD would have been in heaven with all the Good food and Good friends. Lobster, steak, fried anything, broccoli and Pudding. Oh god the pudding. After 2 hours of gaining weight we proceeded to play a rousing game of Apples to Apples.
Sunday was the pinnacle of Human Evolution. We made the trip up to New Hampshire to relax and eat with and even different set of Friends. Micah and Evie again, Shaun and Jen, Shamus and Jen, Eric and Becky, and Paul the Mighty was there. Oh and don’t forget Duchess. So we hung out for hours migrating between the pool, thats right POOL, and the lawn. there was Rocket launches, both Water and baloon variety of rockets, Grilled treats for all, and then a great game of loaded Questions, where people learned I work out 10 times a week, Shamus would name his boat “GIGATOR!”, and Micah would like to have Mr. Miagi raised from the grave. So many good times were had I had to condense it down to this small post.
Whew….A whirlwind of friends is always good. But I’m tired and thats not always a bad thing.
There was a lot of moving into the Ville as well as meat consumed. Pork tenderloin, sushi, fajitas and and a tasty tasty visit to Redbones. Combined with super HD soccer action and served over ice, this weekend is quite refreshing.
The Ultimate tournament at the weekend was fun in some ways (our team did OK and I played pretty well) but rubbish in others (the tournament venue and organisation were awful). Better than sitting around at home though, I guess.
The kiteboarding sounds pretty rad though, and I’m looking forward to seeing the video when I get home.
1) I took my first red-eye flight. Darn it, I just cannot fit on airplanes (even Company F ones).
2) I got swallowed up by NYC. Whirlwind tour, barely got any sleep.
3) Ate some pretty bad Spanish food. Bought some sunglasses.
4) Watched little Italy react as Italia won the WC.
5) Talked on the phone with Mike D. as the Subaru had rocks in its gutter.
The smaller size of my kite also lends to its speedy nature, in addition to the higher aspect ratio. Smaller kite = less drag = more speed!
Also Subaru update: The car suffered from a broken axel, not a busted tranny. The new axel will be installed tomorrow, and will cost less than the tow. Awesome.
Also shin update: When I was learning, I actually cut my shin open (not badly) in a similar incident. It’s a fairly usual thing to happen when you’re learning.
It was a glorious weekend indeed. Kurt has described Sunday’s bash to perfection, so I need not go into further detail there. Saturday involved a trip to Legal Seafoods to celebrate Jen’s AMAZING grades for her first year of law school, and a visit to the Cheesecake Factory for cheesecakey dessert afterward….the coconut chocolate cheesecake is, as Kurt puts it, “the pinnacle of cheesecake evolution”.