Beginner STOKE
Posted: Thu Mar 24, 2005 2:55 pm
I figured there are plenty of other people wanting to get into the sport that are reading this forum. For experience kiters, this may cause a flashback.
I experienced the frustration of taking lessons at the very end of the '04 season. 2 lessons @ Sherman. There was no wind at Alameda (which should have been a sign). I had spent a ton of time on the trainer kite and it paid off. Was able to tack back and forth on the first lesson just before dark. 2nd lesson was even better but not much upwind. Then I realized the hard way that there's no wind here from Oct-Mar
After checking forecasts daily for 5 months, I was finally able to go out solo yesterday at Alameda. While I may have had visions of riding upwind and hitting a small jump off of some chop, I'm not there yet. 5 months of downtime made the lessons kind of vague. I spent yesterday on the board, off the board and looking for the board. The kiteboarding equivalent of snowboarding on your ass. It was fairly gusty which reminded me of learning to ski on ice in the rain.
Despite all that, I was so stoked. I've found a new passion/challenge and given a few more sessions I'll hopefully have more confidence. Maybe I'll get to the point that I'd call myself a kiteboarder.
Thanks to Ollie for double checking my rigging and Sophia for all her advice. I'll be sure to pay it back when I'm more experienced.
I experienced the frustration of taking lessons at the very end of the '04 season. 2 lessons @ Sherman. There was no wind at Alameda (which should have been a sign). I had spent a ton of time on the trainer kite and it paid off. Was able to tack back and forth on the first lesson just before dark. 2nd lesson was even better but not much upwind. Then I realized the hard way that there's no wind here from Oct-Mar
After checking forecasts daily for 5 months, I was finally able to go out solo yesterday at Alameda. While I may have had visions of riding upwind and hitting a small jump off of some chop, I'm not there yet. 5 months of downtime made the lessons kind of vague. I spent yesterday on the board, off the board and looking for the board. The kiteboarding equivalent of snowboarding on your ass. It was fairly gusty which reminded me of learning to ski on ice in the rain.
Despite all that, I was so stoked. I've found a new passion/challenge and given a few more sessions I'll hopefully have more confidence. Maybe I'll get to the point that I'd call myself a kiteboarder.
Thanks to Ollie for double checking my rigging and Sophia for all her advice. I'll be sure to pay it back when I'm more experienced.