Beginner STOKE

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jowall
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Beginner STOKE

Post by jowall » 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.

zgur
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Post by zgur » Thu Mar 24, 2005 2:57 pm

Welcome to this wonderful sport. You will be amazed at how the stoke only gets more intense as you level improves.

Enjoy and keep the good karma flowing brother.

Z.

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bdawg
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Post by bdawg » Thu Mar 24, 2005 5:01 pm

Jowall,
Right on! I still remember that first time by myself was very intimidating. That was very cool of ollie to check you out before you headed out. I am pretty sure anyone on the beach would help you if you asked them nicely.
You may not want to rush it but kiteboarding really gets fun when you start jumping as a beginner. The floating feeling is awesome. I always wondered if anybody heard me when i was shouting for joy after those first few jumps. I hope to see you out there,

Blair

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OliverG
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Post by OliverG » Thu Mar 24, 2005 8:07 pm

John,

Sweet! So I can assume the Outrage 10 ended up working out for you okay yesterday? Was it Silvia who coached you a bit or Sophia, another kiteboarding gal we don't know about. Now worries, I'm so bad with names, which is why I verified your with you yesterday after meeting you at the Swap Meet last Sunday! Hopefully, everything you learned/absorbed during your lessons at the end of last season will come back quickly and your learning curve this season will be short.

With a lot of time on the water, who knows, you may be one of the few who look for the winter wind and then in February or so, you'll say, "Man, it's been like 2-3 weeks since I've kited!"

See you on the water,
Ollie

jowall
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Post by jowall » Fri Mar 25, 2005 12:49 pm

Thanks for the correction....it must have been Silvia that was so helpful.

I flew a WW RageII 10 on Wednesday. I was underpowered, but when the gusts came along I was happy for it. My other option was a 14 and Silvia was right to suggest that would be too much.

I found that the SAFE system does allow you to depower through the gusts and then sheet back in when you need it. I'm really happy with the kite so far.

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