Older KB-ers (like me!)

[Bulldog]

42 is 24 in the mirror, Z.

Three hours strapless in the surf yesterday and my knees are creakin' like I spent the whole day skiing pow. I'm always more sore when I ride the waves then when I ride the Delta, muscle sore anyway. And then there's the whiplash if you go through the washing machine on a big day like Thursday...

frigginoldguy is the best screenname on this site, hands down =D>

[windsaloft]

We're looking at visiting friends down south of Mulege', BCS in Nov/Dec when the Nortes start --- we've worked on and off for an outdoor school down there for years, so a great place to hang. Hope it's a windy year. We went to Hatteras (a college hangout from years gone by for me) this June for my parents' 50th, and got my partner stoked to go back there next summer for a kitesurf safari down the outer banks. We have a set of free round trip plane tickets for domestic US, so were trying to figure out where we might go this Jan/Feb when it is too cold and wet to be up here (we live aboard a small boat, so that time of year is icky). I'd though S Padre, but not sure how warm it is in Jan/Feb. And what might be left after the hurricanes! Any suggestions anyone?

[Blackbird]

How about we replace the word OLD with AGE, or EXPERIENCED, or ____.
Seems to me the negative connotations with OLD generally are defied by what experienced and aged people tend to be doing. Stopping all the small degredations of spirit and embracing the positive tones just makes us all happier. Or maybe I am just aging to the point of denial? Hmmm.

[windsaloft]

Isn't the Red Hat society a group of older women who wear purple clothes and red hats and don't give a rip anymore what people think of them as they do what they darned well please? Maybe we can be "Red Hat Kiteboarders" -- or, we need our own color hat --- or.....we could all wear pink flamingoes on our PFD's.

I think if you say the word "old" correctly, with the appropriate wicked grin and twinkling eye, it comes across as a challenge and a bit of a boast -- like, "you think I can't do this, but look-at-me-go! Be careful, I might beat you......" So, I use the word to kinda kick myself in the butt. But yea, it bums me out when others call me that.

I'll choose ---- "well seasoned" :=)

[friggin old guy]

Small degradations of the spirit? When I'm talking with my kids and their friends about stuff, I AM old. It's no big deal. Some people are "old" when they turn 30, and just sorta give up on stuff.

If you're worrying about getting old.....it's much better than the alternative......

I like Zev's attitude.....honestly although the warranty on my parts may be pretty close to expiring, I don't get any less stoke from surfing or kiting than I did when I was 18. Well, ok, they hadn't invented kiting when I was 18, but you know what I mean.

I think you should Just keep doing the stuff you like to do, and don't let people tell you you're too old to do it. Hell, my dad was telling me I was too old to do stuff ever since I was a kid, and he's still wondering when I'm going to grow up. 'Course he's the one telling my 85 year old mother that she shouldn't be playing 18 holes of golf at her age, either.

Being a friggin old guy has many advantages:
-You can say stuff like "when I was young" and talk about how great it was
(the mind tends to forget bad stuff and accentuate the good)
-You can speak authoritatively about tide, wind and swell
-You can say whatever the hell you want and be regarded as a sage (or more likely just be written off as a harmless old coot....no downside)
-Soon AARP discounts will be available on all equipment

In sum, I choose to LIKE being friggin old, especially since I have no alternative. And that keeps me young......er......?

[GracieMarie]

I think VINTAGE is the word I'd use here.....Old v Young is like tall v short , chubby v skinny, all that dividing shite that seperates instead of unifying. Who are we to say one is more valuable than another? We all have beating hearts that leap at the sight of fat swell and white caps. Sally forth with aloha and respect. Take care of each other.....

[whitecap]

old, vintage, whatever...One thing this thread misses is the potential effect of your kids on your level of kiting. OK - had the 50 b day this year....but I am trying to keep up with Brian...forget Alex.... 'cus Brian is starting to nail his s bends....what is a dad to do? So, I keep trying to get the back roll kite loops bigger, and throw the raleys, s bends, whatever....I kinda like that raley to toe with one hand on the bar, even if my shoulder dosn't.

My shoulder was tweaked years back from a snowbaord crash, and after surgery the doc said my time was limited....screw them....started swimming more, and it feels stronger, if not much more flexible. Did the low back herniation thing years back from too much yacht racing. found that kiting helps the back a bunch, and all is good - as long as I remember Zeev's litany about stretching before a sesh.

Lasers in the 70's, windsurfed 80's and 90's, and kited since '01, with some surfing in there as well. Hope to do more surfing, since Alex is getting into that. The laser has been a blast at rio this last year, and windsurfing a quick sesh in the big blow last Saturday was fun as well. I do not know how long the run will last, but my view is pretty simple - use it or lose it...

Bob