2007 Water Season Underway!

I have officially started my 2007 kiteboarding season on the water. Sunday provided some excellent 15-20knt SSW winds along with 80 degree air temps. Paul, Dario, and I headed up to Waukegan for the day and met up with James and about 20 other kiters. Even though water temps were only in the 40s and the winds were up and down throughout the day, we were still able to get some solid, powered-up sessions. We decided to head back home at about 3pm as we were all cold and sore from the 4 hours of riding in wetsuits only.

Air temps have now dropped back into the 40s....hopefully the drysuit that I have been waiting for will finally come so that I can get back in the water soon!

Cabarete

It's only been a week since we've returned from Cabarete, but before I get to that I'll wrap up the winter riding from the last couple of months (I'm terrible keeping up with this thing).

Old man winter must be getting soft in his old age because we had another mild winter this year. I only had a total of 3 or 4 snowkiting sessions. One of them was on Lake Zurich on February 16. The wind was pretty gusty, but it was great riding on my 10m and I was able to test out our new camera. I was able snap a couple of pictures until my fingers nearly froze. Overall it was a really fun session and I even landed a couple of jumps!

The only other snowkite session was during a trip up to Marinette. After driving around and trying to find a decent spot for about 45 min we decided to drive out to the "Asylum Farm" which is a big open, public field where we used to go raccoon hunting. It was the perfect place for a ride and ride I did. Well mostly....there were couple of brutal wipeouts that left my face pretty scratched up due to faceplanting into the hard, crusty snow. Even this wasn't enough to dampen my spirits though, as I got to ride around for about 2 hours boosting pretty good airs (and landing about half of them) while Mom and Dad sat and watched from the the roadside.

Only a few weeks later we were on our way to Cabarete, Dominican Republic. It was a bit of a hassle getting there since JetBlue cancelled our flight and we weren't able to arrive until 2 days later than planned. Even two days later we still had to put up with a lot of frustration before we would arrive, but I won't dwell on that.

Upon arrival in Cabarete the weather was fantastic, but we immediately went to bed because it was about 6am and we had been without sleep for at least 24 hours. The wind didn't come through that day, but the following day was easily the best day of riding. The breeze was starting to build right around 11am so I began to rig up my 16m only to find that it had developed a tear in the canopy during the flight. Without missing a beat I had the local "kite caddies" pump up my 10m while I walked over to one of the kite schools for a lesson. Since I've been riding for about 2 years, my instructor Luis focused on getting me riding upwind. By the end of my hour long lesson, I was. This was hands-down the most amazing session I've ever had. There was perfectly warm weather, warm water, great wind, and the most incredible part was seeing the other 60+ kiters on the water as well. Were you to count all of the kites at the other stretches of beach as well, you would count well over 100 kites in the air at any given moment! It was amazing!

Later that afternoon I jumped on a motocoche with my kite caddie Christopher to ride over to this local woman's house who does kite repairs. We left the kite with her over night and came back to pick it up the next morning. The repair was top-notch. The cost...500 Dom. pesos (about $15). I couldn't have asked for a better deal! That afternoon the wind finally picked up and I was able to get a sunset session with about 6 other riders. The solitude of riding while the sun was going down and with the sky turning a deep red was a stark contrast to the chaos of the previous day. However both are equally memorable.

During the rest of our week at Kite Beach Hotel I was only able to get one other short session in between the rain storms. Even with the subpar weather, we had a great time and it was a truly unforgettable trip.

Here and gone again

Last weekend we finally had our first big snow of the season. Some areas north of the city got as much as 14 inches of snow and temps dipped into the teens. Saturday morning James and I geared up and went to Lippold. After a brief detour looking for more suitable sites that included a little off-roading behind a school and pushing James' car out of the snow, we made it back to Lippold's north field and rigged the big kites.

Our first run out, we were LIT!! The wind was clearly stronger than anticipated so we promptly rigged up smaller kites which turned out to be perfect. We spent the next 4 hours shredding the new powder on my 10m and James on his 14. It was great! I was able to go upwind at will for the first time, so that means no more walking upwind!! This makes the sport so much more enjoyable because you're not interrupted from riding every 10 minutes by a long walk upwind (which is even longer in deep snow). We rode until our legs were shaking and could no longer hold us up.

Sunday morning came too early and I eased my sore muscles out of bed. I called James and we decided to find some fresh powder elsewhere. We ended up at Melas park where I went straight to the small kite. James and Paul showed up about half an hour later and we ripped up the clean powder for the next 4 hours. Again I was cruising upwind at will and even venturing to launch a few jumps. Most of which resulted in catching a face full of snow, but I did manage to land a few as well.

Now as the temps near 40 degrees, I'm left waiting for more...

Winter's here

With water temps in the high 30's now, my water riding is pretty much done for the season. However, Chicago had its first snow of the season about a week ago. So hopefully it won't be too long before I can dust off my snowboard for some snowkiting.

This video has me so stoked for our first big snow storm.
http://www.alexpetersonkiteflight.com/v1.html

Autumn winds

Thankfully the autumn winds have arrived in Chicago. Over the past two months I've had some epic sessions as well as some big disappointments. Typically there is very little wind during the summer months, so when it comes around you need to take advantage of it.

On one occasion we were on our way back from a weekend in Fish Creek. Winds were approximately 10knts gusting to 20. Needless to say the conditions were not ideal for launching off of a boat. This attempt to ride was a complete debacle. Thankfully I had my little brother there to help or it easily could have become a disaster....enough said.

I did have one other opportunity in August to ride out at Zion which went pretty well. However, I also got skunked a few times as well. The real fun came on our road trip out west.

Sara and I had an awesome two week vacation that took us out to Casper, Yellowstone, Portland, Hood River, the Willamette Valley, down the Oregon and California coasts, the Redwood National Forest, San Francisco, Napa Valley, and Yosemite. It was incredible!! Plus, while we were in Portland I picked up a new kite that would allow me to ride in the higher winds associated with the Gorge. I was able to get a good deal on a 2006 10m Slingshot Turbo Diesel, which is the perfect compliment to my 16m. My rideable windrange is now about 10-30knts.

With my new kite in tow I was able to get some pretty good riding in the one day we spent at legendary Hood River. When we first arrived at the Spit the wind was blowing about 15knts so I put up my 16m and had some good riding on the relatively flat waters of the Columbia River. Eventually though I did get pulled down wind and had to walk back to where I started. The walk back was a tough one as the wind had picked up to about 20knts and I was walking down the river barefoot across a lot of rocks which bruised my feet up quite a bit. After I got back on the Spit I rigged up my new kite and went back out for some more riding. The smaller kite flies much faster and is so much more responsive, I was having a blast!! I ended up downwind again, but thankfully this time I had put my booties on to spare my feet any additional punishment.

The smaller kite has already come in handy in the high winds that we've had back in Chicago the last couple of days. With winds out of the south of up to 30knts I went up to Waukegan to take advantage. I initially struggled riding due to the 4-6ft waves that were rolling in because I would hit the waves with too much speed and either fly off the wave like it was ramp and then wipeout or I'd catch the nose of board on the wave and faceplant. After struggling with getting past the breakers for a couple of hours I eventually got the hang of it and was able to get some good riding in. Tomorrow we're supposed to get a good breeze out of the west so hopefully Miller beach will be going off....

So Sore...

Went over to Weko Beach in lower Michigan this past Saturday and met up with James and Paul who must have left Chicago before the sun came up. I was amazed at how there was such a nice beach only about an hour and a half drive away. Clean sand, warm clear water....it was like being in the Carribean.

The riding was great as well. I rode on and off for about 5 hours (hence the soreness that I'm still feeling 2 days later). I'm staying upwind a little better and even changing tack without falling back down into the water. With a little more practice I should be able to ride upwind so that I won't have to do the "walk of shame" walking back up the beach.

Perfect Day!

The last couple weekends I've been going out to the beach with the hopes of finally riding, but was constantly faced with poor conditions. Very little wind, offshore winds, and the other variable, gusty conditions were making me quite frustrated.

After checking the forecast Friday night, James, Paul, and I had decided to get up and leave for St Joe by 6am Saturday morning. When that time came, we rubbed the sleep from our eyes chugged some coffee and checked the updated weather forecast. Waukegan looked like it would be the better place to go (and it's much closer). We took our time and got to the beach by about 10am. Upon our arrival, the wind was blowing 10-15mph. Paul was already out on his 21m and said that the wind wasn't too bad further out. I quickly scarfed down my McDonalds breakfast and rigged up my kite. I got a launch from James and made my way to the water with the hopes of finally being able to get up and stay up and riding for more than 3 seconds.

I got in the water, put my board on, dove the kite and then was picked up out of the water as I prepared to fall back down as I usually have. Only this time I didn't fall back down! I kept right on riding as the kite continued to build power. I was finally kite surfing!!!

Then I was struck by an amazing revelation. It wasn't just that I completely sucked (although that may be a contributing factor), but I realized that what I had needed the most was more wind. Looking back it becomes clear that my previous attempts at riding were ruined primarily because there was not enough power from the kite to keep me going. This day that was clearly not the case. The side-shore wind had filled in to the point that kite was delivering an abundance of power.

I kept riding throughout the day continually improving on each ride. A few times I was even riding upwind! It was such a great feeling to just park the kite in the sky and just feel yourself gliding across the water... beyond explanation. As I got more comfortable, I decided that I needed to push myself a little more. I was riding along with some pretty good speed towards shore and as I approached, I whipped the kite back in the opposite direction and launched myself into the air for my first jump! Although I was only 5 or 6 feet in the air, it was such an incredible feeling as I hung in the air above the water. The landing was a little jarring, but I'm working on that...

Overall, it was hands down my best day kiteboarding to date and my sore muscles can attest to that. Even so, I can't wait to get out and do it again!

New kite and a new kite addict

Had a great day out at Waukegan today! The wind may have only been 8-12knts but we still had a blast! My new Turbo Diesel is an amazing kite, it flys fast, turns quick, pulls hard, boosts high, and still depowers completely!

After picking up Shane, we got to the beach at about noon. We rigged up both the old and new kites. The thermal was just starting to pick up so I put the old kite up in the air to show Shane the ropes. Next it was Shane's turn. He flew the kite amazingly well for it being his first time. Then he learned how much power a kite can generate as he got dragged down the beach. I swear I have never seen anyone wear such a big smile while being pulled across the sand!

For my first time flying the new kite, there are not enough good things that I can say about it.....it was just fun as hell to fly!

Now that I have the new kite, the old Wipika Hydro is now in Shane's hands. So keep an eye out for The Flying Prince of Thailand....coming soon to a beach near you!

I am going to get an STD!

Thats right, this weekend I will be getting a brand new 16m Slingshot Turbo Diesel. Thanks goes to Bob Cook in Madison, WI....thanks for the hookup! Can't wait to get out and ride the new kite!

After a couple of sessions I will post my first impressions, followed by a full review and some pics of the actual kite. Here are some shots of what it may look like as well as a video link describing and showing off the kite.

http://www.sskiteboarding.com/video/TD%20Manual%20NEW.wmv

Breaking Development

May be able to get a Turbo Diesel (www.sskiteboarding.com) at a fair price

.....more to come.