Video - ride the hill...

Not much wind today but did spend some time walking up and rising down a local hill...

ride the hill... from Mark Crook on Vimeo.

75kgs...

A while back (Link) I was trying to lose some weight - I seem to have stabilised at about 75kgs! Which I am very happy about as I now fit 32ich waist - again!

Pay me..?

I wish somebody would pay me for doing what I love, rather than having to work for a living!

Why..?

...sometimes I wonder why?

I didn't go out in the buggy this morning, despite epic winds, as we still had some thunder about following storms last night. It didn't seem a good idea - kite + lightening = ouch!

So being lazy, this arvo,  I tried the board with the 10m Manta at my local footie oval. This is always a mistake, the winds at the oval are gusty and swirl all over the place, the manta would luff, power-up, over-fly, float to the ground and then power-up again. Not the best conditions to practice kite land-boarding...

I ended up not moving anywhere, getting frustrated and hot and ended up doing an unintentional static jump of about 8m and then the kite collapsing landing in a heap and twisting my ankle!

Video - berck 07 Mars 2014

Another great video from the French, they do have some amazing beaches.
I love the big downwind turns, may have to have a go at that...

berck 07 mars 2014 from Florian on Vimeo.

Whoop whoop..!

Sunday morning is looking good and there is no chance of any showers (they were forecast for Sunday earlier in the week)...

Can't wait to get in the buggy.

Anxiety...

Jaw clenched, so much it aches, shoulders up by my ears, chest tightness and feeling panicky. This is how I have been feeling over the last couple of weeks, waking up in the night with my thoughts spiralling and nothing to get hold of.
Toss and turn, think happy thoughts, try to think of nothing at all - but something keeps going round and round, thoughts spiralling.
During the day more of the same chest tight with butterfly's, shoulders moving up and teeth and jaw aching. Relax, breath, chill but it doesn't help.

I'm normally pretty laid back and things go over my head so feeling like this is unnatural, but I have had it before...

A while back I felt the same and got some free counselling sessions through work, there was nothing, just my mind taking everything out of proportion and I felt much better learnt to identify there wasn't anything.

To switch off I normally visualise kites, buggying and boarding (so why aren't you surprised!) but that hasn't been working.

Still my jaw is clenched and my shoulders are heading back up, the chest tightness has stopped but the last couple of nights I have slept better and am feeling better.

I have a awesome wife, two fantastic girls, a mad dog, a great house and live in a beutiful country. Work is work, we have no financial worries and we are all fit and healthy - life is good. So why do I feel so anxious, thoughts spiralling out of control..

Stop, pull the quick release, let go of the handles let the thoughts collapse and drop like a de-powered kite. No OBE!

My blog is my channel to express my passion for kites, buggying and boarding, but I'm also using it as my therapy to help get these feelings out...

I am feeling better, jaw still aches but feeling more relaxed. I have been Googling and it's normal to feel this way better to recognise it and then you can deal with it, as Dr Brian Ironwood says...

http://www.mantherapy.org.au/

Easterlies...

It's looking hopeful that we are going to get some easterlies over the weekend, as the last few months have mainly been southerlies in the morning...

Easterlies mean longer, faster runs in the buggy.

Video - Espiguette Landkiting

A couple of cool videos from Lolo BSD...

Espiguette landkiting from lolo BSD™ on Vimeo.

Espiguette Landkiting #2 from lolo BSD™ on Vimeo.

Hooked on boarding...

Animated wind map...

This looks amazing...

Animated wind map (link)

screen shot

Muscles...

fire-power!

After mountain-boarding and kite boarding at the weekend it has taken until today for my arms and legs to stop aching! My Abs, thighs, arms and shoulders have all felt sore. Obviously the boarding is working out different muscles!

Video - solotraining

From MG Kites - awesome beach...

Ouddorp Solotraining from MG kites on Vimeo.

Video - boarding...

First few rides on my MBS Comp 90, had a go at some downhill, with my daughter who tried on a very gentle slope, and my first time out with the kite (did have one fall - not on video) and had the camera on a tripod.

boarding... from Mark Crook on Vimeo.

New name...?

I have been contemplating wether or not I should change the name of my blog, now that I have a board it's not going to be just about kite buggying, but kite boarding (hopefully) and mountainboarding.

Kite buggy and boarding?

I don't know, will have to see if I get inspired!

MBS Comp 90...

Some more pictures of the board...

Twistar hubs

Vector Channel trucks

F4 Ratchet bindings

We also got to have a play on a couple of hills...

sunset

My 11 year old daughter - guess what she now wants?

Sunset

Want to play...

But stuck at work!

My board arrived today...

Will try to get out for a play on the hill this evening!

Video - ROTOcam

From RedSkyHorizon...

"ROTOcam was an idea I'd been developing in my head for some time.

The idea was to get away from the usual buggy/rider mounted cameras and really try to get outside the buggy for a new perspective. I was encouraged early on by footage from my first field trial to pursue this idea.

Initially I expected to move the ROTOcam boom into position myself while riding but I soon realized that I could influence the boom's motion without ever touching it.

To my surprise the boom would move with predictable and repeatable motion with simple inputs to kite and buggy. For example, downlooping the kite would spin the boom 360 and the boom would then return to it's original parked position!

The result I think is quite strange. Its motion is anything but random and its almost like the boom has a life of it own or like having someone up there moving the boom around for you.

Adding or subtracting small weights would alter its natural resting position and so I could park the boom anywhere around the buggy I pleased.

Using the Dominator buggy made attaching bits and pieces to it very easy. A typical buggy axle may present an extra challenge but with additional supports could be accomplished fairly easily I'd should think.

The basic build ingredients I used for the ROTOcam are :

Flexifoil forks,
1 metre of 10mm threaded rod,
A landboard wheel with bearing
A telescopic fishing rod
Support bracket
Exhaust clamps
Zip ties

Mr Fusion power pack and NOS optional.

Screw one end of the 'thread rod' into the Flexifoil headstock and the other into the landboard wheel. Clamp a fishing pole to the wheel and clamp the forks to the buggy. Attach a camera and go.

Experiment and have fun!"

Autumn...

Today is the first day of Autumn...

But the hot weather is set to continue for the rest of the week...

I'm still hoping to buggy on Monday and the mountainboard hasn't arrived so I wont get that until next week.