Thursday

I don't particularly like Thursday, now Friday is a much better day...

Autumn!

The first of March was the first day of Autumn and earlier this week we had the first taste of it with a storm dumping the March average rainfall in an hour and a half! Most of it into our pool with a good load of sand, leaves and grass!

The wind on Sunday was pretty disappointing, but the forecast for the rest of the week and into Sunday is pretty good...

I am hoping that Sunday morning stays good or even improves (it was looking better than that yesterday). I cant do Saturday which is looking epic as I have to take my car in for a new tyre!

Video - Mad Way South

This video was recommended to me by Jorg on Google+

"Ein extremes Abenteuer, dass es so noch nicht gegeben hat: Nur von Wind angetrieben, fahren zwei Australier und zwei Neuseeländer ein Rennen quer durch die Sahara. 2.200 Kilometer mit Kite-Buggys von Marokko bis nach Senegal, dramatische und emotionsgeladene Szenen inklusive. Dabei bleibt auch die Konfrontation beider Teams mit Banditen, Piraten, korrupten Beamten, Landminen, Sandstürmen und kaputten Kites nicht aus - und all das für einen Weltrekord..."

Frustration...

I was down at lake Walyungup early yesterday morning, in the vain hope that the wind would cooperate. By all accounts the wind was pretty good Saturday (but we already had plans) and as it turned out was none existent when I first got to the lake...

Bloody frustrating!

By about 8am and during a very light shower the wind did pick up I kept persevering with the 5m Ozone Flow and was going anywhere fast - I couldn't even get over 30kph...

panorama of the stormy skies!

The wind came in fits and starts and as the guys and their toy airplanes left the lake, I decided to try my 4m Ozone Method. It changed from an easterly to a more northerly and at least I was moving more...

I also played around with my GoPro and set it on photo mode-

Eventually around 10am I cracked 30kph and eventually got up to 40kph! Well below my PB! Not my best day, but it was good to give the buggy a decent run and I am loving the way it is performing and can't wait to really try for some speed...

Well off my PB and a really low moving average

Hopefully we will get some decent wind soon as I think the last good session I really had was New Years day...

Frustrating - but wouldn't of been anywhere else!

Sewing - part deux!

We bought some rip-stop nylon and some Velcro and my wife made me an awesome cover for the back rest - in Peter Lynn blue...

First time...

Today was our first time, as Australian citizens, that we could vote...

Willy Weather App

I have been using Willy Weather for their wind forecast for the last 18 months and have found it's forecasts accurate.

Willy Wind online

I checked in on my iPhone yesterday to look at the weekend forecast and found that Willy Weather now have a free iPhone app - of course it's now installed on my phone...

the app on my phone

Sewing...

Not me, but hopefully my wife - to make a cover for the back rest similar to those on the side frames.

While it was in the boot of the car with the axle on top it got a couple of holes in the duct tape, nothing major but I don't want to have to keep patching!

Kite buggy on a snowy beach!

Crazy! Makes me cold just watching it maybe I should turn the air-con down!

"Just a small flavour of my 45 mile kite buggy session on 23rd Feb 2013. I thought I was warm when I started but after 4 hours on the beach, I was cold. I had no idea that a thin layer of icy snow would send me sideways......

the sound track isn't from the alien movie......."

What do you do when there is no wind?

Swear a lot! And walk home!

I had a dream that when I went out in the buggy yesterday evening I would buggy from the car-park down on to the lake at 74kph (a new PB) and have an awesome session...

The reality was very different as I struggled to keep the kite in the air and the buggy moving, I think my top speed was 32kph. The wind was just rubbish...

On the bright side the back rest is excellent and the buggy feels great, now I just need some decent wind to really push it.

Are you speeding?

We went down to Bunbury yesterday for the day (labour Day in Western Australia), which is about an hour or so from home.

Panorama using iPhone 5

We had a good time walked on the beach, did a couple of geocaches. Then discovered the car had a flat!

No hassle changing it and putting on the spare - the biggest hassle was the spare is a space-saver with a maximum speed of 80kph.

So driving home was interesting as the highway has a speed limit of 110kph and there was us cruising a long at a very sedentary 80kph - I did receive a couple of rude gestures! And what is it with big 4WD towing motorbikes and quads that think they can pull out and overtake at the very last minute? There were a couple of times I thought somebody was going to go into the back of us!

I did pass at least two fixed speed cameras (double demerits in WA over a public holiday weekend), with little signs up after you have passed them asking "Are you speeding?".

The journey home took just over an hour and a half  - but I think I saved some fuel!

Fingers crossed...

That the wind picks up a bit more as I am planning on buggying tomorrow evening, I'm not asking for much - a few more kph and to stay consistent until 7pm!

A couple of small things...

Yesterday I covered the back rest as, despite a couple of cable ties, the foam kept slipping.

Then I made and fitted a new belly pan, the old one was scraped pretty bad and I am just glad that it wasn't my seat (arse!).

I also had to reset the inner-tube in the front tyre as the valve had disappeared inside, annoying but the tyre was pretty flat.

Now the buggy is ready for a run out - just need the weather to co-operate!

I've been officially pimped!

It's no longer your standard Peter Lynn Comp XR+ - 140cm gigastrong axle, 15cm longer (and stonger!) side frames - which has also slightly added to the height and enabled me to lower the seat so I now sit in rather than on! And a custom adjustable back rest...

Video - Wave Rock

Nothing to do with kite buggying but an amazing video, in an incredible location - the perfect natural half-pipe!

Wave Rock from InfinityList on Vimeo.