F**k this and the horse I rode in on.

[bryanleighty]

been blowing 30+ EVERY single day at the Gorge..



until I show up.

forecast is basically set for 1 possible riding day for rest of this week.

furious is not even close to describe my mood.

[Skyway Scott]

That sucks. Sorry.
I hear the local scenery and other stuff to do is cool though.
Maybe try to make the best of it. When Donna and myself, Lori and Raul, and the Fox Family went to Puerto Rico, mainly to ride, we had (no lie) 20 minutes in 8 days that went over 12 knots. Kiting wise, it was a joke.
I feel for you, but we made the best of the other stuff and still had a good time. Try to make the best of what is there and hopefully it won't totally suck.
I totally hear you though... ugggghhhh.....

[BigR]

That's too bad Bryan, its been going off every day for a month, till now...

that said, I think if there is any wind it'll be showing up by swell city / hatch first ( definitely not further east than event site for now )

There are cool things to do , alota hiking @ mt hood , trout fishing @ klickitat or deschutes, local microbrews or wineries, whitewater rafting, mountain biking, nature photography........

the wind never stays away for more than 3-4 days at most during summer tho'

Hey, looks like my property deal is going thru :-)

Hope you get some wind real soon.

[bryanleighty]

ya.. ive grew up here.. all my family is here..
got plenty more to do..

but really had kiting on the brain.

guess things could have been worse.. i could have booked an epic kite trip to hawaii..

yikes..

im going to head to stevenson today and pray i can get a kite up in the air..
:)

[BigR]

I would strongly reccomend the event site for today, I think you'll get enough for a 14-16 M kite. I doubt steveson will have any at all

http://www.wind-surf.net/cgi-shl/05-wind-surf-show-forecast.pl

when it looks like that usually means 15-18kts @ event site

[bryanleighty]

biggest i brought was a 12..

blah.

http://www.ikitesurf.com/windandwhere.iws?regionID=216&Isection=Gradient+Animation

this shows stevenson looking better...

think event site is better call tho?

thanks for any tips you can give..

b

[BigR]

the gradient forecast is best for telling you whether its windy , nukin , totally radioactive or totally dead!

generally , if there is a difference in as little as 0.10 in the pressure gradient between the event site and portland, then its ON. usually 12 M wind.

Also, you have to "click" forward on the gradient graph to the right time "zone"

I think it will soon be windy to all heck there ( just not on wednesday )

And, event site is still your best bet, if no wind at stevenson , then you are drifting down wind with no place to put in cept on the rocks. @ event site there's thousands of yards of sand so no problem if not enough wind for up wind ( altho' it is usually "on or off" )

at worst you get to road trip and meet some cool people there

p.s. thursday is lookin' nuclear

[BigR]

you got 20 kts yesterday afternoon, no bitching allowed while we are the ones suffering!:p :rolleyes: :D

[bryanleighty]

ya.... but i spent it with the family.. figured it was a coin toss anyways..
heading out to the gorge for a 4 day camp today.. hope to pick up something this afternoon/evening and am ready for what thursday / fri / sat will bring..

dont think it hit 20knts tho.. but it was def looks like it would have been ridable..

still irks the hell out of me when it been 25 to 30 for the last 2 months solid..

i love to complain about things i have no control over.

love it.

[BigR]

oh, and I'll bet you got blown off the water today on the 7m waroo , right?

[bryanleighty]

wednesday (supposed to be light wind).. i got nuked off my 9 and had to fly the 7m i bought for the trip...
yikes!

i have never jumped as huge.

yesterday it was really sketchy wind at HR sandbar. should have gone east.. but i still had fun on the 12 and eventually switched to the 9 as the gusts were overpowering me. would go from no wind to where everyone is laying in the river w/ kite at 12 to 15 minutes of insane wind .. then it would die down again.

i am sore as hell.. abs killing me.. supposed to hit in the east today.. hope to get an afternoon session..

[Skyway Scott]

Cool. Out of curiosity, what kite brands seem most represented out there?
It seems like that would be a great place for "gust muncher" kites.

[bryanleighty]

i'd say its at least half waroo and then SS .. might even be more than 1/2 waroo .. mix of 07 and 06 brands.. few bullaroos..

saw a few north, wipika, there is a windwing demo van at the gorge.. saw 2 or three of the helix kites up close (they stick to the sand in lots of wind.. its odd.. the small V shaped opening when laying flat creates a vacuum sucking the kite to the ground. they flap MUCH less than the other kites on the beach.. canopy on either side of the middle struts are sucked to the sand.. odd odd odd.. kites look funky.. )

the people here all exactly like our local scene.. most everyone is in their 30's or above.. a very large female rider population.. and not just there to support their male friend in the sport.. they ride as strong as the men.. very cool..
everyone is laid back and helpful.. saw a group of guys trying to hot launch a 2002 slingshot directly down wind in 25+ gusts..
he should thank the gods for the large sandbar.. got dragged 200 feet before kite smacked the ground..

good times..

off to Rufus.. east of the gorge to try to see what it brings... expecting 20+..

later

[bryanleighty]

1 more thing..
the one guy i ended up talking to the most yesterday ended up being someone thats been wintering it in st. pete area for 4 years.. knows most all of you ..kites with Trent Hinkle.. his name is Gene.. think he said he was from Minnesota .. cool guy.. rides type 8 kites.. is heading to st. pete this winter.

[Skyway Scott]

Yeah,

Gene is cool. He use to ride SS (like all of us) up until about 2 years ago.
He is about my height but a little more stocky, semi-crazy on the water (goes for crazy tricks) but an exceptionally nice guy. Cool.

I have heard the same about the kite split and demographics from others, thanks for the info. Also have heard they are very friendly there.
Wow, the helix actually sticks to the sand in wind. Very interesting, thanks.
I obviously got it backwards (I thought it would get blown away).

One last question, any weird nose or ear-aches?

[BigR]

I've never experienced any x-aches from the water in the Gorge.

yeah the demographics is very friendly, 30% female now I would say and they rip!

This year was mostly waroo's, 50-60% I'd say, compared to last year was only 20-30%. The rest is pretty evenly divided SS, Naish, North and Cabby.

Most everybody kites the event site spit, number wise, rufus should be fun. small pebbly bch but nice desert scenery with only a few other people to kite with.

definitely getting that place in lyle for summer relief!

[bryanleighty]

rufus was very cool..
solid wind for afternoon.. very powered on my 12m ..

for the first hour everyone except for me and one other rider was on new Ozone 11 or 13 instincts..

guess one of the guys is a dealer and all his crew was there.. number of other kiters showed up as the wind kicked in.. most all on waroos..

i still prefer the HR sandbar ..launching and landing on slippery rocks is not fun.. i was the only one there with booties on too.. that was odd..

got some pics and vid of the day.. fun fun fun

[BigR]

The only sandy beach launches you will find in the gorge are the event site, and lyle