Power Kite Forum

this one goes out to all new ATB riders

speleopower - 1-9-2008 at 08:21 AM

1)wear knee pads
2)wear a helmet
3)STAY AWAY FROM PEOPLE UNTIL YOU ARE COMPETENT!!!!!

OH, remember #3!!!!

I went to the beach to ride on Saturday afternoon. There is always people on the beach. When there are people around I fly a small kite for the wind and go slow.

Some dude rides up on an ATB and stops where I'm setting up. He didn't even realize I was going to ride my ATB. I went and asked him what's up and where he started from. He told me he's started about 3 miles away and stopped because his feet were tired. Let's just say he didn't look very experiences 1)crappy board with small wheels, 2)flying a very large Waroo waterkite, 3)no knee pads, 4)no helmet.

I asked him where his knee pads and helmet are. He told me he has never crashed and that the Waroo is a mellow super safe kite (yeah, right!). He also told me he just started riding and didn't want to spend a lot on a good board. I was thinking to myself this is a disaster waiting to happen. Anyway I told him to hang on a minute and I'll ride along with him.

Just after starting off he goes and trys to out run me not that I was going fast at all but he just took off like a rocket. I figured I better catch up and lead so that I can hold him back some. You should have seen his face when I caught up and passed him (I was on a Flexifoil Kava and small Quadrifoil Competition X kite). I slowed down and kept him behind me with some kite wrangling. He was looking pissed but oh well there were people around.

He got passed me when I wasn't looking and proceeded to rip down the beach until he hit a soft patch of sand :lol: The wipe out was spectactular. It ended with his kite hitting and knocking a woman off her beach chair. He was ok and she was ok as well. The bad part is I didn't actually see his kite hit the person so i wasn't sure if she had been hit. The guy didn't even land his kite and check to make sure she was ok or not. He just got up and kept going.

I stopped and asked the person if he hit her. She said yes and was really pissed off at kite flyers. Luckily I was able to talk her down. I explained he was a new rider who was not from the area and didn't represent the type of rider who is local. She was smiling and said the sport looked like a lot of fun by the end of our talk.

I didn't see the guy again. So to all new riders please wear your helmet, knee pads and stay away from people and fly a small kite until your ready!!!!

Peace-Scott

canuck - 1-9-2008 at 09:54 AM

Great advice Scott - it applies to all of us, not just new riders. People will not go around you - they just keep walking their chosen path and don't have a clue that your kite or lines can do serious damage to them.

Addition to #3 - stay away from off-leash dogs too.

Ride safe, Bill

ikemiester - 1-9-2008 at 10:16 AM

speaking of dogs, about two months ago I was goin pretty fast down the beach (about 20 so not that crazy) but still at a good clip. All of a sudden this guy and his dog playing fetch with a chuck-it throws the ball right in front of me. The dog and I had no chance. I wiped out over it and it got pummled by me. A no win situation. Anyway I went up and apologized to the guy and he said he saw it coming as soon as he threw the ball. Anyway I learned my lesson. Go a little slower around animals and people.

Isaac

lunchbox - 1-9-2008 at 12:54 PM

Great advice Scott...glad you talked to that lady...all it takes is such an incident that you described to close a beach!


Quote:

The wipe out was spectactular.


The way you described his crash made me laugh my ass off. Wish I would have seen that...glad no one got hurt though!

speleopower - 1-9-2008 at 05:16 PM

I'm glad noone got hurt except maybe an ego. But it was super funny to see someone who has never wiped out actually biff it hard. They kinda bounce around and forget that their kite has the "super safe always availible depower ability of a mellow Waroo".

When I biff I try to roll onto my back or onto my knees and just enjoy the slide.

This is funny-my friends aunt saw us riding on the beach on Saturday. She told my friend she saw two people riding skateboards attached to kites. My friend figured it was me and he said she mentioned "one guy was really good and the other guy sucked."

See ya-Scott

tridude - 1-9-2008 at 05:32 PM

all this dude had to do is wait one more day................I stayed of the sand this summer due to tourists, laundry list, and travel commitments. Starting tomorrow until May 09, the beaches are fairly wide open for landboarding, static, or setting up for the H2O. Nice PR work there Scott to save your spot...................

KiteProject - 1-9-2008 at 06:34 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by speleopower
It ended with his kite hitting and knocking a woman off her beach chair. He was ok and she was ok as well. The bad part is I didn't actually see his kite hit the person so i wasn't sure if she had been hit. The guy didn't even land his kite and check to make sure she was ok or not. He just got up and kept going.


One of these days, one of these reckless people will ruin it for the rest of us, nation wide. People who know that I kite-something are still talking about the CNN video.