Its all downhill...

It may sound daft, but I live about 1 mile from a pretty good dirtsurfing hill. Cleeve Hill. So, I went up there with Missile, and we had a bit of a look around. I must say, riding without a wing to balance yourself with takes a few goes ot get used to, but I soon regained my confidence, and between us with did quite a few runs on the grass, and finished off with quite a long run down the path back to the car park. Its then that you realise the benefits of having a wing. No hills to climb!

Still good experience, and we agreed we should go back there again whenever we get a chance.

The ultimate ride would be on the road back into Cheltenham. From the Golf course, back into Prestbury Village, is probably 2 miles and pretty damn steep. Its also very busy, so I need a bit more experience and confidence before I have a go.

18/06/2006 - Jumping practice

Location: Gower
Wind: up to 10 mph S / SSW
Distance Travelled: 25 miles
Max Speed: 34 mph with wing, 27.9 with Windsurfer Rig.

OK, another day, usual place at the Gower.
Wind was forecast to pick up during the day and the tide was fully in when we arrived at about 10:00 am. So we waited, slowly the beach exposed itself and we gradually claimed it back for ourselves. The wind was SSW, so running up( ie north) was too far downwind, and running back (S)was hard work beating into the wind.
I set up my large windsurfer rig (6.5 metres) and had a few runs with it. The wind was only about 10mph, but It felt good with a reasonably large rig. I managed to reach 27.9mph, which is a new record for me. I wanted to top 30mph on the day, but it wasnt to be...
Lots of runs about, but not the best conditions. I clocked 25 miles during the day, but the wind never reached the forecast 17mph.
We spend most of the afternoon practising jumps. There wasnt enough wind to make a real go of it, but I think we all got the principles clearer in our heads.

Missile did a few jumps with just the wing, which I capture on my (oops, my wife's) new camera using the multi-shot mode.
We messed about for a while with an abandoned car on the beach. Well to be honest it was a pink plastic toy car, but it was rather silly, and we took a few shots of Missile in it with his wing - Until he fell out the back.