It's on!

It's been a while since my last blog, so I'll try and summarize some of things that have happened:

1) I'm confirmed as a competitor for Vertigo.

The wait is over - I got the pilots' email with the program for each day. The neat thing about it is that they're not having cuts until the 3rd of competition, so it increases my chances of doing better.

2) I'm the only from the U.S. who's going.

I'm trying not to think about this as I can only do my best. Realistically, I'll probably end up in the bottom half of the field, but I'm not too bad having only flown acro for a year in 3 seasons of flying. I have TONS to work on as the bigger picture for me is the Worlds in 2008. So, this year's Vertigo is setting the stage. My main goal is to earn points to get a WAPR which will make next year much easier. But don't get me wrong, I've worked hard at getting where I am today, and if Antoine or Raul get in my way, I'm cutting their lines 'cause I ain't too proud to cheat! : )

3) I'm getting closer to doing the "Infinitron".

That's Sik Nik Peterson's word for the Infinity. (Nik recently had a terrible accident while doing a ground spiral up in Chelan - get well, bro!) Even though I have a lot of other tricks to master, I'm always pushing myself and going for it. I've become "flying bros" with Brad Gunnuscio and both of us are trying to get to the Infinity via the Rhythmic SAT. A lot of the top acro guys recommend learning it this way as it teaches you to sit flat and build momentum. Well, this past weekend Rob Sporrier of Eagle Paragliding had Brad out for an SIV clinic at Lake Isabella near Kernville - I made the 5-hour drive to get more practice. (Btw - I finally got to met Rob - SUPER cool dude.) On one of my flights, I started doing the Rhythmic - I guess my timing has improved for within 2-3 rotations, I got my wing to start chopping pretty hard into some tumbling. The wing was almost vertical and retaining energy as I kept on pumping the brake and screaming in my head, "Here we go! I'm gonna do it! I'm gonna do it!" Unfortunately, as soon as I started thinking that, my timing got off and the wing started coming out of the tumble. After all that work, my arm was just too tired to keep trying, not to mention I was getting a little dizzy after all those rotations. Even though I didn't get it, it's exciting to see that it's right there and all it'll take is more practice. It also gives me more confidence that the 6907 looks like it CAN go from Rhythmic to the Infinity, unlike other acro wings that say they can, but really can't.

From those who know what's up with acro paragliding in the US, I've been told I may be the only one who's really trying to do the Infinitron - no doubt I'd love to be the first American to consciously do it! *

* I say "consciously" because Enleau's gone over six times which may make him the first to actually do it. But, even he'll tell you that he didn't mean to!