These aren't really THAT bad, but just some minor disappointments:
- I don't get to go FLYPA this year with Team Ozone. Since I'm still a relative unknown in Europe, the organizers didn't want to pay for another US plane ticket to Tenerife. (There are 3 going already.) I saw the list of who's going and one of them is a BASE jumper which would make 2 and 1 paragliding pilot. I guess someone would rather pay to see more BASE jumping than acro paragliding . . . . whatev. Hopefully I'll change their minds after this summer.
- The 2008 World Acro Championships at Vertigo Voss, Norway has been cancelled. The organizers just couldn't get the sponsors together. While it's disappointing that I won't get a chance to get a world ranking this summer, what's more disconcerting is that they couldn't get sponsors in Norway where "extreme" sports are very popular. Thankfully, the other comps are still happening or else my trip would be a bust.
As I mentioned, just setbacks. Other than these, life is just fucking great.
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
The Good . . . .
I'm finally making this current. Since my Colombia trip, here's some sh-t that's happened:
The Good
- I'm on the Ozone website now. Check it out here. Since it's not mentioned, I must give action photo credit to Loren Cox.
- I bought my flight to Europe. I'm fully committed. Now I just need to make sure I can get a car!
- After some prodding from friends, I now have some of my acro stuff on YouTube - it's not everything I've done, but most of it. This is from towing I did last weekend where I nailed some transitions - super important for comps. On the first day, I actually did a tumble-helico combination that was just sick, but this PPGer Ryan didn't have his camera set yet - SUCKS! Here's a compilation video of stuff I did last year, with some beautiful music by Thievery Corporation.
- This morning I got an email from Matt Gerdes (Ozone Team manager) with a shipping notice . . . . I'm FINALLY getting the FLX. Should be here by month's end. I'm really glad it's coming as I'll get a few months to train on it before heading to Europe. With enough practice, maybe I'll be doing this in 2008.
- Chris Santacroce and the O'Connors have talked since last year about having a spring acro "comp" in CA, similar to WOBL last year. Most of the acro peeps on the West Coast know about it and hopefully they'll come. Maybe the Point boys will show up but I doubt it. Nothing's set but the weekend of May 3-4 is being penciled in.
- I bought a practically new Aerodyne skydiving rig (3 jumps only) for a great price: Icon Sport container, Pilot 150 main, Smart 135 reserve, and a Cypress 2. Even though it REALLY hurt to fork over the cash for this, I need to remind myself that it'll pay for itself in 5 years or less, depending on how many times I jump per year. By having my own gear, I can buy 50 jumps in bulk, making Lodi cost only $13/jump. By having to rent, I'll pay $35. And plus, there's all that pride of ownership and piece of mind crap.
That's all I can think of flying-related for now.
Expect to see The Bad in my next post.
The Good
- I'm on the Ozone website now. Check it out here. Since it's not mentioned, I must give action photo credit to Loren Cox.
- I bought my flight to Europe. I'm fully committed. Now I just need to make sure I can get a car!
- After some prodding from friends, I now have some of my acro stuff on YouTube - it's not everything I've done, but most of it. This is from towing I did last weekend where I nailed some transitions - super important for comps. On the first day, I actually did a tumble-helico combination that was just sick, but this PPGer Ryan didn't have his camera set yet - SUCKS! Here's a compilation video of stuff I did last year, with some beautiful music by Thievery Corporation.
- This morning I got an email from Matt Gerdes (Ozone Team manager) with a shipping notice . . . . I'm FINALLY getting the FLX. Should be here by month's end. I'm really glad it's coming as I'll get a few months to train on it before heading to Europe. With enough practice, maybe I'll be doing this in 2008.
- Chris Santacroce and the O'Connors have talked since last year about having a spring acro "comp" in CA, similar to WOBL last year. Most of the acro peeps on the West Coast know about it and hopefully they'll come. Maybe the Point boys will show up but I doubt it. Nothing's set but the weekend of May 3-4 is being penciled in.
- I bought a practically new Aerodyne skydiving rig (3 jumps only) for a great price: Icon Sport container, Pilot 150 main, Smart 135 reserve, and a Cypress 2. Even though it REALLY hurt to fork over the cash for this, I need to remind myself that it'll pay for itself in 5 years or less, depending on how many times I jump per year. By having my own gear, I can buy 50 jumps in bulk, making Lodi cost only $13/jump. By having to rent, I'll pay $35. And plus, there's all that pride of ownership and piece of mind crap.
That's all I can think of flying-related for now.
Expect to see The Bad in my next post.
Monday, March 17, 2008
Colombia - final thoughts
I'm way behind on blogging but I'll pick up where I left while keeping it brief.
Ruitoque in Colombia is a great place to practice thermals, kiting, and top-loading. I specifically went there to check out its acro potential. While the site where Richi has his hostel is great, and you'll almost always fly every day, don't expect to go XC often and get high to practice heavy acro. There were only a few times where I got high enough to really throw down - the refills are few and the only time to get altitude with an acro glider is when it's nuking and rough. Not a great combo that we acro pilots like.
So, if you're looking for a PG vacation where flying's a daily occurrence but you don't need to go XC or practice acro (and don't mind paying a lot), then Richi's got the place. But, anything more than that, and you'll be disappointed. It was great hanging out with Richi - his positive energy is infectious! - but I doubt I'll be going back just for the flying.
Ruitoque in Colombia is a great place to practice thermals, kiting, and top-loading. I specifically went there to check out its acro potential. While the site where Richi has his hostel is great, and you'll almost always fly every day, don't expect to go XC often and get high to practice heavy acro. There were only a few times where I got high enough to really throw down - the refills are few and the only time to get altitude with an acro glider is when it's nuking and rough. Not a great combo that we acro pilots like.
So, if you're looking for a PG vacation where flying's a daily occurrence but you don't need to go XC or practice acro (and don't mind paying a lot), then Richi's got the place. But, anything more than that, and you'll be disappointed. It was great hanging out with Richi - his positive energy is infectious! - but I doubt I'll be going back just for the flying.
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