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Hello from Dallas, TX

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DWX
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Re: Hello from Dallas, TX

Postby DWX » Fri Jan 05, 2018 10:12 pm

jeromeL wrote:
Fri Jan 05, 2018 9:35 pm
A kiting buddy is moving to Dallas from New York, he told me that locals kite on some lake over there, wind is very gusty but pretty consistent.

Good luck.
Yes, what’s that lake called again?

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Re: Hello from Dallas, TX

Postby seaplus » Fri Jan 05, 2018 10:40 pm

The Dallas/Ft Worth crews are spread out over a few lakes in the area. I would presume your friend was speaking of Lake Ray Hubbard.
Our winds here are predominately out of the South which has riders on Lake Ray Hubbard, Lake Lavon, Lake Ray Roberts, & Benbrook Lake in Ft Worth.
North winds are always gusty and has us riding Lake Grapevine or Lake Lewisville on Northwind days.

Kiting kinda sucks in this part of the country but Corpus is sweet.

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DWX
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Re: Hello from Dallas, TX

Postby DWX » Fri Jan 05, 2018 11:15 pm

seaplus wrote:
Fri Jan 05, 2018 10:40 pm
The Dallas/Ft Worth crews are spread out over a few lakes in the area. I would presume your friend was speaking of Lake Ray Hubbard.
Our winds here are predominately out of the South which has riders on Lake Ray Hubbard, Lake Lavon, Lake Ray Roberts, & Benbrook Lake in Ft Worth.
North winds are always gusty and has us riding Lake Grapevine or Lake Lewisville on Northwind days.

Kiting kinda sucks in this part of the country but Corpus is sweet.
Thanks a lot! Is Ray Hubbard the one with the nice wave? Someone sent me pics of kiting a gorgeous wave on a lake in TX and I can’t place it anymore... sorry to bug

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Re: Hello from Dallas, TX

Postby 361KITE » Sat Jan 06, 2018 8:37 pm

Hi good2go, if you are in Texas and the dallas area, check out the local dallas kiteboarding facebook page, there's alot of good guys up that way that come down south to Corpus Christi on a regular basis. They should be able to give you the in's and out's of learning there and texas in general, I believe there is an instructor up near dallas which you can ask the locals about. If you get the itch to come down south, check us out at www.361kite.com, thanks

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Re: Hello from Dallas, TX

Postby good2go » Sun Jan 07, 2018 6:02 pm

seaplus wrote:
Fri Jan 05, 2018 3:34 pm
Hey good2go,

I'm in N. Texas as well and our wind season here has been quite limited the last few years. Driving down to Corpus is your best bet
for lessons and relatively consistent winds (as well as shallow, flat water to learn in).

Wait until you're through with lessons before buying gear and use the knowledge of your instructor and others when choosing gear.

In your 1st year, you will crash that kite a few times and prolly have it flop around a time or two in the grass/brush,; so getting
something 2nd hand (affordable yet good quality) would be an economical idea.

I also believe that a Wave kite is easiest to learn to fly. They fly very stable, handle gusts, and rarely Hindenberg. Then a year
down the road you'll know what type of kiting you'll be doing ie...freeride, freestyle, airstyle, foiling, etc... and then buy a
crispy new quiver of kites for the style of riding you'll be doing.


Tim
If you're going out in the near future, I would love to join you and simply observe. Let me know and I'll send you a PM with my cell phone number.

SO I TOOK MY FIRST LESSON this past Saturday. We flew the trainer kite and the instructor was very impressed the way that I was flying it, almost like a natural. I was very smooth and able to do complete spins to tangle the lines and then untangle, dives straight down from 12, etc. I was really excited, but at the same time I was very surprised by the power generated from the trainer kite, did not expect that initially. One of the things that I was doing incorrectly, which later caused some issues, was to have my elbows bent instead of straight, and I was controlling the kite with the bar very close to my body.

We moved onto a 6m kite. I started off very intimidated by the size of the kite. The instructor did everything right in going over the details of launch etc. Now came my time to control the kite. I get strapped in, get the kite up to 12, move it around from 1 to 11, but unlike the trainer kite, the rear lines had some slack in them, and in order for me to compensate this I would pull the bar in towards my body. As you all know, this powers up the kite. HOLY ****! Did not expect that. I panicked and next thing you know I'm crashing the kite and on my back holding the kite back. The instructor told me to move the bar away from me, but due to a combination of tunnel vision and panic, I did not listen and the bar stayed close to my body.

2nd attempt went a bit better but at this point I was a bit more tense. I already had a high respect for the power of the kite, but now I was a bit more cautious and somewhat intimidated by its power. I moved the kite around a bit and worked on pulling the bar in to provide tension to the rear lines and then moving the bar quickly away, which provided quite a lot of flight time. I crashed the shortly after.

I left the 2 hour lesson a bit intimidated by the kite. The amount of control that is necessary to keep the kite afloat over worked me mentally. That and looking up the entire time tired my neck. ;) I am also very excited to try again, however, and can't wait until I can start to get the wakeboard strapped to my feet. I now do see how my ability to wakeboard will not be that big of an advantage if I cannot keep the kite afloat.

I'm now looking for a trainer kite, or a small 4 line kite that I can practice on land further to develop more confidence. Next lessons are in water. :)

Posrover
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Re: Hello from Dallas, TX

Postby Posrover » Sun Jan 07, 2018 10:09 pm

Good2go,

I'm from Dallas as well and in the same position as you. Shoot me a message with your number and maybe we can put something together during this learning process. I've got a trainer and some other gear I've been accumulating over the past year.

good2go
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Re: Hello from Dallas, TX

Postby good2go » Sun Jan 07, 2018 10:52 pm

duplicate post.

good2go
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Re: Hello from Dallas, TX

Postby good2go » Sun Jan 07, 2018 11:05 pm

Posrover wrote:
Sun Jan 07, 2018 10:09 pm
Good2go,

I'm from Dallas as well and in the same position as you. Shoot me a message with your number and maybe we can put something together during this learning process. I've got a trainer and some other gear I've been accumulating over the past year.
Message sent.

What I think would be ideal, would be to both of us get together in some open area field and practice flying a smaller 4 line kite, say a 4m to 6m in appropriate winds where we can not be lifted into the air. Me being at 200lbs, the 6m I practiced on felt a bit intimidating at first, but then I quickly realized that I could handle it. Having someone behind me acting as an anchor, could add to the fun. Much better than strapping myself to my car as an anchor. ;)

good2go
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Re: Hello from Dallas, TX

Postby good2go » Sun Jan 07, 2018 11:07 pm

DWX wrote:
Fri Jan 05, 2018 10:12 pm
jeromeL wrote:
Fri Jan 05, 2018 9:35 pm
A kiting buddy is moving to Dallas from New York, he told me that locals kite on some lake over there, wind is very gusty but pretty consistent.

Good luck.
Yes, what’s that lake called again?
My lessons were on Lake Ray Hubbard.

good2go
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Re: Hello from Dallas, TX

Postby good2go » Sun Jan 07, 2018 11:28 pm

After looking at the options of trainer kites, I realized that neither the 2-line, 3-line or 4-line kites have what I'm looking for: the movable bar. All of these bars are fixed in place. I can already fly that type of kite with control fairly easy, even with one hand.

Where I struggle is with the addition of the 2 rear lines and how to manipulate those all while staying vertical on a board.

I've searched ebay for a smaller size, 4m 4 line kite with the moveable bar, but couldn't find anything. I would love to find one and begin learning on land on those depowered kites.

As of right now, I'm leaning on taking some additional lessons at Corpus Christie or Houston area, for the simple fact of the water being warmer. I hate to be spending so much money on instruction, but if this is a sport that I want to pickup and enjoy, I at the moment see this as the best option for my safety and others.


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