Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Wednesday





Finishing up yesterdays race.... After making it all the way back to the front with the leaders, I hooked up with Ronny Helgesen, a very good pilot from Norway who runs tours in Valle de Bravo in the winter. We put our selves in excellent position to make a run for the win but didn't take the climb high enough over the Crazy Thermal Mesa and got stuck on the next glide. It was tough spending so much time groveling around trying to get re-established in the lift and watching the pilots who would eventually win the day fly over our heads 10 minutes later... I tied for 4th place so was quite happy to have come from so far behind to have a good finish.

Today was a classic Valle de Bravo race day with great clouds and light winds. Sue decided to fly from the Penon launch so I spent the earlier part of the morning with her. She had a beautiful launch and flight and I took lots of pictures. She doesn't fly all that often so I really enjoyed watching her thermal to cloud base with some birds and enjoy her time in the air. The conditions couldn't have been more perfect.

The task committee called a 71k race to goal with a different route than we usually fly. It made the decision making quite a challenge in deciding which would be the best route to take through the course. The clouds were great and it was full on great racing for most of the race. There was one very difficult section where we had to fly into a strong headwind which is always a real challenge on a paraglider. I had the perfect start but somehow managed to find myself behind early in the race. Many pilots are pushing very hard going for a big point score so you really have to evaluate each pilots decision making as well as your own. I worked hard and played catch up for the entire flight. I caught the lead gaggle just before the last turnpoint and got a climb to cloud base quicker than all but the two leaders. I had to head out on final glide under an enormous black cloud. I was somewhat worried about getting caught in cloud suck but it turned out that it was so shadowed that the the cloud wasn't really cycling anymore so it worked out just fine. It was a 14 kilometer glide from the last turn point to the goal at Valle. The two front runners left a few turns before me so I didn't stand much chance of catching them as they are both quite fast. I climbed a little higher than I usually would because the final glide is over the lake and you sure don't want to end up short!! I did manage third into goal which was a great finish for me....

Really a fun day with classic Valle conditions. There were a couple of reserve rides yesterday, and one today that I know of.... No injuries that I'm aware of other than some bumps and bruises. Looks like some high clouds will be moving into the region for the next few days so that may have an impact on the flying.... we'll see....

We've been enjoying nice meals and overall been having a really nice time here in Valle de Bravo.... Pics are of Sue tearing up the skies today at the El Pinon...

No comments: