Low tide was all that was missing.

Friday was three hours on the road bike in the hills with the "Scatante ciao!!" jersey. Billy Wilson pulled along side me on my last sprint hill home to yell,"what are you Italian Traig?" The bike was followed by a gym workout, a phenomenal paraglide flight with just a great late evening lone one hour kite session and a hint of a promising south swell.

Saturday was 2 hour mountain bike around a trail runners race way up Puerco and across the Backbone trail. I miss running every day hope to be able to go at lest three days a week again soon. My mountain bike ride was a great workout after the prior days road bike hill training. It is much easier to get a great workout on the mountain bike than my roadbike in general and there is some actual adrenaline over rock gardens,singltrack etc. You don't even have to contend with the gold chain, manicured road bike team spandex yuppie scene. There are some really nice people on road bikes but man are there ever some grumblers. Everything around here is a 40 minute minimum climb up before starting the other climb and trails so mountain bike works.

The problem with mountain biking is of course when you are doing the technical bits and the inevitable dab over numbers of days ridden. You can just do the easy stuff and get a great workout...but... Doing the rides to help rehab the knee and of course smacked it good with a front wheel wheelie dismount bike frame knee smack. Laceration, heaps of swelling.. Errr..sort of defeated the purpose Saturday..Oh well. It was still fun and a great workout.

Fridays flight with Vic and Jeff ramping back and fourth to the second and third bowl from Deer Creek south, with solid kitesurfable winds was great. I finally landing at County with full speed bar and heaps of altitude to kill. Vic went for the field on the east side of PCH and in the lee of the Bay Club.. He got droped severaly and thought he might crater. Scary time for him and last time he tries to land there in the strong stuff.

Next came a kitesurf session with a bit light winds when the tide was low enough and then good winds as the tide was too high to get much out of that new showing south swell. Heaps of my old buds were doing the annual Mugu to Leo paddleboard race my old lifeguarding partner Gary Fortune puts on annualy. Cool to catch up with friends after so long.

Today was to start with a run but a late start secondary to work meant paraglide was the first activity. A great paraglide with Jeff and Rod off of the 800 the first time as white out conditions prevailed and you could not even see off of the 1500. Great solid West bowl ridge lift with a landing at Salad Bowl. Rod did his first day at the West Bowl. We got a ride back up and as it cleared a tiny bit, flew off of the 1500. Lucked out and hooked a super tight string of thermals just West of Neal's house and played it for about thirty minutes as Jeff and Rod first landed on the 500 and then relaunched to hit the bowl. That mustang really can turn and pulling it tight snap turns is where that kite has been at for me with huge rewards in performance and altitude when there is lift. The problem only comes when it is a bit light and Vic weighing forty pounds less on the same size wings can get me on the ridgelift stuff.. Darn..Might have to start sneaking a cynder block into his harness while he is not watching prior to launch..

The altidude from the thermal over "The rock and cactus store" allowed me to make a straight run for the third bowl with just enough altitude to work the lift up into it and away from the PCH power lines. Jeff did an amazing show of flying by making up a few hundred feet of altitude at Salad Bowl and working his way up the second bowl and then up into the third to land with me at County. Rod said Jeff was lifting his legs to clear the power lines at second bowl to scratch back up.. I would have just landed as I did yesterday there on the first flight in similar circumstances. .. YIKES!! The Deer Master can sure fly that wing.

Cruised on down to County Line with insane tail wind and speed. Hucked the last turn hard over the water to coast in and unlike yesterday did not need the speed bar to penetrate and land. Turning early and drifting backwards is a nice technique, I should practice more when the wind on the beach wind is solid. Yesterdays flight had enough onshore wind to ridge lift off of the Whalers village condos on the beach.

A couple of ranger buds were at County and after B.Sing with them and Disco who was waiting for wind, it was back up the hill to get the wheels and on to North Beach for my appointment wiht the new South Swell and some kitesurfing as first one out test dummy again. The tide was getting high quick but that first half hour had some fun waves all to myself with good wind prior to all of Malibu and Ventura showing to kite. I got the ultimate test dummy needed treatment with friends setting up my gear as I put on my wetsuit as they wanted to know if it was Leo or to Zuma as it was going off down there already. It would have been stellar if the tide had just been lower at Leo. Ian showed and came to B.S a bit later. The kid is a good guy and a ripper. Watch for him in the pro tour wave riding some day. He is young enough and seems driven that way. Note to self.. Need to get that J footage of us from that studio. Ooooppps... Got a patient. Gotta run Had to race home to take care of her. As she walked out I realized that low tide was all that was missing the last few days.. Tom and his girlfriend actually even got me to go out to see our buds Regae band. Not a bad weekend and never went to Barns and Noble.