3/11 Strawberry - skunk

[Kenny]

I knew I should have made the drive to Skyline. Thought I could get up to Strawberry before the wind switched. Had enough wind to do 2 glides off of Jake's Hill and that was all she wrote.

Kind of feel stupid when I don't even follow my own forecast!!!

[bordy]

Plent of am rides out there...

[bigwavedave]

I was up there getting skunked as well. I don't even like talking
about it when it happens.
Killing time is the laziest form of murder. And I'm not the
lazy type . . even though I pretend to be sometimes
just to tease myself a bit. That makes these kind of days
nearly unbearable. The thought of driving 1 to 2 hours,
waiting for 3 or 4 hours, and then making that drive back
home knowing that at best, you might have had a better day
at the ski resort, or at worst, been able to at least earn a
days wages working. You could have spent time with your family (which
depending on your family could fall at either end of that
spectrum). For those of us who are lucky enough to have
spouses or girlfriends that share our passion for a wind
sport, that list of other options that would have been a
better use of time is much longer than ours. It's this kind
of conditional aspect of any sport that relies on some kind
of inconsistency served up by mother nature, that keeps many
people away from those sports.

You can take someone with a desire to learn one of these
new sports and in one afternoon that desire will be lost
because they can't deal with the fact that flossing their
cat or knitting underwear for their hamster might have been a
better use of time. Only those with a truly deep seeded
desire to learn one of these sports ever fully realizes the
true reward these activities have to offer. And those of us
who've had a taste of the reward, regardless of how much we
complain, will endure the pain of getting stood up by mother
nature because when she delivers it's as though the goddess
Aphrodite has delivered to us the most addictive self-produced drug known
to mankind. Adrenaline.

Those of us who are addicted know the satisfaction it
brings. One good session and we can be satisfied for weeks.
One amazing session and we'll hold onto it for years. Much
like a first kiss, we never forget the day we were hooked. As
satisfied as we may be, however, the longer it's been, the
more willing we are to sacrifice paid days at the office or
other less conditional activities (yes even flossing our
cat) to experience it again. When I was learning to
windsurf, at first it was just a past-time . . but
then one day it was really windy and something happened that
blew me away. I began to plane. I was creating a wake without a motor.
That was all it took. That was the first kiss. Not knowing
much about weather, I'd drive 8 hours in a day, stopping at
every lake within a 70 mile radius of my home. I'd pass 7
lakes before throwing in the towel. I knew nothing about weather but
I'd go way out of my way just hoping to get that
sensation again only to end up driving home with nothing to show
for it but an empty tank of gas and a day of my life gone.
It was like getting stood up by the girl of my dreams on a
regular basis and I didn't like it!

I think that anyone, given enough frustration or failure
of finding the right conditions, risks having the thought of that
time lost outweigh the rewards of having that perfect day.
Now that I'm older and know how to use more technology
(including your wind predictions) I'm more judicious about making sure that
the days I choose are more in line with Mother Natures
chance of delivering the Holy grail of each intended sports
required conditions. It doesn't always work but when it
doesn't you're more willing to understand that there will
always be dues that must be paid in the form of time and
commitment, at some level, if you wish to experience the
bliss you seek. Pay your dues willingly when you're called
upon to do so and you will be rewarded.