Still waiting to go over the back
A really fun couple of days at Long Mynd. Great fun in the air and
on the ground but still waiting for my first xc!! Conditions on
Sunday were pretty good and I kept on climbing to around 1000ft
above launch but couldn't find anyone to go over the back with to
hold my hand so to speak.
I had some really good thermalling practice but couldn't get to cloud base without commiting to going over the back so in retrospect I should have perhaps pushed out in front a bit (although not everyone else did that).
I found the thermals quite broken up and a bit tricky. It seemed like the cores were really small (I reckon like 50m across) so staying in the strong ones was really hard. The weaker thermals around the bullets were really broken up and I struggled to make much sense of them myself.
I was a bit wary of going over the back on my own but in the true light of day I think I need to grow a set and just go for it next time. I think there's a balance of big balls and safety which I just seem to have slightly too geared towards being safe at the moment. I think it might be a personality thing (and I guess a genetic thing if my testicles aren't big enough) but I'm hoping that if I just keep on pushing the boundaries bit by bit then I'll get there. I guess it wasn't all that long ago I was terrified of a 20ft straight flight on the tow rope so maybe I'll get there in the end.
Thanks to everyone who was there and look forward to the next one!!
I had some really good thermalling practice but couldn't get to cloud base without commiting to going over the back so in retrospect I should have perhaps pushed out in front a bit (although not everyone else did that).
I found the thermals quite broken up and a bit tricky. It seemed like the cores were really small (I reckon like 50m across) so staying in the strong ones was really hard. The weaker thermals around the bullets were really broken up and I struggled to make much sense of them myself.
I was a bit wary of going over the back on my own but in the true light of day I think I need to grow a set and just go for it next time. I think there's a balance of big balls and safety which I just seem to have slightly too geared towards being safe at the moment. I think it might be a personality thing (and I guess a genetic thing if my testicles aren't big enough) but I'm hoping that if I just keep on pushing the boundaries bit by bit then I'll get there. I guess it wasn't all that long ago I was terrified of a 20ft straight flight on the tow rope so maybe I'll get there in the end.
Thanks to everyone who was there and look forward to the next one!!
2 Comments
You ideally want it so you find yourself at cloudbase, but still over the hill so you haven't committed to leaving.
Yesterday was a commit low kind of day because of the breeze, even though the climbs were good. Staying in a thermal while ignoring the rate you're drifting is hard, especially if you don't know you can stay in it all the way up.
You can do things to make yourself happier about going over the back.. like going off the end instead, and picking out a new field to land in. Then you're working on one thing that makes it harder to commit to a climb out. The rest is just thermalling practise, and one day the conditions will meet your cojones threshold on its way down.
Click here to sign up now.