At first the task was a 105 miler to the WNW with 3 turnpoints. But before launch they changed it to the exact same task as yesterday, 85 miles with 2 turnpoints. I guess they felt that coming back into the wind over the un-friendly oil fields was a bit too dangerous.
The cu's didn't form until late again but we were all eventually in the air and fighting for a space in the gaggles. There must have been some confusion between pilots as to which direction to turn today in the start circle. It was a right turn day but half the pilots were turning left, and the other going right. This made a huge mess and was quite stressful trying to get up in the cramped lift.
I started following a group of guys to the north of courseline under some clouds but looking ahead I didn't think it was a good call. So, I decided to go solo across a huge blue area towards more clouds south of courseline. This was a big gamble that almost didn't pay off as I had to work hard to get back up over there. But, once at cloudbase again I could play connect the clouds and I was on my way.
I flew most of the flight by myself only getting with some other people near the second turnpoint. The sky by this point was getting blue and we were having to search hard for lift. I tagged the turnpoint and headed north towards goal. This is where things got exciting.
I got down to about 300 feet and was about to land when I saw some birds circling. I went to them and found small, punchy lift. I held on to it for dear flight and did many turns trying to get back up. A Litespeed came in even lower than me and tried to do the same but wasn't making much progress. I was concentrating so hard I could only glance at him occationally. I looked and saw him at 150ft, then again at 100ft, then I looked again just in time to see him crashing hard into a fence and going over. As I circled I watched for movement but nothing happened for a few minutes. I kept trying to decide if I should go land to help or keep climbing. Finally, a car pulled in and I figured they could give assistance. It turns out he knocked himself out for a bit and couldn't remember the last seconds of his landing(crash). He broke the carbon basetube, downtube and put a fencepost through the sail. He was OK except for a few scratches.
Anyway, this climb finally became organized enough for me to get back up to 9,000ft although it took over 30 minutes. This allowed me to float the 16 miles into goal. Maybe 10 or 15 pilots made goal today. Fun day with a challenging ending.
3 comments:
you are SO COOL!!! good on ya for taking chances and sticking with the little the light stuff. and letting the crashed knocked out people figure out what in thier world just happened. (glad he was OK) two more days Dude. you can do it. we're all super stoked with how awesome your doing! actually most folk don't even know your gone. i might be the only one who is paying attention. i try to tell 'em how great your doing but the eyes glaze over and they start to look off into space. then i forget what i was saying and we start kicking a hack. look forward to your tickertape arrival. (you got kids) they might care) DO IT AGAIN BRO. GET HIGH, GO FAST, GO FAR, STAY SAFE!!!
Thanks man, this made me laugh and I looked like an idiot in here giggling at my computer. Thanks for caring.
I agree with SCOTTDAMNIT! You're my hero too. Way to keep up the positive attitude. I've been following your flights this week. You guys are getting some great altitude. Fly safe, have fun, DFU.
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