Training Log Archive: CleverSky

There's a unicycle leaning against the wall in the clubroom, so I couldn't exactly just let it sit there. The flat tire was evidence that nobody has been using it, so I tracked down a pump annd went for a ride out to the main road and back. The seat is really low, so it was kind of awkward and uncomfortable. Have to find an Allen wrench next.

No imagination, same loop as yesterday.

I find myself amused by the sorts of trees that grow in the forest here.


However, I was walking through the forest and felt an unusually strong web catch my hair, and turned around to see this guy (well, gal):

As you can see from the fact that it's out of focus, it isn't actually on my hand, it's closer to the camera, but that is still one seriously big spider. If I'm reading this right, they eat birds and snakes.

C • Spiders 2

DOMS this morning, then I had one full tandem flight and three low-altitude "patterrn tows" (to practice things like how to handle when the weak link in the towline breaks), then in the afternoon I did two solo flights, not very high because the cloud ceiling was low.

And then to show you guys where I am, I did an outline of the flight park, with a few exploratory trail spurs. How many hang gliders can you spot inside the red line on the satellite photo? Kind of tired, but this is the start of getting back into shape. I'm amused that the GPS decided that there's 1 meter of climb, because I'm not sure where that would be -- this place is flat.

C • You crossed a whole lot of ... 5

The morning was basically foggy, so after I stopped at the flight park and said hi, I drove 45 minutes west and met Cristina and Melissa (and Melissa's dad) at the Croom map, which I had obtained a copy of from the Fluegels. Cristina had a map with the same red course, so the two of us set out to do it together while the Trouts went for a hike. 8.2 km, no compass, no controls, and we allotted 90 miinutes, so after five controls we just headed back, passing near one other that we figured we had no hope of finding on some vague vegetation feature, so we just waved to it from the trail. Shorts and sneakers (the woods were fine for that) and this wasn't overly strenuous because we spent a bunch of time discussing the features we could see and the navigation. Fun time, though.

The day cleared up later and I did two tandem flights at Quest Air, which went reasonably well.

C • Thanks for the run! 7

Got up at 4:30 in Williston VT, it was 0 F when I was driving through Montpelier, caught my plane in Manchester with not a lot of time to spare, got to Florida where it was 73 F, went to a Xmas dinner with the Fluegels at the home of a friend of theirs (hashing crowd), and stayed at their place.