Here are a few other links to articles I got featured in!
One:
Two:
Three:
Four:
The three first are the same article, published on different websites!
Cheers!
A couple nice links!
2010
02.23
02.23
A couple weeks ago, I was featured in a new website, JustKiteIt.com, in the Ripping it section! Look at the full article here.
I also participated, in the same website, to another feature: Sweet spot. It talks about Nitinaht lake, one of my favorite kiting spot! Check the article here!
kb4k Wrap up
2010
02.19
02.19
What a week-end! For my first real participation to a competition, I am pretty happy! For the last 2 days of the event, the wind conditions were not that great… but everybody had a ton of fun!Here are for the results:
2nd place women on the body surfing competition, which was held on Saturday, as a no wind alternative
1st place Women Big Air/Best trick! I am pretty happy with that too, even if I didn’t do nearly as good as I wish… But the conditions were really terrible and now I just have more motivation to go compete again!
Finishing first in the two main kiting events, plus an unexpected second place in body surfing, it is what I call a good week-end!
Now, I have to keep the motivation to a high level, even if there is no competition in a near future. I have to keep improving every time I ride, even in small details, even if it is just in my confidence. Let’s keep it going!!
Day 1 KB4K
2010
02.13
02.13
Yesterday was the first day of the kb4k competition, held in Cabarete, Dominican Republic, at the Laurel Eastman Kiteschool. The event started off on Thursday night, with the opening dinner (at the restaurant Pitu). It was a fun dinner, lots if people around for the registration and the first prizes draw. It was nice to see everyone getting excited about the coming week end!
On Friday, the event started around 1PM, with the riders meeting, explaining the rules and the way the races were going to be done that day. The women started: I was happy to find out that I was in the second heat, so I had a few minutes to do a couple tacks, to calm down (!) and also to check the power I had: I’m glad I did! I first went out on my 9m 2010 Naish Helix, but then switched to the 12m, even if I was going to be overpowered: I preferred having a lot of power to have as much speed as possible! So I got ready on the beach, being pretty proud to be there (despite the overexcitement!), just about to ride on my new kites, and proudly wearing my REAL riding jersey!
I won my first heat, first place, and then got to the second heat. The start got a little chaotic, but I made it out, passing the girl in front of me and going faster than I’ve ever been! When I saw an opening to leave the beach beside her, I just decided to go for it! I caught up with the one that was already out, had to tack back and forth a few times to get upwind enough to pass the buoy, and at that point, things got pretty tight! At least, I was then on against one with my friend Debbie, whom I see every day on the beach, so we both had fun trying to pass each other. I realized afterward that I could have been way more aggressive and not as nice to her, but when ishe’s a friend…! We ended up arriving almost at the same time on the beach, but I was the first one to set foot on the beach, so I won!!!
Quite a day of adrenaline rush! I remember having my knees shaking as I was on the water… Now I can just hope that the rest of the week end will be as good as it started and I will pray the wind gods to participate to our event too!!
Other results to come!
Kiteboarding for Kids!
2010
02.11
02.11
Here we are! This week end is the competition/charity event I was waiting for since December! I have been raising money for this event, and almost reached my goal of 1000$! We are now at 710$, which is amazing! I want to take a little time to thank everyone who donated money to this fundraiser!!
If you didn’t know about it and you wish to donate you can do it at the following page:
http://www.active.com/donate/KB4K2010/fundraiserDGrange
It is a safe way to donate, and again, 100% of the profits go local organizations working with kids in education, like the one I am volunteering with: the DREAM project (see link below). I strongly encourage everyone to go to their website and see what they do! Here are a few links to know more about the competition and the fundraiser:
http://www.dominicandream.org/
Results to come, and in the next few weeks I will also share more about my volunteering experience!
It’s been a while… it was windy..!
2010
02.04
02.04
When you start kiting, you become a bad friend… when you get an invite to something, or when we try to plan a group activity, you always end up saying: well, it depends on the wind… if it’s good, I can’t be there! Fortunately, the kiting friends understand, but for the others… The good side about it is starting to really live the present moment, and not to plan every second, every minute of our lives. I was used to do this, back in school, because I needed to… Quite a change since! Learning to take it easy…!!
Back to Basics
2010
01.18
01.18
After a long day on the water yesterday and a night of deep sleep, we woke up to a bright sun a blue sky. The breeze was
light and we took our time, had a great breakfast. Took my time for my favorite meal of the day, before heading to surf.
The surf it seems, was small… well not for me. I realize how much work it is every time I go in the water in a place I’ve never been. I have to start all over again. I felt like I’ve never caught a single wave of my life and it can be very discouraging. I got tumbled trying to paddle out, and had to come back to shore to calm myself down. I realized that I cannot take for granted the improvements of the summer in Hatteras. It’s always back to basics: playing in the white water, getting slowly pushed not even getting up. Now I know, I need to start one step back each time, not to have to go back to zero we I try to go too fast! All about knowing our limits, and respecting them!
The wind game
2010
01.17
01.17
At this precise moment, I am sitting in my Dominican living room, looking outside at the breeze moving the palm leaves. I hear a conversation about the weather, which has been the main subject here since we arrived. It has been raining, I mean, pouring rain, since we arrive until this morning. The skies seem to clear up today, and we are waiting for the wind as always. With the sport we are doing, it makes us very conscious of our physical environment. The rain, the clouds, the sun will change the wind conditions, sometimes very quickly. We are hence playing the favorite game of all kiteboarders in this world: the “waiting for the wind” game.
Despite the weather, I am very glad to be arrived here, and I feel I am going to have very good sessions on the water. So here we are, getting ready to leave for the beach, to cross the chaotic street looking like Sherpas with all our gear on our back, to reach the sea… to be followed!