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Later than most of the die hard Rochester and FLX winter warriors, I had my first session of the year on Canandaigua Lake on Sunday.
Conditions were surprisingly good on the big sheet of 6-8 inch thick ice at the northern end. Six to seven ice boats got on the ice along the pier where a small hop gives you access with some steps. Thanks to intrepid adventurer Scott Rowe for the heads up on conditions….I was all set up to waste the day away watching the Buffalo Bills……time that would be well spent with my family, but frustratingly predictable in its result.
I packed up two 5.5 Kitewings, and the smaller SK8 hand held wing, as well as skis and skates. I always carry a demo 5.5 for anybody interested. The alert said black ice with some snow, but I was leery considering the amount of snow we had had.
The whole northern end of the lake as far as you could see was frozen over, and the ice boat crew was able to explore all of it, though some was bumpy and snow covered. I likely could have done the same on skis but opted for a smaller of mostly clean black ice near the swim beach and Canandaigua Sailboarding on hockey skates.
It was fantastic smooth riding, and I was able to log in 12 miles of ripping, jibing, and tacking with a few jumps mixed in. Scott came over after his DN session and took a few runs on the Kitewing and did his first Kitewing jibe. NICE! Scott has a few Kitewing ski sessions under his belt already this year)I topped out at 24 mph, averaging 13mph according to the Strava phone app.
Don’t overlook Canandaigua as a destination for ice wind sports, it is wide open and sometimes doesn’t get nearly the lake snow of the other locations we use.
I’ll post a couple pics soon.
Windydoug
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Hey Mark,
If you look back in the forum, Joe Krineski (Erie Joe on the forum) of Erie PA has 3 unused Kitewings for sale. He was part of our group buy a couple years back so got them at a great rate. I’d have to look back, but I think he has a 5.5 Race (identical to what Scott and I have), a 4.0, and a SK8. Last I saw he was offering to throw the Sk8 in for free.
As of an August discussion at Hamburg they were all still available.
Send me an e mail if you want his contact info.
Wd
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Scott, Gary, and I had a nice Kitewing session on I Bay mid day on Saturday. I think Chris G. was out at Long Pond on his kite.
Scott scouted out a Nice patch of firm, snow covered ice at the southern end of I Bay and Gary and I were set to go. Skis would be the call on the day, and Gary reported he was on site and Scott was ripping back and forth in the WSW wind. Also special about this session is that it was Gary’s first time on his 4.8 Kitewing that he got as part of our group buy a couple years back. He rocked it, as pics and video to follow will show. Scott and I both got a few runs of high speed runs heading back and forth with the bay bridge in the background. My Strava phone app says that I hit 26.2 mph at one point, and I would say Scott was probably faster than that. We were all on skis, but Gary has a great looking pair of Nordic skates we were salivating over.
The one dicey thing was the grey. brown color to the ice as a result of the high salt content of the run off water. I wasn’t sure how long the ice would be safe in the mid 40’s air and sunshine. We managed a great session. I have a 5.5 demo wing if anybody every wants to come down and ride with us, and get a lesson.
Wd.
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Jason, Don and I were out for a long time playing in the slush on Long Pond on 6-7m kites and downhill skis. I logged a total of 60 miles with a top speed of 48 mph. Jason managed 52!. Don was a real champ getting his jumps worked out. He had a good number of impressive wipe outs. Most impressive was that every time you fall you get soaked in the near inch of water pooled on the ice but he kept going. Good thing it was warm out. I’m hoping to get out Saturday morning for another session before the rain.
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Incredible stats Chris and Jason! When logging my session from this past Saturday I noticed that mega sized seshie you had. Those are amazing speeds.
We had another good Kitewing session this past weekend, that makes two in a row. Scott, Gary and I headed to Long Pond with good winds and a nice forecast in place. Ice fishermen were around, but no big deal so we rigged up and went with skies on the water covered ice. Ice thickness was somewhere in the 6 inch range 20 feet out, and the puddles were an inch deep on top of fairly hard surface ice.
Conditions were good as Scott and I got some good burns in with watery spray coming off our rooter tails. Don and Steve were first on Long Pond with kites, and each looked to be doing pretty well. Don had an inflatable kite, while Steve had a foil kite. We had a good time using each other.
Gary is showing some really good comfort and control of the wing after only his second time out. The three of us spent a bunch of time ripping back and forth before stopping for a break and deciding to give skate a try. Skates were a good call. While Gary stayed on his skis for familiarities sake as he progresses, Scotty and I went for speed!!
The Strava stats from my session area as follows. I covered 18.2 miles in an hour and 14 minutes of active riding. Average speed was 14.2, and my high speed for the day was 29.6. Very cool!
The forecast looks promising for decent ice in the short term.
Scott on Irondequoit Bay on his 5.5
Gary at speed on the 4.8
Mouth open for speed
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The winter season burned bright for a little while, and then that February thaw destroyed all the ice and snow. Plenty of Kitewing adventures for Scott, Gary, and I.
I managed some drone footage of Scott in early January on Canandaigua. Black ice with sand 2 feet below. You can see the seaweed under the ice.
It’s exhilarating, you should join us next year!
Windydoug
Check this out:Youtube Link:
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