I post this not because of the obvious charm and natural internet value of a flying dog, but to inform people of something they might not appreciate about something I love and find amazing: the real face of the average hang glider pilot. There are other guys and gals who fly with their dogs, their parakeets, maybe a falcon they found injured,or their teddy bear, but what struck me about this guy is how typical he looked as a hang glider pilot, and how he was not representative of the common misconception of us being young testosterone fueled daredevils. There are, of course plenty of those, and they are the ones who tend to stretch the envelope of the sport, but most pilots are like this guy. They are middle-aged guys trying to stay in shape and stay challenged, but mostly flying conservatively just enjoying a wonderful outdoor activity they can and do competently into their eighties. I was well into my forties when I first started, and I know people both men and women who started in their 60s Learning it was one of the most exciting and enjoyable periods in my life. I could go on in detail with flying stories of adventure, fun and personal growth, and maybe I will in the future, but today I want to let people know it is also about leisurely floating above the world with a late afternoon sun peaking over the horizon above a skyline visible 100 miles away, followed by a gentle landing in the grass with friends, beer, and stories around a fire. I hope it will inspire someone who mistakenly thinks they are old and beyond enjoying this or something else outdoors and active. As a midlife crisis goes, it beats the hell out of a corvette. Jump in - the sky is warm.
(sorry I had gotten around to this)
68 comments:
I'd probably do that myself. Actually I really want one of those ultralight aircraft things.
But with my dog? My baby girl? I'd be terrified the straps holding her in would break or something.
I ride a Harley, so I already have a hobby that might well kill me.
Thus, there are other alternatives.
I've seen Harley riders bring along the family Dawg in a sidecar.
I did enjoy the Dawg story.
Do you do this somewhere in New England, Lem?
He has anxiety and he hang glides? Impressive.
Bike dog
That is not me on the posted comment.
Faster please!
Sorry, I was trying to post a sarah palin tweet. but I was having trouble. I'll get it eventually. I don't have any rush.
something I've been told is ok not to have.
Oh no, you gotta get the rush!
Not liking the new transparent background. Makes the txt a pain to read.
Rush babes.
Rush babies.
Maharushie.
Rushing Matilda
How do we get an RSS feed from this blog?
Rush week.
Originally, the dog had normal eyes.
He has training wheels on his glider, ha ha ha ha ha ha.
Rush rush baby...doo doo doo dododo doo
Do they call it paragliding because he's handicapped?
Ok. The mobile version is off and the number of posts on the main page is now set to include all the post of the day. that day, the day you post, one day at a time. So that you and I, wont disappear until the next day, which might be after midnight. so, its not really the next day, if you want to be precise about it and hold me hostage to the words.
For somebody asking for precision, I'm as imprecise as a mist.
That is what I do. I ask for what I don't have.
The Blonde is as dangerous as I get.
I suppose I ought to see if its true before I sing a song about it.
oops, maybe I should have waited till after midnight to make this change?
Can we adjust? how fast?
I'll leave it the way it is for now and make changes as they come up on the (slow) fly.
I was expecting the link to show as a photo, but I just emailed the post to Lem.
ST, I have a Suzuki 1400, and I sometimes ride it to the mountains or desert to go flying. Of course the glider is on someone's truck. That's the ultimate day: a morning ride, an afternoon flight, and then a ride home at sunset. It's hard not to be a believer on days like that.
I like Soarin' at Disneyworld.
"Do they call it paragliding because he's handicapped?"
Us hang gliders think so. They are slow, and also kinda europeeny. We call them "jellyfish". They don't have a name for us because we're just cool.
Background with text is almost impossible for me to read.
Check out how his dog is hanging on to him in the photos. Now that's arm candy.
Lem, I still think setting it to 15 or 20 posts on the front page is a better way to go. At midnight blog time everything will disappear.
The background is not transparent on my browser(Chrome) - just a white block.
I know next to nothing about hang gliding - but it intrigues me.
I cannot imagine the feeling of running and jumping off a mountain and placing all that trust in the sky and your gear. Yikes.
It must be beyond exhilarating.
When faced with anxiety, I always think- How can I add more!
I suppose when you're up there, and the day is perfect, and your flight is perfect, the anxiety melts away.
"I cannot imagine the feeling of running and jumping off a mountain and placing all that trust in the sky and your gear. "
Same here, and that's the thought that goes through my mind as soon as I leave the ground. I think: "holy shit, it really works! I'm actually flying. Happens every time.
Photo 8 of 12, the arm candy shot, is so sweet.
The dog is probably bored, like a dog on a long car trip on the Interstate.
There are no scents.
If you were wondering, this is where baby hang gliders come from.
Mating Behavior in the Wild
What happens to the slow learners?
If you go to about 6:30 in that video above, you will see them mating over Yosemite valley, which is an amazing place to fly, but you are not allowed to soar thermals there. Just launch off the top and glide down to the valley floor.
"What happens to the slow learners?"
The people who are most in danger are the quick learners. People go through the process of learning at very different rates, and you can take your time, sometimes years to get to an advanced rating (H-4). Others take just a few months and seem to have no fear. They often end up posting pictures of their x-rays, but they need that possibility, I guess. I'm not one of those. I've been flying for over a decade, and never got more than a skinned knee, which I've gotten more often from playing on the floor, if you know what I mean.
There's a great place to watch hang gliders in LaJolla, right next to the Torrey Pines golf course. I love to go watch.
My uncle in West Rutland, Vt. owns some hunting property. He allowed local hang gliders build a launch on a mountain he owns. This was back in the 60's. I loved watching them when I was a kid. Last I knew, back in the 90's, the club still used Uncle Mike's mountain. I'm going to visit Uncle Mike in September. He's like a second father to me. He was my mom's twin. He's 88 and dying of cancer. Lem, I'm glad you wrote this. The last time I went up to the mountain was when my kids were smaller. I'll head up there in September. Keep this topic alive, please.
" Jump in - the sky is warm."
No. Fucking. Way.
Ya' know, when I was about six, and my mom had taken me and my two sisters to the pool, my little 3 year-old sister was jumping gleefully, over and over, into the pool with her innertube. And I was afraid to do it. I just didn't trust that innertube. Then I told myself, 'this is ridiculous,' and I jumped. It worked!
Just to clear up any confusion, This vanity post is my fault. I wrote it, and emailed it to Lem, and he posted it. Nobody should take the blame for my writing.
oh! I thought Lem was a hang glider too. Thanks for clarification, Bagoh.
Way back in the early eighties I had a good friend who was into hang-gliding. When he was first learning he had a close call when, as he was stepping off, or getting ready to, the wind caught his glider the wrong way and he was swept off, but then immediately swept around back on the cliff.
A few years later when I was talking with him he told me that he had recently glid from the Bellefont, Pa area all the way down to the Harrisburg(?) area. He said he landed in a farmer's field, with the farmer watching, nonchalantly folded up his rig, and asked the farmer if he could use his phone. lol
On our training hill there was a man in our group who looked like Popeye the Sailor man. I asked him, "Dude? Come on. Really?" And he goes, "Yup. Seriously. I always wanted to fly like a bird and I will before I die so that's why I'm here." An answer we all related to instantly. He had us. None of thought he is crazy.
Bagoh - is the orange smoke just for effect?
The images of Yosemite reminded me of a Banff film festival film I once watched that blew me away.
A 23 year old guy named Alex Honnold climbed half-dome without ropes. (this is 25 minutes long w/ all sorts of North Face ads at the front - but worth it if you have time)
" he had recently glid ".
Although that is the proper word, I don't remember ever seeing anyone write it or use it before. In fact, I thought it was wrong, and was gonna make fun of you, until I looked it up just to be safe. Thanks for the English lesson.
"Bagoh - is the orange smoke just for effect?" Yea.
That reminds me: Our local flying site is near a kid's baseball league and field. Every spring for the opening game, one of our pilots flies over the field with one of the those smoke canisters, and drops the ball down to the pitcher. It's a pretty cool way to start the game.
I hate to say it, but this looks like animal abuse to me. Poor dog is hanging on for his life.
Hang gliding and stuff is a lot of fun and exciting for some people. Personally you would have to drug me and tie me up to get me to go hang gliding. I can barely force myself to get close to the edge of a cliff much less jump off. But...everyone has a different level of what they consider fun.
I doubt the dog thinks it is much fun to jump off of a cliff.
Once I open the comments up, it's a white background, but opening the blog, I can only see the text at the bottom inch or two, because the sky background overwhelms everything else. The top of the thread is almost black. No problem, I'm only here for the comments anyway.
The first time I took my dog Calvin with me - not flying just to the top of the mountain - my friend said that when I launched, Calvin ran after me, and they had to restrain him. Then he just ran around in circles looking for me. I know, that's cruel, but he had friends there.
I don't see a picture at all unless I click on the link in the title that goes to Yahoo news.
Weird.
When I go to page 2 (older posts), then the comments are even hard to read because the sky background overwhelms the type even in the comment section. Whatever was changed between yesterday and today needs to be changed back. Please.
Yup. Its actually giving me a headache.
Fen, is anyone reading our comments?
I don't have time to read comments. I'm trying to think!
Lem is the only one with control over site appearance, so email him directly if there are problems. The site doesn't have problems for me, by the by.
Now back to thinking!
Paddy O.
I think they are reading via mobile devices--so the problem is in that mode.
I don't have a mobile device. This problem wasn't here yesterday, but showed up along with the short page version you see now.
AllenS--
What browser are you using?
Internet Explorer, which worked fine yesterday, here.
I use Firefox. I'm not having any problems with the graphics.
Ya--I'm on Safari--displaying properly.
Okay--
Lem is in Pasta's thread at top trying to get an assist with the issue:
*********
Lem said...
Off Topic.
blog tech issue.
I disabled the mobile phone application.
and I limited the number of posts, showing on the main page, to all the post posted on that day.
Can someone tell me which of those should I undo.
July 25, 2013 at 5:29 PM
If anyone is asking me for advice on how to fix the problem, you're shit out of luck.
Whenever I've fixed anything on my end, believe me, it was sheer luck.
AllenS said: "Internet Explorer, which worked fine yesterday, here."
Same.
The whitespace surrounding the txt of each blog post is transparent. So the txt (medium blue color) is overlayed directly on the "sky" background.
But the comment page is normal. And if I click on "show original post" it is also normal. So I may just avoid the front page and click on each post indivually. Still a bit of a pain, since I have to open the comments up before seeing the original post (which I may not be interested in), ... but better than the headaches caused from trying to read the main page.
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