"It Doesn’t Count"
Wow, this competition feels like it’s breaking me. Here’s a recap of today:
Conditions seemed promising on launch, and because I bombed out the last two days, I knew full well that if I did not launch in the first 15 minutes (where anyone can launch) I would be waiting until the very end, so I geared up, and was the first competitor off the hill.
Climbs were easy to find and I was soon joined by Nicole McLearn (Canada’s top female pilot) and her boyfriend Alex (who is also an excellent pilot), who is a windtech at this competition. It was really fun flying with them in the same thermal – I kind of thought of it as Team Canada’s thermal!
I flew for an hour and a half before the start gate opened. There were plenty of clouds and lift everywhere, so it was pretty cool thermalling with 40 other gliders in some great conditions.
The start opened, and everyone went on glide to Rabies Ridge. I topped up in the thermal I was in, and watched everyone closely. After topping up enough, I went on glide too, and watched as gliders were hunting for lift. A few gliders in front of me were playing with a small thermal in the valley, so I joined them as I continued to watch everyone else. As that petered out, I headed towards the ridge, but I couldn’t really find anything. Suddenly I noticed three gliders climbing towards the left of the ridge in the valley, so I joined them too.
It was a good climb and meanwhile chatter on the radio indicated that it was starting to overdevelop on the course line. My flying route was pointing me into a big cloud, but I as I watched others head towards it, the cloud was not sucking at any real notable rate, so I headed for it too. I caught some lift and circled a bit, but mainly flew straight and slow as it was a big cloud and I figured there wasn’t really a point in turning. I wouldn’t say I was 100% comfortable flying under the cloud, but at no point did I think I was in any serious danger. I should also mention that there were a few pilots ahead of me and two behind me who I was also keeping an eye on.
This went on for a while until they announced on the radio that the task had been stopped due to overdevelopment and that all pilots had to land immediately.
I had a perfect landing on a farming road and 10 minutes after packing up, it started to rain. Retrieve picked me up after walking to the main road and as we drove, it started to pour.
When I got to headquarters, there were a lot of people there and I was asked about my flight. I felt pretty good about it and explained where I flew to and landed, etc. A lot of pilots said they simply landed because they did not like the overdevelopment and thought that because it was OD’ing all over the place, it would join together and go “nuclear” so to speak all at once.
There were no pilots who made it to goal, and the task had not elapsed for more than 1.5 hours, therefore the task today didn’t count. Those words were like daggers to the heart – 2 days of bombing out, and finally a good day where I fly somewhere, and my flight counts for nothing.
I had a good flight today, yes. I should leave it at that. But, the competitor inside of me is ready to ram her head straight into a brick wall. I know nobody will talk about this competition 5 years from now, but it’s hard when you see your name at the bottom of the list comp after comp.
Anyway, I know I have to stop taking competition results to heart so much. Maybe I should consider myself lucky that things didn't go crazy and that I didn't get sucked up to 30,000 feet...perhaps I was pushing it too much today. In any case, tomorrow is another day although currently there is a flash flood warning in effect:
Glad I’m not camping!
Conditions seemed promising on launch, and because I bombed out the last two days, I knew full well that if I did not launch in the first 15 minutes (where anyone can launch) I would be waiting until the very end, so I geared up, and was the first competitor off the hill.
Climbs were easy to find and I was soon joined by Nicole McLearn (Canada’s top female pilot) and her boyfriend Alex (who is also an excellent pilot), who is a windtech at this competition. It was really fun flying with them in the same thermal – I kind of thought of it as Team Canada’s thermal!
I flew for an hour and a half before the start gate opened. There were plenty of clouds and lift everywhere, so it was pretty cool thermalling with 40 other gliders in some great conditions.
The start opened, and everyone went on glide to Rabies Ridge. I topped up in the thermal I was in, and watched everyone closely. After topping up enough, I went on glide too, and watched as gliders were hunting for lift. A few gliders in front of me were playing with a small thermal in the valley, so I joined them as I continued to watch everyone else. As that petered out, I headed towards the ridge, but I couldn’t really find anything. Suddenly I noticed three gliders climbing towards the left of the ridge in the valley, so I joined them too.
It was a good climb and meanwhile chatter on the radio indicated that it was starting to overdevelop on the course line. My flying route was pointing me into a big cloud, but I as I watched others head towards it, the cloud was not sucking at any real notable rate, so I headed for it too. I caught some lift and circled a bit, but mainly flew straight and slow as it was a big cloud and I figured there wasn’t really a point in turning. I wouldn’t say I was 100% comfortable flying under the cloud, but at no point did I think I was in any serious danger. I should also mention that there were a few pilots ahead of me and two behind me who I was also keeping an eye on.
Clouds I was flying under
This went on for a while until they announced on the radio that the task had been stopped due to overdevelopment and that all pilots had to land immediately.
I had a perfect landing on a farming road and 10 minutes after packing up, it started to rain. Retrieve picked me up after walking to the main road and as we drove, it started to pour.
When I got to headquarters, there were a lot of people there and I was asked about my flight. I felt pretty good about it and explained where I flew to and landed, etc. A lot of pilots said they simply landed because they did not like the overdevelopment and thought that because it was OD’ing all over the place, it would join together and go “nuclear” so to speak all at once.
There were no pilots who made it to goal, and the task had not elapsed for more than 1.5 hours, therefore the task today didn’t count. Those words were like daggers to the heart – 2 days of bombing out, and finally a good day where I fly somewhere, and my flight counts for nothing.
I had a good flight today, yes. I should leave it at that. But, the competitor inside of me is ready to ram her head straight into a brick wall. I know nobody will talk about this competition 5 years from now, but it’s hard when you see your name at the bottom of the list comp after comp.
Anyway, I know I have to stop taking competition results to heart so much. Maybe I should consider myself lucky that things didn't go crazy and that I didn't get sucked up to 30,000 feet...perhaps I was pushing it too much today. In any case, tomorrow is another day although currently there is a flash flood warning in effect:
Glad I’m not camping!
posted by Veronica at 6:22 PM
1 Comments:
the "bang your head into a wall" feeling is why I'm not into comps anymore. It feels shitty to take something that makes me so happy and turn it into something that can make me angry/aggro/pissed/disappointed because I didn't do well compared to others.
Comps are great for pushing yourself and learning how to be a better pilot from others... but looking for your name at the top of the list can turn that all to shit. In the end remember why you are flying in the first place, and that you went somewhere. It's all relative! Fly for yourself. Don't fly just so you can say "I'm a better pilot that that guy or that guy".
Hah... I know... that's all easier said than done when you dirt out and pilots are flying over your head.
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