<Moderator edit - The contents of this post have been removed as abusive, but this has been left as a placeholder to make the rest of the thread make sense>
Hey Richie, in case you're reading this, no disrespect intended at all - much the opposite actually - and just having a laugh bro! Peace people.
Ricardo, you need to STFD (to use a new FSH expression): Soften The F Down - chill mate.
Hey Kit33r nice shots thanks for taking and sharing them- pretty fun day.
To answer the why the shoes question, i do like to wear them like wakeskating when trying kiteloops and kickflips. Landing hard with the heels is not nice and shoes spreads the load out which is great for my feet and the board. It also doubles the chance of landing these tricks as it adds a bit more grip. I also ride my skimboard which has full grip tape on the deck with shoes for the similar reasons- Much easier on the heels, board, better grip, no smudging wax etc.
95% of the time i ride this UG board i go barefoot as it has better feel and less clumsy. I've added an extra layer of deck grip on the board and the material grips well with skate shoes so left the grip tape off this one.
Thanks for defending me Ricardo but i don't think they Foosh meant anything negative by it. Definately unhooking doing the same tricks is a step forward, though sometimes the wind strength and direction make it too awkward or impossible to unhook. Rich
Riders like Richie make it easy to get good shots. Around here Richie is a bit of a pioneer when it comes to new ideas on the water. If my aging memory serves me correctly, he took a place at Mambo a few years back riding a skimboard.
If conditions and opportunity come together I'll get out my video camera and get some footage of Rich at Wanda just to show how hard these moves really are.
great shots kit33r, richie is the guy to watch around here on pretty much anything he rides! made me want to ride a skimboard when i started and keeps me wanting to get on a stick, the shoes make sense when you see him kite...maybe a vid is in order?!
Lets go easy on Foosh, he did post and say he was taking the p1$$ after all!
Rich is unaffected by what others think of how he rides anyway, he does not ride to impress or please others, he rides because he absolutely, really wants to and loves it.
Same as when you see him zooming around the local streets with his amazing dog pulling him along at warp speed on his skater longboard, the tow of them are a team and they live for it.
Rich can and does unhook, can and does ride without shoes, in fact can do just about anything with a kite and a board, and he is a good teacher too always willing to have a chat and share tips and advice! As Pro Merc and Kitehard say he is the one to watch and a true original thinker.
Note to Foosh.
I wasn't having a go at you personally, just using your words to highlight a problem with the attitude of the kiting community in general.
Happy riding in your own style!
KH
I guess when the surf is 1 foot nothing... ^^^
the rider's tennis-shoes become an interesting distraction.
lol.
Carry on.
Its not that the surf was 1 foot nothing, tts just that richie has taken shrinking tablets and is now really small!
^^^ But if he's taken shrinking tablets and is really small, then the 1 foot mush should look like 20 foot Shipsterns.
I think you mean he's taken enlarging tablets and so... Never mind.