Back to Almaden Quicksilver

With the coronavirus raging in San Jose (and across the United States), I resumed exercise. I thought that Almaden Quicksilver County Park would be closed, but I learned it was still open on closer inspection.

On April 17th, I rode my Specialized FSR S-Works mountain bike on my standard 10.5-mile trail. According to Strava, my ride took me 87 minutes. With a 1640-foot elevation gain, this is my favorite workout ride near my house.

 


During the next week, I rode my Specialized mountain bike on multiple occasions, with some improvement in overall time.

Here is a GoPro Hero7 Black video of the downhill portion of my ride:



On Saturday, April 25th, 2020, I managed to ride the Almaden Quicksilver Park with the fastest time (this year) at 81 minutes.

Read More

Windsurf Jibing at home

While home with the Coronavirus quarantine, I decided to practice windsurfing jibing on land.

I found the following YouTube video extremely helpful for practicing jibing at home.

Carve Jibing Steps

1. Look around to make sure the jibing area is clear
2. Move the backhand farther toward the clew
3. Unhook from the harness and use your hips to maintain speed (do not sheet out)
4. Steer on a broad reach for maximum speed.
5. Take the back foot out of the rear strap and place it on the rail (do not put weight on it)
6. Push the sail forward and inside the turn with your front arm while pulling up on the front foot strap, letting the board carve.
7. When approaching a run, start moving the sail across the board (trying to push it forward - not backward!)
8. When contorted, slip the front foot out of the foot strap and place it on the rail (with the heal on the rail)
9. Step forward with your back foot touching the mast base, sailing backwinded.
10. Slide the arm closest to the boom toward the mast and flip the sail.

Here is a video of Strap-to-Strap jibing from Sam Ross on YouTube.

Strap-to-Strap Jibing Steps

1. Look around to make sure the jibing area is clear
2. Move the backhand farther toward the clew
3. Unhook from the harness and use your hips to maintain speed (do not sheet out)
4. Steer on a broad reach for maximum speed.
5. Take the back foot out of the rear strap and place it on the rail (do not put weight on it)
6. Push the sail with your front arm forward and inside the turn while pulling up on the foot strap on the other leg, letting the board carve.
7. When approaching a run, start moving the sail across the board (trying to push it forward - not backward!), but keep carving the board!
8. Move boom hand close to the mast, and let go of the other hand
9. As the sail rotates, grab the other side of the boom underhand and sheet in (while sailing in switch stance)
10. Slip out the front foot and put on the rail

Read More

Billie Jean King's Eye Coach

Because of the coronavirus, I could no longer practice tennis at the Sunnyvale Tennis Center. I purchased Billie Jean King's Eye Coach to maintain my tennis skills. 

Florian Meyer had a $20 discount on this device, so I could purchase it for $145.

Florian also offers bonus Eye Coach training videos here:

• https://content.onlinetennisinstruction.com/wp-login.php

Additional instructional videos can be found here:

• https://www.howtoplaytennis.net/17-shot-instructional-videos/

I use the Eye Coach daily for 15 minutes and hope to maintain my tennis technique.

Read More