KC Watersports

so it looks like I need to go to Kansas City, MO for a business trip in a couple of weeks.
would it be worth it to me, to rent a car on a thursday, and drive an hour to ride at this place? I have never ridden cable before, and it looks like I would be renting all my gear out there. I really want to ride the cable, but I dont want to spend 2-3 hours learning, only to have to bail at closing time just as I start to get the hang of it.
any thoughts?
thanks guys.

GO!!!! cables are FUN! some guy on here that goes there might even have a setup you can rock but never give up the chance to ride a cable its to much fun to pass up ;)

Swallow your pride ... do it ... it's fun, it's new. But beware ...

Beware of Nick Tomsyck's point no. 2.

http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/messages/65919/651917.html

There will be all these youngsters just killing it while you might be figuring out the slickness of plastic for the first time. Then you crash, swim to shore, hike back to the line, and stand in it while they stare at you like you're out of place ... it's humiliating. I wish cable parks had like 'adult swim' that neighborhood pools had back in the day.

i have riden a cable just 1 time and it was there, lots of fun but frustrating. takes a little bit to get used to. nick is totally correct on his thread about what to do. if i had the option of going i would. i will take a little effort but you wont be disappointed.

OK, I shared. I hate cable. It’s really humiliating. But Train go ahead and do it anyway. It for sure is fun, except for the humiliation.

First thing you got to learn is, how to do a dock start. (Right, wrong or other – I do an aggressive cut on my (regular not goofy) heelside edge to the outside).

Then you got to learn how you’ll manage crazy slack in the line because too much pull on the outside of the tow point on the cable will pull the cable a little off line. And you’ll be sinking in the water with no hope of tensioning for what seems like forever while the cable swishes side to side and the trolley gains away from you. There’s a lot of hard yanks in cable.

After that is figuring out how to survive corners. Others here have posted good tips on that.

The point where I’m at is the ramps (kickers?, there’s a whole new nomenclature or ‘jargon’ to master, but no doubt you anticipated that).

At KC, the park provides a ‘baby’ ... oh ... two foot high ramp to start on. I slipped and skated over that thing a handful times before I would man up to a serious ramp. The KC cable park has a substantial ramp on the side of the loop opposite the starting dock that seemed to be eight feet high (???).

I took a charge at that and, just before I crossed the lip, my board goes out from underneath like I was the lead bowling pin hit by a strike. I let out a shrieking scream ... a single word ... the J– word (clue, we celebrate his birth at Christmas).

And this ain’t the part of the country to do that. And ... I also don’t know where the impulse came like that just to scream.

The rest is infamy. Undo bindings, kick the board off, swim to shore in traffic, hike a long hike barefoot back to the line, and queue ... with the open mouths of babes just gawking at me.

That crash on my neck and back hurt. But I denied it to the end and the owner of the cable park wished me good wishes and wished me to have had a good enough time to come back.

I hate cable, but that’s just me. Do it.

The cables a hoot. If a 53 yr old man can have a good time on it then you can too.

I keep hearing how people ride slalom skis at the cable parks and I'm trying to figure out how this would work at wake board speeds. I'd be sunk up to my knees at 20mph if I had one of my shortline skis on.

At OWC when your turn is up they will wait for everyone on the cable to finish and then give it to you and allow you to specify the speed. At least that's how they used to do it when I slalomed. However the only time I slalom skied was when the lines were real short.

well, I am used to be humiliated. you should see the guys I ride with on a fairly regular basis. they are head and shoulders above me. as long as no one laughs and points, I dont think humiliation will be a problem.
I just figure this may be my only chance to ride cable, since I live in Cali and dont have any plans on going to texas or florida, or KC again.

thanks for the tips.
do I get a vest that has NOOB in big block letters on it?

Go, you will have a great time, very cool laid back vibe at KC.

Been there twice. Have great board control behind the boat and was able to figure the corners and stuff out within a few times around the lake (including one whip into the water around corner 2...ouch) Start with sliders on the dock side, scion mainly, then go elsewhere when you feel more comfortable. I started with the scion, then went to the a frame, then to the LF (still can't master that thing). I know saying them doesn't give you any clue now, but it will make sense when you go. Everyone is very helpful and you'll pick it up quick

So all in all, DO IT!

well if anyone is going to be there on the afternoon of June 25th, PM me.

do it. I'll be there. any of us locals will be glad to help you out.

I'll probably be there too. Its not as intimidating as everyone says. If you've never been to a cable KCW is a good place to ride for the first time. Who knows maybe you'll love it. I do

look for the NOOB with a shaved head falling off the starting dock and come say hi!

Okay shameless plug here but i did the exact same thing last year when i was in KC for work....do it man you won't regret it. It's a little weird at first but by the end of the day i was hitting fun boxes and rails....can't wait to try again..... http://wakeworld.com/getarticle.asp?articleid=1790

(Actually, I'm 60). I went there a week ago on Friday and Saturday, late in the afternoon. I had some trouble finding it because I forgot to bring a map. It's actually easy to find. It's several miles south of Olathe on U.S. 169. It was not crowded at all. I had my own gear, and I signed up for 2 hours each day. The park closes at 8:00pm and they let me keep riding both days for a third hour or so, until closing time. The staff was friendly, as were the other riders.

Although it was my first time at a cable park, I got up okay every time on Friday. The operator would give me a boost as the cable was coming around. I'm not ready for rails; I mostly practiced my handle passes, riding switch, etc. The second corner was pretty fast, but as long as I pulled the handle to my hip right after the cable rounded the corner, I didn't have too much trouble with it.

I didn't fall much on Friday, but I rode more aggressively on Saturday and fell frequently. Late in the day, I told the operator that I didn't think I needed boosts any more. The next three tries in a row, I was unable to get up. Finally, on my fourth try, I got up on my own.

The hardest part of it for me was wading the last few feet to shore after falling. The bottom of the pond is muddy and it's really slippery. I had a good time both days and recommend that you try it.

yay for cable! I was out there last sunday, loved it. Except, they killed grimace, and I miss that kicker (its on my heel edge, I just liked to be able to rail into something regular.)

anyone go from stl how far is it? would like to make a roadie there

anyone go from stl how far is it? would like to make a roadie there

Mike it's about 3 and a half hrs. I usually have a cable weekend trip with Dri-Port every year in which a good group of us head out there for the weekend from St. Louis. I was going to have one for this weekend - but fathers day was not good for most so I have postponed it till July. There still is a good group heading out for Sunday after the slingshot demo day on Saturday. Keep an eye out on www.DriPort.com events page or on www.mowake.com for the next trip in July- u can head out with all of us.

FYI.... Grimace is back out.

Start making plans for the Scion Open on July 11th. Should be a great event. Details will be out soon.

mike...sweet.

anyone have an idea of what the water and air temps would be for a late afternoon/early evening sesh? is a heater top even necessary?

thanks. see some of you guys Thursday.
remember, help the cable noob, do not openly mock him!

heck no! heat index of over 100 the last few days. Water is more than warm enough. You will want to get wet

It's hotter than hell.

good to know. thanks guys.

no heater top necessary. it'll be hot hot hot. sadly i won't be there this time around....

holy crap was it hot! what a blast though. after wrecking hard my first time around, I started to get the hang of it. I even started to hit the funbox (which I have never done before). all in all, totally worth the time, and I am definitely hooked.
met some really cool people as well. no one even made fun of me when I biffed it off the starting dock a couple of times.
hopefully we get some of these in Cali. I am definitely looking forward to the next time I can ride cable. hopefully my arms won't hurt as much as they do right now though.

Hope everyone can make it out for the Scion Open on July 11th. We will have a comp along with a sick wakeskate rail exhibition featuring Aaron Reed and Danny Hampson. They will be building a take off pool on beach with a down ramp in to lake. Oh yea, Tom Fooshee is also schedule to be here. $30 gets you a day pass, comp entry, shirt, and BBQ. Who could ask for more??