madison

tyson · Post by **tyson** » Wed Oct 25, 2006 4:02 pm

anyone ridden mendota on a NW? i may go down there this weekend to partake in the halloween festivities w/friends, and my gear is comin with me. i figure nw isn't so great for the big pond so... mendota is what i'm left with...

esteffen · Post by **esteffen** » Wed Oct 25, 2006 6:22 pm

Tenny Park (sp?) on the east side of the lake is not bad on a NW wind. It will be slightly on shore but not directly. The lake is about 7 mi across from west to east so the wind should be pretty clean.

Lake Monona is a little smaller and could work too, but I never sailed there- Mendota was closer to my house and the wind was usually cleaner.

Eric

Tighe · Post by **Tighe** » Wed Oct 25, 2006 7:43 pm

Holloween in Madison. That'll be a blast. State street goes nuts.

NW is the primo direction for Mendota. You could even be a rock star in front of the Union, though I think there may be a point upwind a bit.

Hopefully Bob will see this and give more details.

have fun.

tyson · Post by **tyson** » Wed Oct 25, 2006 7:53 pm

im pretty stoked, i've gone the last two years and we got teargassed both years on state street. two years ago the entire street somehow ended up on fire? it was amazing. i care more about the kiting now though... strange...

Michael · Post by **Michael** » Wed Oct 25, 2006 8:36 pm

As far as sailing goes...Tenney Park is absolutely epic on a big NW day, but for kiting you'd probably want to go a few blocks further east to Burrows Beach. That seems to be the kiter spot...shallow really far out, less people, and no rock jetty sticking out into the lake to contest with.

As far as state street goes, I lived in Madison for many years and unfortunately all of the out-of-towners coming in and thinking setting things on fire is rad have ruined that event...State street is on complete lock-down this year; locals, police, and officials are sick of dealing with the spectacle of it all...so unless you want to spend a night in jail, might want to take it easy.

toyletbowl · Post by **toyletbowl** » Wed Oct 25, 2006 11:05 pm

tenney is much better for NW winds even for kiting. the problem with burrows is it gets a wind shadow from maple bluff. burrows is much better with more west in it. wnw...w...wsw.

if it's blowing stink, i'll ride after about 1:30. if it's only 10-20...hmmm. hard to get psyched for riding super cold conditions if it's not blowing strong.

call me on my cell at 608-358-0514.

bob

adamel111 · Post by **adamel111** » Thu Oct 26, 2006 9:22 am

Tenney will definitely work on a NW wind. I did quite a few cold weather sessions at Tenney on a NW wind during my college career there (including a session in snow and what turned out to be strep throat and mono - I was out of commission for a week afterwards).

Picnic point will create a bit of a wind shadow that will be noticeable if you head towards the union. The wind will also get much flukier as you get closer to union, I don't recommend trying to show off too close.

I don't know if state street is on any more of a lockdown that it has been in years past. True, you need to get a ticket ($5) for entrance (I'm not sure how they plan on controlling all the entrances), but I don't think there is going to be any more police presence than there has been in the last few years. The city decided to turn the halloween into more of a "festival" (meaning charging admission and setting up bands to play) in order to help pay for the cost of policing the night and reducing the vandalism. Personally, I am disappointed it had to come to this, but it is better than the city shutting down the event. Probably could have resolved the problem by simply not having a bar time since most of the problems happen when everyone gets pushed out onto the street and doesn't want to go home yet. If we let the kids drink themselves into a stupor and don't bark commands at them, they would probably go home peacefully. Ok, that is enough on that rant.

I'm sure you will still have a great time. Some of my friends are heading down. They are going as illegal immigrants and border patrollers. Yes, not the most politically correct costume, but still creative and funny none-the-less.

tyson · Post by **tyson** » Thu Oct 26, 2006 10:53 am

okay sweet, thanks for all the info guys. i really want to go down but now its looking like some of my friends who were going to go are all getting cold feet and wanting to stick around here.

think im going to wait for the forecast on friday to decide... if i do head down tenney is where ill be allllll day sat. thanks again