Weird day! Bit off-topic this (and I am seriously in the red, with lots of biking tales and pictures to post), but you mountain-bikers are active types so I reckon this might interest you: an unexpected trip to Belgrade to get my laptop serviced today (with me grumbling all the way that I hadn’t cycled for 3 days) ended up with an impromptu visit to Belgrade’s Ada Ciganlija river resort and, at the prompting of Mrs. D, my having a go at water-skiing!

Water-skiing is one of those things you see people doing a fair bit, if you spend any time near lakes or the sea, but it is very easy to go through your entire life and never actually try it. However, Belgrade’s Ada Ciganlija, basically an artificial lake, has a cable-water ski installation in one corner - a system of cables whips you off a platform and round a circuit of, I guess, around 600m, presumably recreating the experience of being towed by a boat to a great extent.

Whyski? Whynotski?

Well, this was one of those, “why not?!” moments - only 650 din (8 EUR) for an hour’s session, including a quick lesson (5 minutes!) with an instructor, and I was on my way! Having tried to take on board the instructor’s all-too-brief instructions, I found myself whisked off the starting platform and… actually staying on! Wow! After a few rounds I realised I could actually straighten up, and also that I could start steering and working up huge amounts of angular momentum to go hurtling into and out of the corners, but also that my arms began to ache unbearably as I discovered yet another set of muscles that I didn’t know I didn’t have. I also discovered why you still need to crouch into the corners, as I wiped out a few times after getting over-confident and straightening up into the scary bends.
The video supplied above was after a bit of practice, and is supposed to show (apart from me hurtling out of the last bend and trying to gracefully end my session) that if I can do this then… just about anyone can. It’s true, you definitely need some upper-body strength - I am no muscle-man, but I do keep fit and I am not kidding about the aching arms - I can hardly lift them right now! But if you happen to get offered the chance to try this and you’re in reasonable form - go for it! The feeling of speed is awesome and it’s another way of skiving off biking!

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Posted on August 21st, 2008 by markowe
Filed under: Off topic