Today's toss went well. It was their second mass release. The release was much better than a few days ago. Birds left in 3 big groups. The weather has improved here in San Diego. Much cooler weather. However, the desert is still hot. As a rule, when flying from the east, when the weather cools down we get headwinds. When the temperature gets warm this time of year in San Diego, we usually get a high pressure system that results in tailwinds.
We are scheduled to fly the First leg of the Average speed during the 1st week of November.
Race info will be mailed out the later part of the week.
Training will continue with long tosses. Our next toss scheduled for either Wednesday or Thursday. High winds expected, so we will train accordingly.
Please call with any questions, or concerns.
Today's trainer is only partially correct. I liberated 700+ California Classic at 7:15. Temperature was 75 degrees. Coming down the grade into the desert was 88 degrees. The weather was clear with blue skies. I have never seen anything like what I saw this morning. The Flock got high, starterd to head for home and 300 + pulled out and headed back for trailer. This group of approx 300 where lost. Ready to land. They would not leave. They continued to fly very low and had no bearing as to where to go. At this point of watching for some 10 minutes. I said time to go home with the rest. This particular area is known for earthquakes. It was going to be another scorching day in the desert. I was not sure what to think as to why birds acted the way they did. As I write this most birds are back. The Royal and remaining CCSD birds where trained 10 miles. Sorry, for any confusion. The first 400 on CCSD are legit. I'll wait for weekend for things to cool down.
The weatherman called it right. It is currently 98 degrees. We are expected to be in the 100's for the next few days. In regards to the training, it has been a little rough. A few days ago we we were dealing with heavy marine layer. On our toss from 62 miles we waited for the fog to lift but the heat in the desert came upon us fast. 82 degrees at 8:00 am. Not to mention strong winds. Needless to say it was a tough day. Birds will resting for the next few days, then back on the road. We will go one more time at 70 miles with 2 groups released 10 min apart then planning for mass release over the weekend.
Please call with any questions or concerns.
We are planning on releasing in the desert either tomorrow or Saturday. All the birds are still released in large groups 300-400. They are typically released in intervals of 5 minutes. For those new to the race, the first few times when releasing in the desert means wing time. Some will be flying all day. The birds are released at sea level and need to make their way up the mountains.
We pushed today's toss a little later this morning (thick marine layer). Majority of birds did great. However, still out a few.
***Race info will be mailed out in a few weeks. If you have a new address, please change on wincompanion.
Mother nature has not been kind to us here on the West Coast for the last month. Here in Jamul, temperatures have been consistently 100+ degrees for the last few days. This morning there was a window of coolness and I took it. Most birds in Royal Cup and California Classic did fantastic. The California Classic are out still out some. The later ones that came in this afternoon, did not seem to fly for hours. Pretty sure the heat forced all the late and missing ones to find some shade. Training will continue with the same routine.
Please call with any questions.
This mornings trainer was shortened. The heat was coming on too fast. Usually, there is a window of coolness early. Not the case today. It is expected to be hot mid 90's-100's through the week. Today and tomorrow are expected to be the hottest. We will train accordingly. Royal Cup and California Classic birds are looking good.
Training has been going well both for California Classic and Royal Cup. The releases have been in groups thus far. Group releases have been larger than what I have done in the past. All birds are released within 20-25 minutes. The temperature rises 20-30 degrees within a few hours. That has been the norm for the last month. HOT!!! This coming week, we will train accordingly, as the heat in the mountains is returning. It will be another few weeks before we release in the desert as temperatures continue at 100-110 degrees. All the birds are doing very well.
**The California Classic is now on Facebook. Our goal is to make things a little more intresting. We will be sharing a few times a month from here on out.
Thanks to all of you that have viewed, and shared the positive respones. We appreciate all of you.
Thank you!!!
Training has been going very well up until yesterday. It is very typical for mistakes to be made when flying through valleys and mountain terrain. The heat did come, and little warmer than usual this late in September. Temperatures have been in the triple digits the last few days. We will start moving out further once the weather cools down.
We took the birds on a short toss this morning. The roads are still blocked due to fires still going on. It's breezy through the passes so the smoke was not that heavy. We will continue with same routine. Once air clears a little more and Cal fire says fire is out, we will start moving birds further in training. But for now, something is better than nothing.
