The Weekend (7/25 - 7/27/2004) (New Wave Boogie)

What a great time I had this past weekend. Let's begin with Friday:

Friday - 7/25/2004

    I started Friday teaching M2559 to a group of 14 people. We had a great class that week, and were able to end things a little bit early. I managed to make it to skydive chicago and get 2 jumps in after class! The first jump was just a solo sit-fly attempt. I didn't do that well sitting, but it was great to be back in the air. I also downsized to a Sabre2 150 from a Steletto 170. I'll be trying a Steletto 150 next weekend if I can find some cash. Quite the speedy landings from a 150 with my body weight. The second dive, I did another sit-fly attempt this time with Dawn. We didn't stay together for more than a few seconds, but since we were the last ones out, we got some free stills from Rook on the way down. One of those stills made it to the SDC Photo Gallery here.

Saturday - 7/26/2004

    After an early friday night, I was up bright and early, and ready to jump. I signed up for the "New Way" boogie that was going on. I ended up in a group with TJ our coach, my friend Jim Bloomingdale, and Chuck on camera. 5 dives were made, all 3 way attempts. We nailed 3 out of the 5 exits, but Jim seemed to backslide as soon as we broke. There was some great video that I may have time to digitize soon. I did 5 jumps with Jim and TJ, then did 2 solo jumps as well. The second was especially neat. Scott Miller was doing his canopy course, so we dropped quite a few people on a bad spot 2 miles out. Only a 4 way and I remained to full altitude. The 4 way exited first, and I gave them 10 seconds before I exited with my normal flipping routine. I transitioned to a solid sit, and actually caught up to the 4 way pretty fast. I was even with them by 7000 feet, and flipped onto my belly to watch. What an absolutly amazing dive. Rook gave me some advice about sitting up straight, and it helped considerably. The night was quite a party. Jack Daniels is bad.... Lets just leave it at that. This was my last day skydiving for the weekend, so the entry ends here as well.

Introduction

   Hello, I'm Gentry Bieker, and this is my skydiving blog. I started skydiving when I did my first tandem jump at Skydive Chicago on April 2nd, 2004. I haven't been able to quit thinking about it daily since then. I'm completely addicted. I don't think I could stop of I tried. It's hard to put into words my feelings about the sport, but I'm going to try to do it here over time. I also need a place to daydream about skydiving, and journal my career in the sport. As of last weekend (June 13), I have 37 jumps logged. I also brought my mother Rebecca and my brother Andrew out for the weekend. My mom did 2 jumps on Saturday. She told me it was the greatest experience of her life. I'm pretty sure those were her words. My brother Andrew was able to fly the plane to altitude for her second, and my 37th jump. I'm glad he had the guts to ask! If you ever go, make sure to budget an extra hundred bucks for the video. It's worth EVERY PENNY. The guys at SkyCam are amazing in all aspects of arial photography and video editing. You recieve a 6 minute video dubbed to music, and professionally edited with visual effects that will blow your mind. I'll find the time soon to post my mom's video as a sample. I truly regret not having my Tandem jump videotaped.

   I started on Friday, April 2nd with 2 tandem jumps. I was back the next day with $1800 in hand for the full AFP package. 15 jumps, all with videotape and expert coaching. I went through ground school on that Saturday, and did AFP Levels 1-5 on Sunday. The experience at SDC is second to none. I was lucky enough to jump with each of the 4 full time AFP Instructors. I felt honored to be coached by the two owners of the Drop Zone, Rook and Missy for several of my AFP jumps. Dave Cicciarelli was the instructor that I logged the most jumps with. He also took my mother on her first Tandem. The man has over 12,000 jumps logged and is absolutly AMAZING. He has a true love for the sport. I also jumped several times with Nanette. Imagine a person with the most energy, joy, and passion you've seen that you've ever seen, and and then triple it. That's Nanette. And Nanette, if you're reading this... We still need to drink some of that graduation tequlia (Don Julio of course!) ;)

   I'm especially interested in canopy piloting, belly flying, and freeflying, and one day hope to become a tandem master. It was the greatest feeling to introduce my mother to the sport, and I hope to introduce many others. If you're thinking about your first jump and aren't quite sure, just visit SDC. The people there are one of the greatest aspects. Everyone will go out of their way to make you and your guests feel completely welcome and at ease. If you're licensed, and looking for a someone to jump with, find me! I'll jump with just about anyone. By next season, I should even be able to help you out with a place to stay. I've just got to move my RV up there and find a slot. It's beginning to get late, and I'm starting to get tired. It's been a long weekend. So...

... To Be Continued