The particular neurochemicals produced by action sports are far more potent than any single drug
You nailed it.
It's amazing how some hang glider pilot can take one read of my site and understand exactly what I'm trying to say -- but paraglider pilots, by and large, will visit my site many times and come away without a clue as to what I am talking about. I think they go to Mythology of the Airframe like some people go to porn sites. They skim over the text, look at the pictures and videos, but never admit they were there. Then when they discuss it among themselves, they all come to share this lowest common denominator of perceptions dominated by their common misconceptions, and invariably end up attacking the messenger like a bunch of monkeys throwing their s*** from the trees at a passing tiger.
We've all been to the place where powerful natural chemicals rule our thoughts and actions and provide the instantaneous reactions necessary to survive and prosper on our chariots of aluminum, carbon fiber and Dacron in the normal, turbulent sky. And most of us have learned, not without struggle, to share that unique accelerated pace with the other, quieter and, eventually in retrospect, vastly more important parts of our lives where it can interfere. But there is a difference that I have been pondering for several years, between hang gliding and paragliding pilots, which suggests that the
quantity of natural drugs is greater in paragliding. This may be due to every paraglider pilot knowing in his heart that his wing may experience catastrophic aerodynamic failure which will kill him or alter the rest of his life -- and not for the better.
What a rush, eh?
Some of us may have experienced that kind of thrill in the early days before all the hard work went in to make our hang gliders pitch positive and robust. But paragliders cannot take negative Gs at all. They collapse suddenly, forcing the pilot to transition from calm flight to emergency reaction in a split second. This is the moment of drug injection. And if the paraglider re-inflates and goes crazy, experiences multiple collapses or enters a spiral dive, or attempts to throw the reserve, the drugs keep pumping away. Pump, pump, pump...
The hardcore thermal junkies do this repeatedly. They get off on it like cocaine. This was explained to me
in no uncertain terms by some of my old hang gliding buddies who'd gone over to XC paragliding in the Owens Valley in 2002. They wanted me to try it, to experience the rush. But I'd already been there and I declined. Powerful drugs demand respect. If your drug of choice demands that you ignore the fact that your aircraft cannot take negative Gs, has a Dead Man's Curve all its own and a lot in common with Russian Roulette -- then you need a wake-up call.
Unfortunately, by that time, it's way too late. You're an addict and no one can talk you down.
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