Bikes & Kites, or Kites and Bikes.

Once upon a time, and in quite recent living memory, our High Streets had record shops, book shops, magazine shops and even kite shops. Today, there are few of these shops, if any, as we well know. Fortunately, whilst the number of cycle shops has reduced, there is still a good presence of them in our towns and cities. So, whilst this site is obviously dedicated to cycling, I’m going to throw in a connected curve ball here, and introduce kites into the frame. Not those single line diamond kites with long colourful tails that we all made when we were kids. No, no, no. I’m talking serious stunt and power kites here, designed and made by one British brand in particular, and which I have always bought and admired; Flexifoil.

Apparently, there are currently 365 specialist kite shops in the EU, 324 in the US and 80 in the UK. This was waaaaaaay more than I expected to be honest, and 20% of those kite shops do not have a website or do any e-com business, so for a very niche leisure and sporting activity, there is obviously still a living to be made in this consumer sector. In the biggest and premium part of the kite product categories, kite surfing sales are quite solid with a global sales value in 2023 of just over $1bn, and with a current and projected growth rate of 15%. Europe takes up 48% of kite surfing sales with the US taking the remaining 42%. In Asia, kite festivals are part of big celebrations, such as Uttarayan in India, which is the most amazing display of thousands of kites. Put ‘Uttarayan’ into YouTube and you’ll see what I mean. It is possible to spend a lot of money on a kite, but it’s also something that can be made at home in its simplest form and flown for nearly no outlay if you have some basic materials lying around the house. Flying something as basic as a kite that you’ve made and decorated is really rewarding and kids love it as it can be a quick process from design, build to fly.

So where’s the above information taking us in this post? Well, back in the second half of the 1990s, our small, local town called Ruthin in North Wales, UK, had a kite shop. It was called Sky Dragons, and whilst the owners main business was paragliding, the shop stocked and sold an amazing selection of kites. Their main brand being Flexifoil, who are arguably the company which developed the power kiting category that we know of today, and their advanced stunt kites were also market leaders as well. Let me describe this kite shop for you. It was a building close to the bridge over the local river and it had a double bay windowed facade with a door in the middle. During the day, the colours of the kites along with the 1990s-coloured paragliding equipment in the shop windows looked amazing. At night, when the shop was closed and the window lights were on, it looked even more amazing. The owners were super friendly, helpful, engaging and there was an inclusive energy to the place. They ran a Land Rover as their ‘company vehicle’ as it got them to some of the more remote paragliding locations. I loved going in the shop and their brand logo was really cool as well, as you’ll see from the image below.

That classic logo that represents a really exciting shop and all of the activities associated with it.

Sadly, the Sky Dragons shop is not there anymore, but I still have the kites that I bought for both me and the kids. This finally (yes, really) brings me to the point of this post, because there are several similarities between kite flying and cycling. Firstly, both are quiet sports with no engines (unless it’s an ebike). Secondly, they can be done by an individual on his/her own, or in a group. Thirdly, both can be slightly or extremely physical. The one thing that I think is most significant about these two activities is that they can be very, very relaxing, or at the other end of the spectrum, they can both be physically explosive.

I took a few hours to spend some time in a field with some kites recently, and what fun! Here’s what happened…….the sun is shining and there’s a good wind, although a bit gusty. I have a stunt kite and a penguin windsock strapped to the cross bar of my bike, which look more like fishing rods in their sleeves, and a big power kite in a rucksack. The rucksack also contains snacks, an anemometer, ground stakes to hold the kites and some other stuff. I’m cycling a short distance to a field in the village which I believe will be ideal for kite flying. The windspeed on the ground ranges from 4 to 6 MPH with occasional gusts. 30 metres above ground where the kite will be flying and the gusts are up to 17 MPH, according to the weather forecast.

In this sloping field, the wind speed on the ground is very different from the gusts 30 metres up!

The big power kite is a Flexifoil Sky Tiger and whilst some people, like my wife for instance, think that the complexity of setting it up for flying is pointless/too complicated/etc/etc, I actually like the relaxing process of winding out kite lines, opening out the kite and making sure all of the many lines are free to work as they’re designed, and not tangled in any way. Just doing this on my own in a very big field that overlooks the Vale of York like this one is a pleasure. The Sky Tiger is a 4 line kite and easy to launch, control and land. It’s also strong enough to pull me across the field if the wind is strong enough. I did go home with grass stains on my jeans after a couple of slides when the wind caught the kite in a strong gust. All great fun!

The penguin windsock looks on as I fly the Sky Tiger

The other kite that I took with me is the iconic Flexifoil Stranger. A kite designed for pure stunt flying and completely different to control than a power kite. The Stranger will respond to the slightest movement of my hands and I’m still captivated by the original Flexifoil marketing videos, colours, music and fashion and all, (links below) showing what kites can do in experienced hands. Taking two kites that are so different is great, because when my arms get tired from hanging onto the Sky Tiger, I can switch to the Stranger.

I’m really drawn to kite flying and not just of everything I’ve mentioned above, but also because of the vibrant colours of the kites, and its just like seeing the colour vibrancy of the Tour de France peloton racing by. Importantly, whilst I’ve been flying these two kites in a field, the ultimate place to fly and photograph colourful kites like these is on a big, open beach. The contrasting colours of sand, sea and sky with a colourful kite, or stack of kites, is amazing, and let’s face it, beaches are fun and relaxing places to be. Combining a cycle ride with some kite flying has to be one of the most enjoyable things to do. Try it and you’ll see what I mean.