What has the feeling of freedom that a motorcycle gives you, together with the excitement of controlled risk, a solo sport that also shares great camaraderie with like minded people and also takes you to many breathtaking parts of the countryside?
Add to this a 3rd dimension and you have - Paragliding.
I have taught 100s of people to paraglide for 15 years now; they range from 17 to 82 years of age, from every conceivable background. With only 1 in 100,000 people taking up the sport – what makes these people different from the rest?? Well, the one and only common link between them, is that they are all either active or closet Bikers!
I am sure that many bikers have considered gliding and hang-gliding, even microlighting, but all have some drawbacks, not only the time it takes to learn, but the expense and lack of portability. Paragliding however has many advantages, notably, over the last few years paragliding equipment has become lighter and more compact. Now the lightest paraglider weighs in at a mere 2.5kg, and packs down neatly into a small reversible backpack/harness, easy enough to carry on your back whilst biking or small enough to fit into panniers.
When the weather is good, Paragliding is one of the most exciting and pleasurable sports that you can do. You can paraglide pretty much anywhere in the world, in France and Germany alone there over 60,000 paragliding pilots all enjoying the feeling of free flight, whether its smooth coastal soaring, thermalling in the Alps alongside birds of prey or acrobatic flying. Paragliding is the cheapest form of aviation there is, and it's happening right here in the UK (there are about 4500 pilots in the UK). What could be better on a nice sunny day than going out for a ride in the country? – park your bike on the top of the ridge, unfold your glider, clip in, take off and soar over beautiful scenery, only landing next to your bike when you’ve had enough.
Over the last few years paragliders have improved in performance - with the World distance record just being broken at 508km. In the UK the distance record is 200km set last year when a pilot flew from a mountain in North Wales down to Bristol!
All newly designed paragliders have to meet rigorous safety standards. Making the sport safer and more accessible to all. The Sport of paragliding is governed by the BHPA (the British Hangliding and Paragliding Association) and all training is carried out using the BHPA student syllabus. An excellent way to learn the sport is to book on an intensive course at the Grand Dune De Pyla on the South West coast of France, this is Europe’s largest sand dune overlooking the Atlantic Arcachon Basin, it also makes for a great holiday. Some customers from this trip have commented that this is the best thing they have ever done in their lives! We even taught a biker who rode down on his KTM, which he subsequently sold to finance his paragliding equipment! Paragliding can do this to you. If you have ever fancied a go why not take the plunge. For further details – see