Originally posted by markite
There is really a small portion of the buggy riders around the world that have had the opportunity to ride a dry lake. Most are riding fields or
beaches. When you ride field or bumpy beach it's a rare day when you can get to 40 mph, riding 30mph feels damn fast. Riding bigger beaches and
smoother beaches you have the chance to open it up and even through it smooth and you can slide - overall beaches don't have as much of sense of
danger when I ride them and i find myself working the crap out of kite to get as much as I can and usually wishing for more. On the beach it's a small
group that have ridden into the 50 mph range and even far less that have touched 60 mph.
Now step out onto a dry lake like Ivanpah - you start rolling and it feels smooth and effortless to get rolling, the kite is pulling nicely, the lies
start to whistle a little and feel comfortable - look down and your in the mid to high 30's no problem. Wind picks up and you get up into the 40s and
then you start thinking a bit more about just how the heck are you going to turn or slow down and stop. You turn downwind and don't loose speed, you
turn upwind and bang a surge of power that increases your speed. It takes a while to get the feel for it.
Then the wind picks up more, maybe you change kite sizes. You head out the kite fully powered, you're rocking it and you get into a gust and
everything goes crazy with the pressure on the kite, the harness you start to slide and adjust your angle as speed ramps up and everything in your
head is thinking just ride it out and make sure you don't do anything crazy with the kite. Then BAM you catch a gust within the gust you are now
riding and the speed goes crazy as you angle off downwind a bit more and start thinking way in advance about how you are going to end this run - the
highway getting closer or the moguls and desert scrub are coming up fast. You manage a long controlled turn that burns a lot of rubber off your tires
and then you slow down after what seems like a mile - you glance down again and see you passed 60mph.
Now the wind picks up a little more and it's surprising just how few people go out riding when their small kites will get them into the 60 mph club -
even during NABX when the wind cranks it's a very small number that get out and ride a lot in that wind. Many will try for a short time and then come
back to buggy town to wait for safer conditions.
Now take that wind up a bit more so that waves of brown dust constantly obscure what's ahead of you (there are the odd metal pipes and rough patches
of ground to beware of), grit is peppering your face and you launch a 2.7 vapor and take off in a sleek speed buggy - I've been there, I've felt what
the lake and nature has to offer on days like that, Absolutely no doubt in my mind that you did that speed you crazy bastard. |
Why I'm I not there. This is very unfair. Is it feasible to come out for the
weekend ?
, I called Beamer Bob
and asked for his since he lives very close to the edge of town. He agreed to let me use it so off I was. 
