Power Kite Forum

21 Days until the BEST kiting locations in the WORLD!

Craig Sparkes - 5-3-2013 at 07:21 AM

Only a tiny bit excited..........

Just need to get all gear together and pack!!

See ya on the Playa!

BeamerBob - 5-3-2013 at 07:26 AM

I'm riding there tomorrow and I'm still excited about 21 days away!

Bambi - 6-3-2013 at 02:04 AM

I can small the dust already.

xtemekiter - 6-3-2013 at 08:52 AM

:bouncy::bouncy::bouncy:

fast freddy - 15-3-2013 at 08:17 AM

14 days! just sayin!!

bigkid - 15-3-2013 at 09:21 AM

Craig, hope to see you on the playa. I got to thinking about your statement about the BEST kiting locations in the WORLD! Ivanpah in defiantly in the top 10.
We need to take you up to Alvord for a run across the lake bed. You WILL need a GPS there, once you get to the other side of the lake bed you wont be able to see base camp, or anyone bugging next to it. And any OBE's will not remove your skin n bones. just saying....

BeamerBob - 15-3-2013 at 09:47 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by bigkid
Craig, hope to see you on the playa. I got to thinking about your statement about the BEST kiting locations in the WORLD! Ivanpah in defiantly in the top 10.
We need to take you up to Alvord for a run across the lake bed. You WILL need a GPS there, once you get to the other side of the lake bed you wont be able to see base camp, or anyone bugging next to it. And any OBE's will not remove your skin n bones. just saying....


I'm sure camp disappears at Alvord. At Ivanpah, I can't see my car when I turn around at I-15. Alvord is on my list to visit this year.

rkieser - 15-3-2013 at 11:31 AM

The newbie can't wait to meet everybody on the playa. Hope to learn a lot.

rkieser - 15-3-2013 at 11:36 AM

Yes still a newbie, even though I registered in 2011. I only started buggying a month ago.

Dave367 - 15-3-2013 at 03:27 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by bigkid
Ivanpah in defiantly in the top 10.


Roger on that Big Kid; Ivanpah is definitely, defiantly in the top 10. Arguably in the top one. ;-)

Top buggy spots include not just the surface, size and wind conditions--there are dozens of places with all three. Really top spots are 4-dimensional--there's a timing component, too. Ivanpah *during* NABX is more than "top," it's sublime.

Ivanpah is near the top of the list

frangram - 16-3-2013 at 08:58 AM

Some other factors help make Ivanpah a great site for wind powered events. There may be other sites but how accessible are they?
LOCATION:Located on 40 miles for a major airport.
Use is restricted to non motorized activities.
Hotel accommodations next to the Dry Lake.
Ivanpah is the site of 2 wind powered speed records.

This will be my 19 year Kite Buggying / Blokart sailing on Ivanpah in the spring.

RedSky - 16-3-2013 at 11:19 AM

My local grass site is like that. Mc Donalds, KFC, Subway, TGI Fridays etc etc, all at the end of the field. Ivanpah is the same, only a much larger and browner version and perfect for buggying. If it wasn't for the powerlines, I'm sure you could buggy all the way to the Mad Greek Cafe.

I've only been to Ivanpah once but never NABX unfortunately. Hope to join you all in 2014. Have a good-un.

BeamerBob - 16-3-2013 at 11:59 AM

Fran, I'll point out that numerous world records have been broken at Ivanpah, including more than 2 current ones. I forecast more to follow as well.

I've kited under those powerlines once and then back. Won't do it again. They look really high as you approach then about half high enough when you get under them.

I'm interested to try Alvord because Ivanpah starts to get small at higher speeds. Some wind angles don't leave you an escape route when a big gust powers you up. I've found that for high speed runs, the more south the wind is, the better I like it. Due west is great for cruising when your power is always controllable but its just you and bushes if you get pulled off your line perpendicular to the wind. Alvord looks to allow you room to roam no matter the wind direction. I'm curious about the level of traction there since the surface is different.

Can't wait for lots of friends to be here to ride with!

bigkid - 16-3-2013 at 02:42 PM

Your all correct about the ease and greatness of Ivanpah, and I agree. Close by the needs of mortal man and defiantly fast. You can go to Ivanpah and not even step one foot on they playa and you know all about it.
Alvord is not a place to go to if you have other things on your list to do besides buggy, board, or landsail. Only the serious need show up. 2hours to Burns, 1/2 hour to Fields, Burns has everything you could ever need and Fields is a stop on your way to somewhere else. Fields does have a B and B and great milk shakes. Only those that want to enjoy the playa need show up, unless they enjoy nude bathing in the hot spring.

The surface is much like talc when real dry, but hard and fast. No hard rock tips on each of the dry panels, and at high speeds it is smoother than Ivanpah.
No permits needed to axcess the lake bed, no place to number 1 or 2, dry camp and leave no trace upon leaving. You can drive on the lake bed if you want, just be mind full that vehicles can leave nasty ruts if you want to show off and do donuts.
And by the way, Alvord is twice as big as Ivanpah.

csa_deadon - 17-3-2013 at 02:43 AM

Jeff I have to correct you on one thing. Ivanpah 13 square miles, Alvord 84 square miles. Little more then twice as big.

You will actually loose the shore line due to the curvature of the earth. GPS on Alvord is not a luxury, it is a necessity.
Both have their pluses and minus. Both are fun to ride.
The best milk shakes are defiantly in Fields!

BeamerBob - 17-3-2013 at 08:26 AM

All this defiance! Do these lakebeds and milkshakes need to be taught a lesson?

Bambi - 17-3-2013 at 12:25 PM

Only 11 days and I'm heading west .

bigkid - 17-3-2013 at 01:30 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by BeamerBob
All this defiance! Do these lakebeds and milkshakes need to be taught a lesson?

Defiance? I will have a talk with Ivanpah about Alvord, and then with Alvord about Ivanpah. I will report back who has the best reply.:smilegrin:
As for the milkshakes, not even worth a discussion.:thumbup::P

forgive me Sean, I didnt google measure them, I just know that when the wind dies on the other side of Alvord and you start the long walk of shame, after 2 hours of walking in the general direction of camp, you find that your still 3 days from getting back.:lol:


We leave in 12 days, Ooh La La.:wee:

crewl1 - 2-4-2013 at 08:48 PM

So do we have any updates on the non events so far?

I'm heading out to Ivanpah on Thursday after a multi year hiatus.

How are the weather and wind conditions?

Larry N

BeamerBob - 2-4-2013 at 09:15 PM

I personally feel like the non event this year has a more community feel to it. I've said since my first one that the biggest fun for me is having passionate kiters around to share our sport with. I can ride at Ivanpah anytime I want but it isn't the same as having so many good friends to sit around and talk with and when the wind blows to go out and buggy together. We all chide each other and encourage each other. I haven't run across an ego in 2 days out there.

There are some weather patterns that give hope for more good winds through the week.

nocando - 3-4-2013 at 12:15 AM

Also to top this whole caper off I still cannot shut up.

Rainbow factor increased by 100%

Is a wicked get together


:singing:

:singing::singing::singing::singing::singing::singing::singing::singing::singing::singing::singing::singing::singing::singing::singing::singing::singi ng::singing::singing:

BeamerBob - 3-4-2013 at 07:41 PM

Today was a low wind day. I borrowed a 10.8m reactor 2 and an HQ 14m Montana and struggled to ride with both. Tomorrow is calling for mid to upper 20s so I feel some new pbs being registered is likely.

Smeagol - 3-4-2013 at 10:46 PM

Awesome. Maybe I can best my whopping 15 mph PB. ;)

BeamerBob - 3-4-2013 at 11:01 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Smeagol
Awesome. Maybe I can best my whopping 15 mph PB. ;)


Yep, if you fly a kite tomorrow in a buggy, it is very likely you will break 15 mph! Have we met? Look me up around the HQ and PL tents and tell me you are Smeagol.

crewl1 - 3-4-2013 at 11:14 PM

Thanks for the updates folks. Hope to see you all tomorrow afternoon.

Smeagol - 4-4-2013 at 12:26 AM

Can't wait! Hmm, we may have met. We were out there earlier today hanging around Dino and Van. I'll look for ya.

Quote:
Originally posted by BeamerBob
Quote:
Originally posted by Smeagol
Awesome. Maybe I can best my whopping 15 mph PB. ;)


Yep, if you fly a kite tomorrow in a buggy, it is very likely you will break 15 mph! Have we met? Look me up around the HQ and PL tents and tell me you are Smeagol.

BeamerBob - 4-4-2013 at 10:17 PM

Smeagol found me today and I got to meet him! Thanks for looking me up.

Today might be one of the most epic days I've had at nabx. Over 94 miles with a top speed of 58.4. The conditions were awesome for cruising. winds must've topped out at 29 mph or so. I was often grossly overpowered with my 12m Phantom II, not in running the lakebed but in trying to stop. Kite low, kite high didn't matter. It was just really hard to get the buggy to turn upwind, sometimes trying to edge upwind for more than a quarter mile. I might've actually been faster had I come in to change down to the 9m sooner. I eventually did and had some group runs that several said were in the mid 50s with the 9m, but it didn't trip the 58.4 I had earlier on the max speed on the gps. I'm looking through video I took and will try to post the ones best showing how 4-6 of us were running close to or above 50 mph.

A portion of my miles were while running with the PTW Hero buggy in tandem. I took a trial run with our old PKF buddy ScrewyFits, and found that the wind had dropped so the 9m would only get us in the 20s but not all the time. We went in and changed to the 12m PII and it had the power needed. After doing a shakedown with Screwy I took Brian Holgate's friend for a ride. It was so cool hearing her enthusiasm while in the back buggy. She seemed to love every minute of our half hour tour of Ivanpah. Much of the time, Brian was running with us on 2 wheels and backwards. We even broke 40 mph in the tandem. I don't have an exact number and no gps proof so I won't be posting it as a pb or anything, just a sign of things to come with the tandem setup.

Smeagol - 5-4-2013 at 12:24 AM

Nice runs BB! That tandem looked like a blast. Was great meeting you. I managed to bump my PB up to 29.9 mph! Not bad for a noob. ;)

BeamerBob - 5-4-2013 at 06:21 AM

That's close to double! You might not do that again so thats a pretty good accomplishment. 35 won't seem that bad now. Keep ratcheting it up a little at a time. Put in miles, that's the ticket.

BeamerBob - 5-4-2013 at 06:22 AM

That's close to double! You might not do that again so thats a pretty good accomplishment. 35 won't seem that bad now. Keep ratcheting it up a little at a time. Put in miles, that's the ticket.

BeamerBob - 5-4-2013 at 10:09 AM

Video is stabilizing and will be ready shortly.

BeamerBob - 5-4-2013 at 08:49 PM

Video link fixed above.

MDK - 5-4-2013 at 09:19 PM

Thursday was great! I had a great time chasing the fast guys, I learned a lot doing it, kept up until those high speed turns that I don't quite have the confidence to do yet. And set a new PB 47.5mph. Buggy trip #8 and my 1st buggy birthday have proven to be the best!

BeamerBob - 5-4-2013 at 09:49 PM

Next step for MDK is to break 50 mph! :bigok:

pbc - 9-4-2013 at 10:06 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by MDK
Thursday was great! I had a great time chasing the fast guys, I learned a lot doing it, kept up until those high speed turns that I don't quite have the confidence to do yet. And set a new PB 47.5mph. Buggy trip #8 and my 1st buggy birthday have proven to be the best!


Thursday was indeed marvelous. I didn't have a speedo, but at the end of one run on Bateman's heels, he checked his GPS and found a max of 53.4 on that run. Whatever my PB was I'm sure I bested it with something near 50 mph Thursday.

As for those turns, they can be challenging. I had mastered the racing turns on beach hardpack, but the playa is so much faster and grippier my timing was all off.

It wasn't 'til late Saturday that I hit the groove on the turns. Let me just say AWESOME. The added room on the playa allows you to take a large radius curve as you dive the kite down into the back of the wind window across the powerzone, to the front of the wind window. With the wide radius turn and the extra grip the buggy never slides. Instead it accelerates continuosly through the turn. By the time you finish the turn you are at about 70% of full speed with plenty of apparent wind to quickly take it to the max.

You will love doing those turns once you master them.

Philip