Ivanpah!

So much stoke going around this forum right now. Love it!

Quote: Originally posted by Cheddarhead

Awesome to hear you finally got to ride Ivanpah! Now your spoiled forever:P I dream of riding there someday. If only it wasn't so far to drive.

I do hope you can make it some day! It was sort of a surreal experience in a lot of ways. I found myself laughing out loud a lot. Part of what was cracking me up was thinking back on some of the "You know you're an inland rider if..." things folks have posted. One, by Spencer (Soliver) was that after about a 100 yards you have an uncontrollable urge to turn... and you do. So true!

One of the most striking things was how smooth everything was, both the Playa and the wind. The wind was over 30 mph a lot but once you get up to speed and are just cruising you can go for many minutes in a Park and Ride mode with very little force on the bar since you are sort of in an equilibrium. I found myself going really fast (fast for me; certainly not FAST) but feeling relaxed and in complete control. I was being pretty conservative on my first time out and in high winds, so I would turn by slowly arcing upwind over about 100 yards probably which bleeds off your speed until I was moving pretty slowly and heading pretty much upwind. I'd swing the kite up high and bring the buggy around in a lazy turn, get myself back on a good tack and drop the kite back down closer to the ground and speed back up in the other direction.

Totally uncanny to have so much time on my hands to do this without any obstacles or shifting wind conditions. At home I'm turning constantly and needing to dodge goal posts, fences, lights, bleachers, etc. Having acreage to get all this done was totally wild! :smug:

Quote: Originally posted by acampbell

Glad you got a chance to ride Ivanpah. One of the coolest things to do there is to race the shadow of the sunset across the lakebed. Our dear late friend AJ (ActionJackson) taught me this. You need a north or south wind so that you can ride a beam reach from west to east. At the end of the day, go to the west edge of Ivanpah and observe the shadow cast by the sun as it sets behind the mountain range to the west. As the sun continues to set, the shadow moves from west to east. It moves slowly at first, then speeds up. Ride your buggy along with the edge of the shadow and it speeds up as the sun sets lower. Try to keep the shadow under your wheels. Then you see how nervy you can be as you race to the east edge of the lakebed and sooner or later you have to bail. The shadow always wins. AJ always described it as "magical" and he was right. Probably my most profound moment on the lakebed.

What a wonderful story Angus. "ActionJackson" must have been one hell of a guy. You have a nice way with words and I absolutely saw what you were describing perfectly. Wow! Great post.

Quote: Originally posted by BeamerBob

The high winds last night ripped the covering off the big sign for the Chevron station.

Just drove out to take a look. Saw the Chevron sign (or what's left of it). Pretty darn big sign. I hope the shreds from that thing didn't hurt anybody or destroy any property downwind.

Right now (1:30 PM PST) it is too windy for my blood. Measured base wind average of 28 mph with frequent gusts 10 mph above that. Playa is a dust bowl and deserted (on North side; can't see South side). Wind supposed to slacken later in the afternoon to low high teens with mid 20's gusts. Thinking about hanging out and seeing what develops.

A bad day hanging out in Primm beats a good day down on The Strip. Tomorrow afternoon is looking like winds like what are forecasted later today. Got plenty of kites with me for those sorts of winds. Lucky for me there is tomorrow.

Post edited: My point was I would much rather go for a ride on Ivanpah than hit the strip.

Good winds tomorrow

Quote: Originally posted by rtz

"high 30s to near 40s" If you ever want to ride those winds; consider: PKD 1.5m Sting 1.7m Rage 1.8m

Frankly, what gives me the most trouble is the set up, take off, landing, and successful packing away of the kites and lines when the winds are howling like this. Once the kite is up in the air it is much more manageable, particularly a DP. I appreciate the fine suggestions though.

Quote: Originally posted by Bladerunner

Consider using your car as a back stop for your kite. Folks take a bar and pool noodle to create a back post to catch the kite when fully equipped.

Superb suggestions. Thanks!

Brilliant Steve. Glad you got a great day in at one of the world's premier buggy sites. Enjoyed the NS3 more than the P2? Bummer to hear about the LS - will be interested to hear your thoughts.

Quote: Originally posted by John Holgate

Brilliant Steve. Glad you got a great day in at one of the world's premier buggy sites. Enjoyed the NS3 more than the P2? Bummer to hear about the LS - will be interested to hear your thoughts.

I'm hitting the road this AM for a 6-7 hour drive back to Utah, but in short what I liked about the NS3 vs P2 was the absolute rock steady nature of its Park n Ride capability coupled with all the force coming through my harness. The P2 flies wonderfully but takes paying attention to it and requires decent pull of the bar to keep it trimmed in properly. I'd never had long stretches of going in the same direction before without turning and it wasn't super comfy to stay twisted sideways and pulling on the bar for long stretches. My usual back and forth on soccer fields creates constant shifting from side to side and transitions in the turns and I don't notice the comfort issue so much. This is sort of like trail running versus running on a long flat road. I notice all my aches and pains on the road but not on the trail. On the trail my mind is occupied with the ever so important task of not face planting.

John - I'll message you on XK later today or tomorrow with more of the LS.

Steve!!!! I'm so glad you've had such a great time!!!... I've been super busy and have been off the radar for a few days and look what I missed. Coolness

btw... totally jealous

Next kiting spot for you, Jekyll Island... JIBE,... no excuses. I know, I know "I have a conference that week, BLAH BLAH BLAH"
I repeat, no excuses.

Quote: Originally posted by acampbell

Glad you got a chance to ride Ivanpah. One of the coolest things to do there is to race the shadow of the sunset across the lakebed. Our dear late friend AJ (ActionJackson) taught me this. You need a north or south wind so that you can ride a beam reach from west to east. At the end of the day, go to the west edge of Ivanpah and observe the shadow cast by the sun as it sets behind the mountain range to the west. As the sun continues to set, the shadow moves from west to east. It moves slowly at first, then speeds up. Ride your buggy along with the edge of the shadow and it speeds up as the sun sets lower. Try to keep the shadow under your wheels. Then you see how nervy you can be as you race to the east edge of the lakebed and sooner or later you have to bail. The shadow always wins. AJ always described it as "magical" and he was right. Probably my most profound moment on the lakebed.

Thats a great story you tell here. I enjoyed reading this and never heard of such a cool sounding ancient type of battle.

Video footage!

Quote: Originally posted by BeamerBob

I'm thrilled you had a good time. I wish I could've ridden with you too. Think you might be able to make it to IBX? You learn a lot by riding and talking with everyone there.

Sorry we missed each other this trip. I'm sure we'll ride together someday. I would really like to come to IBX in 2016. I found this website a while back, but it doesn't appear to be updated since last year:

IBX

Do you happen to know the dates for the 2016 event? It really isn't a bad drive at all coming down from the Salt Lake area; much of the drive now has a posted speed limit of 80 mph which is pretty sweet!

Knowing the area as you do you probably noticed that the video footage was from three separate days. Sunday on the South side (4m P2 and 2.5m NS3) and Tuesday on the North (6m P2, 5m LS, 4m & 8.5m NS3s). The shots of the the blown apart Chevron sign and the metal Ivanpah gate sign were from Monday. I drove down to have a look (and to get the heck away from The Strip) but I didn't ride that day. Too windy for my emerging skill set and quiver. I was nicely powered with my 4m Peak-2 and 2.5m NS3 on Sunday but the winds were a lot stronger and gustier on Monday. Not a soul was out that day. It was a veritable sand storm.

I feel your stoke Steve. I know exactly the laughing out loud bit. Such joy that you can't help yourself.

All that talk of 30-40mph winds made my heart miss a beat. Is this typical weather for Ivanpha in November, windy and dry Steve, Bob ??

We have had 4 days this month with very gusty storm front 40 mph wind in Indy. And everything between. Between getting dark early and work I haven't been able to kite. In fact the kite wad that used to reside in the truck is neatly stored on a shelf at the moment.

Spectacular adventure Steve

Quote: Originally posted by Devoted

Hi Steve, What an incredible spot. Your video made clear there are so many beautiful places in the world we can kite and ride. I actually want to kitegroundboard there. You made my bucketlist a little longer and thus one enters straight in the top 3. Glad to see you had such a great time. The shots with the nose of the buggy and the kite captured too where great. Have a greay night. Mischa

Wow, thanks for the nice note Mischa. Definitely worth the bucket list. I'm in the process of getting some skates that will be used for kiting.

http://www.proskatersplace.com/english/powerslide-xc-path-se...

I plan to use these as sort of cross-training for snowkiting with skis. I plan to take them out to Ivanpah this Spring for IBX. The surface has lots of small cracks but runs very smooth. I know a lot of people use ATBs, wheels of doom skates, etc. out there, not just buggies. Bring it on!

Is it my imagination or was the longstar experiencing some tip tuck in that video? Sad, it looked like a perfect time to have something like that but it looked like it just couldn't handle the forward speed

Quote: Originally posted by MotoFoo86

Is it my imagination or was the longstar experiencing some tip tuck in that video? Sad, it looked like a perfect time to have something like that but it looked like it just couldn't handle the forward speed

Zero tip tuck. The action of the LS is unique (and not necessarily in a good way) in that when you push the bar forward you crunch up the front edge of the kite making it even narrower and less efficient in the air. I think what you were seeing was me fiddling with the action of the bar to see what the kite would do pull wise and how it sat in the window during buggying.

Speaking of tip tuck, absolutely zero tip tuck with either the 4m or 6m Peak-2 flights. Not one speck. Both kites handled absolutely beautifully the entire time, not just the parts I showed you. Nothing ended up on the editing room floor; those kites were champs.

Quote: Originally posted by MotoFoo86

I have yet to be convinced of the need

No need to rush out and create a single skin quiver. I maintain that there are two ways that single skin kites really shine. First, they are great in their larger sizes for creating "session saving" low end power. Second, they pack down super small and are light weight.

I'd love the ride with you; no need to prove anything.

Quote: Originally posted by BeamerBob

Those big winds were in front of a storm. They tend to be punchy and gusty. Not like the smooth winds of March-May.

Thanks Bob.

Land speed record for wind powered vehicle!