Holy crap! Did we have wind??!! Lots of wind, lots of folks from all over, a great turnout, and almost to much wind, if that is possible, on sunday.

Thanks again to Mike Jura for the amazing meals he and Adrian turned out! It just feels like home when you are there Mike. Super!

The mayor was there in his usual spot, holding the bushmills in place with his awsome garage.

Master Bateman has taken 'Pimp your Buggy' to a new high(pics soon) and Tony from Lost Wages was showing off Baby Z, a very young buggier to be!

It was an amazing time. Great weather, lots of wind powered vehicles as the local Wind Wizards group was there in force with many types of sail powered craft.

Not seen for some time was the ol' Wind Wizard himself, Dan Rubesh.

Many new faces and lots of runs through the pucker bumps, while laughing ourselves silly.

David Sabilino has taken the art of kite stakes to an absolute stellar high, thanks David. The guy just does not know when to say enough! Not only does he ride like no other, he makes really cool buggy stuff, too!

To everyone who was there, a big thank you for making this a great get together!~ for those who weren't, try and make it next time will ya???

aoxomoxoa

Greets, folks!

I echo Dean's assessment of the weekend; awesome, to say the least.

Weather was cool to warm but never uncomfortable, winds came up each day at 4:00 p.m., steady 20 mph or so right up to midnight.

Thanks to the photographer who decided nude shots of his extremely comely model would be best taken in the middle of the playa, halfway along our usual buggy run; where else can you get buggy runs with nude models in the middle? El Mirage is buggy heaven, indeed!

Mike Jura filled our bellies at sunset, as always, and his "newbie" crew, Adrian, got "the bug" as he powered 'round camp on a short-lined NPW... his first-ever buggy experience, and I could tell by the look in his eye that he'll be back, again and again. It's so much fun to watch newbies "get hooked". Many thanks, Mohefie, for the good grub and selfless sacrifice of your own fun to keep hungry buggiers powered up and sailing.

The Lama held court in his usual fashion, and Sunday morning dawned with unusual morning winds that built through the day to a ballistic white-out in the afternoon. Our beloved Lama found himself pinned to the playa like a specimen bug; pressure on his camo net shelter was so great that we were, for awhile, unable to remove the main pole so he could break camp and head for home. After an hour or two of waiting for the wind to subside, we just wrestled the damn thing down and freed the Lama-Van for what I'm sure was a great homeward run with a 30-mph tail wind. I hear the Lama can achieve speeds of over two times the average walk, with a tailwind! :o)

The buggying over the weekend was awesome... small kites, fast runs, and walloping good rides through the pucker-bumps... we had at least 6 buggies following Lama Leader in one of the best afternoon Follow-the-Leader sessions I've seen in awhile. It was old-school buggy fun, reminiscent of the early days of buggying Elmer's, back when there were only about 20 of us doing this thing. If you're new to buggies, or just haven't been there yet, you must make El Mirage a top destination for a desert camp-out and buggy bash!

-Dooley

Glad that yall had a good time on the dry lake this past weekend. It just reminds me of how much fun I had for nabx a few months ago and I am looking forward to making more trips to the playa. Buggy on.

Susan

Buggy-Brethren,
Lo these 12 years have passed as a flash.
When I first discovered how well the buggy and dry lakes meshed, I wondered if others would find it so intoxicating.
The high desert can be a harsh place.
After an hour (or less) many, not as motivated as us, just want to leave.

But my fears have been allayed.
These intervening years have brough not only a continuous stream of new buggiers, but an incredible feeling of family to the "old school" riders.

Lack-o-Slack hit the nail on the head with his observation of the timelessness of the sight of the string of us playing Follow-the-Leader through the pucker-bumps.

I remind everyone however, that it's the people, not the place that really makes this special.
We all have the opportunity to share this and build our own group of family riders.

I feel blessed to have fallen in with just such a group.

(btw... The downwind drive home was my fastest traverse)


"I am often wrong, but never in doubt."

Safen Up! Buggy On!

the coreylama

Oh Newbies To The Playa:

I'm interested to hear from some of our more recent additions.
Our Elmer's Buggy Group has grown and I'm waiting to hear from some of the newer members about what they found out there.

Aoxo-boy and Lack-o-Slack are heard from frequently.
I want to hear the new voices.

I know my point-of-view.
What's yours?


"I am often wrong, but never in doubt."

Safen Up! Buggy On!

the coreylama

Thanks Dean

I'm in the works in making the new kites stakes, one is going to be a KING SIZE kite stake with a 4' shaft and a grape fruit size skull head:evil:

others will be ready for purchase from the GREAT COREY LAMA

See you here, there or in the air
SABBY

Man what an Auson event the, THANG was. The pucker bumps were full of buggy traffic. Bushmilles was in the house, So much, i think i seen a UFO. Or did i Bateman??? The winds were great, and so was the company. Thanks too everyone who was there!!!!

Bad News is.......

What I did find out there from going counter clock wise on the pucker bumps was a 18" rock right after a set of bumps as I was drifting just out side of the pucker line for the life of me I coundn't get the buggy up on two wheel fast enough....
Yep! thats right I took home a nice souvenier only it was in bought by the rear axle on the XR buggy a 4" gash x 1" deep, better that than my:moon:



Good News is... I saved 15% on my auto insurance

A warm hearted thanks goes out to Mike and his amazing heart.

This weekend at El Mirage, he again, gave of himself to everyone he
saw. It didn't matter to him if he knew you or not. My experience was that he fed me, my wife and 16 month old baby with good food cooked with an angels touch.

I admire such a pure giving man, and only wish that one day I will be
in such a space where dreams, heart and doing converge into cooking food
for hungry people in the middle of the desert.

Much Respect to you Mike

It was a blast for my first time out on the playa, and I'm looking forward to the next time. I learned lots, but the the two most important lessons were:

1. Watch your 6. There could be a dust devil coming from up wind to send you balistic. :o

2. Bring enough water to bathe in. If you're wearing a back-pack style hydration system, and have an o.o.b.e., that is exactly what you'll be doing.:wink2:

Thanks again to Mike and crew for dinner and hospitality.

Max and I were stuck in Vegas for that weekend at a trade show. We got to Elmirage on Monday afternoon and the Wind was howling and the lakebed apparently deserted. We drove out for a while to see if there was anyone crazy enough to be out there. We had decided that if the lakebed was truely deserted, it would not be safe to sail. After travelling out to Landsailers bay, we spotted a pickup truck barely visible through the blowing dust. as we got closer, it was a very weird sight that confronted us. There was this guy with a large tripod rig with a barbell suspended fron the center next to his truck.
I figured, lets say hi anyway. Lo and behold it was Dave Culp doing some science. I then noticed a shiny head in the truck, It was Dean! Max and I pulled alongside and set up our Blokart. I tested the conditions and determined it was very doable, but a bit more than we were used to. Max got going quite well and let him have the seat time. He got going close to 40 mph and was able to get back to camp ok. as we were about to wrap it up, Dean wanted a spin. He did great until he tried to pull back into camp. I forgot to mention to him about turning downwind, assuming he knew about sailing and such, Dean got a big surprise as he was turning toward our rental truck and he capsized with in inches of the truck. I finally got to see the mast protectors in action, they work. Dean simply unbuckled and crawled out.
No injury, no damage just a surprised look on his face, "priceless". I the learned that it was his first ride in a blokart. hopefully not his last.
A big thank you to Dean and Dave for helping us enjoy the lakebed, we would have not sailed if it was not for the encouragement. Even though our time was short, it was rewarding in the extreme. Max has confidence that he can handle high winds and get to wherever he wants. I loved watching him explore and speed around the lakebed.
TTFN, I will sneak out there next year during the weekend to join everyone if I am in the neighborhood.
Jason