BUGGY NEWS 1.2, May 1993 MOST RECENT ADVENTURE - IVANPAH: Well, We had a great three days at Ivanpah Dry Lake over the Easter Weekend. Jon Reinschreiber >From Paint the Sky Kites in Portland, Oregon came down. I picked up Chuck Abney in Visalia, California and Scott Dyer of Las Vegas also came and brought his buggy with a cyclo-computer on-board. Bill & Cory Roeseler (of KiteSki fame) came up from the Southland and brought Cory's 3 wheel kite powered all-terrain vehicle and some 16' Banshees but couldn't find enough wind for the heavy craft. Very interesting though with the single steering wheel in the back. The NALSA (North American Land Sailing Association) Regatta was winding down when we arrived on Friday, and we had the run of the lake bed Friday afternoon and all day Saturday and Sunday. Winds the first day were in the 18 - 24 mph range with measured sustained gusts to 37 mph. The larger kites (Q-50's & WindSkier 4.4) were generating too much side force so we all went to the Q-25's for better speed and upwind control. Using Scott's buggy with the top-speed memory feature on his cyclo-computer, I recorded a long run at 35 mph in winds about 22 mph with the Q-25. The next day, in winds about 15 mph, Cory Roeseler, using Shapson's WindSkier Sail 4.4, hit a peak speed of 36.5 mph. I hereby formally change the site of the Jan. 17-20, 1994 BUGGY BOOGIE THANG Operation High Desert Swarm from El Mirage to Ivanpah Dry Lake. ROUTE REDUX: Ivanpah Dry Lake is located at the Cal / Nev border on Interstate 15 just 40 miles from Las Vegas. Two casino/hotels straddle the state line. Whiskey Pete's and the Prima Donna. The toll-free reservation number is: 1-800-367-7383. Room rates for the January dates (non weekend) are $18/nite. The accommodations at the casino/resorts are excellent as are the food and prices. The differences between the two is mostly that one need not cross the highway upon returning from the lake bed if staying at the Prima Donna. It is also newer. Both offer the same cheap rooms and food to entice one to stay and play at their gaming tables. Anyone wishing to book their own reservation there may use my confirmation number: # 216-508 - Jensen, to receive adjacent rooms. TRANSPORTATION: Don McCasland from Kites of Boston reminded me to ask if car sharing for the trip from KTA to Ivanpah Dry Lake could be co-ordinated. No need for us to bring a whole fleet. Renting a car in Vegas? Share for the trip to Ivanpah? Let someone know. FUNNY (Ha Ha) STORY: In the last issue of BUGGY NEWS I stated that we were staying at Whiskey Pete's during last Easter Weekend NALSA Regatta but had not yet decided to move the January BUGGY BOOGIE THANG. Nevertheless, Paul Jobin from Bristol, England made reservations for January 1994 anyway. Problem was he used the confirmation number for the Easter event I had provided last issue. Confused the poor girl at the reservation desk needless to say. I have straightened it all out, and even moved us (You too, Paul) over to the Prima Donna. Ground floor units. Perhaps we could all stay in Paul's room... DIRECTIONS: After exiting I-15, enter the parking lot for the Prima Donna. Stay to the right and go around towards the service station. Stay on the frontage road as it continues across a field to a Mini-Mart (in California now, for the lottery), pick up some beer, and continue out the back (left) of the parking lot along the fence line. Turn right through the cattle guard and stay between the cones as motorized vehicles are not permitted on this lake bed except in designated areas. There is also a dirt road from the back lot at the Prima Donna to the cattle guard for after you check in. NEW EVENT ANNOUNCEMENTS: The Worldwide Kite Rendez-vous in Montreal on June 3-6, 1993 has space (they say) and has not discouraged my buggy so I will be there. While the tides at Long Beach, Washington will be high in mid-afternoon in August, the tides in Seaside, Oregon will be low in the afternoon in October for the AKA Convention. Jon Reinschreiber from Portland will check out Ft. Stevens State Park (at the mouth of the Columbia River) for a suitable site for a BUGGY BOOGIE THANG which will happen Tuesday - Oct 12, 1993, the day BEFORE the AKA Convention (Oct 13-17, 1993) begins. (Ft. Stevens is just 30 miles north of Seaside and offers abundant room to roam. More on this site and the event in an upcoming issue of BUGGY NEWS. AFTER-MARKET RIMS UPDATE: The retro-fit of anodized rims (Blue in the back & Red in the front) and stainless spokes to my STB wasn't a simple snap-n-go, but nothing we couldn't handle and everything rides fine and LOOKS GREAT! The front axle on older (narrow fork) buggies is difficult to remove so we modified it with a quick-release inner bolt and a new front wheel flange. As long as we were building essentially a new front wheel, we also went to a two over spoke pattern. PADDING: At the local hardware store I found some insulating sleeves for plumbing pipes that fit the side and back of the seat area of the buggy and provides much needed padding and comfort. SPEED COMPUTER: Scott Dyer has fitted a cyclo-computer to the front wheel of his buggy. It is a TREK model. I have not tried a fat tire wheel mounting. The 16" wheel size is smaller than the pre-programming accepts, so some minor calculations are necessary to re-program the computer to obtain accurate readings. Unit has numerous functions: Time, Speed, Top Speed, Average Speed, Elapsed Distance, Total Distance and maybe something else. Way Trick! SUNNY DAZE: I discovered the hard way that sunglasses are not enough to keep sand and dust out of my eyes, so I visited my local Army-Navy Surplus store and purchased a pair of sun/dust goggles that even hold my regular sunglasses inside. For anyone interested, I will get some for you for $20 shipping included. By the way... They look bitchin'... BUGGY PILOTS of AMERICA: The formation of our own organization continues. Meanwhile, Jon Reinschreiber has made up a beautiful BP of A cloisonne pin. Available through Paint The Sky Kites in Portland, Oregon. 503-222-5096 Fax: 503-222-5034. BUGGY PROFICIENCY TRIPS: Many folks have asked me about buggy trips to El Mirage Dry Lake. Anyone interested in joining an expedition to the high desert for Buggy Stuff should drop me a line and indicate favorable dates. We can plan from there. Nothing to hit for miles allows the opportunity to concentrate on the real stuff. I have an acceptable site here on the Monterey Peninsula for training any who can get here. THE BASICS: The basics are simple... Start with the smallest kite that works (Like the Q25 or single REV-1) and get comfortable with the management of kite and buggy before applying the power. I can not stress enough how easy it is to get in trouble. COMMON PROBLEMS: These include (1) trying to save the kite when it gets behind you. When you feel twisted because kite and buggy are going in different directions - LET GO! Problem 2 arises when the kite crashes and is relaunched without re-orienting the buggy to the wind and the direction of travel. Problem 3 is turning downwind too slowly. Letting the buggy run downwind in a slow turn only decreases the traction power of the kite and sometimes you overrun the slack lines and wrap them around the front axle. We call this the "Bryan Brake" because Bryan did it first. Yes, it stops the buggy quickly but it is hell on lines. Bryan allowed me to measure and cut new lines twice on the day he perfected this manoeuver. SAFETY: I don't want to preach, but one must pay attention when on the buggy. During our trip to Ivanpah Dry Lake, While Jon Reinschreiber and I were buggying together, Jon stopped to take a break but stayed seated on the buggy. Jon says he thought that it was not the most stable position and he should stand up as the winds had been gusting all day, but before he could act on\\that thought, a gust grabbed the kite and yanked him backward off the buggy and separated his shoulder. Thankfully, Jon was not alone out on that dry lake, and we got him to the emergency room quickly and they had him back to us in about 5 hours - Feeling no pain. But his buggy weekend was over. Jon is not only a better buggy pilot now, he is also wiser. WHY DON'T WE DO IT IN THE ROAD: Continued access to public locations can be a problem if we let it be. Kites without noise help. Shorter lines keep your stuff out of other peoples personal space. Not running too close to bystanders lessens any apparent risk. My Q-75 is only used in the lightest winds (4-12 mph) and has the longest lines (90 ft) to help make the power. The WindSkier 4.4 is the mid-range choice (winds 10-20 mph) and has 50 ft. lines as there is less need for power swoops. The Q-25 (winds 13-30 mph) uses 75 ft. lines cause that's what I had when the old ones broke. Flying in closer to the buggy enhances maneuverability as well. The drop in power with short lines is moderated by their use in stronger winds. OTHER BUGGIES: I have received pamphlets for a couple of other buggies available in Europe. The ZEPH-1 KITE CHARIOT sports a fiberglass body and stainless rear axle and front fork, fat tires and solid wheels. 1.3 meters wide and 1.78 meters long and 22 Kg total weight, the rear axles are removable to leave the .5 meter wide body to stow. The Kite Chariot is available through OFF- SQUARE #5 Place Youri Gagarine, 93200 St. Denis, France. Cost is 100,000 F. Our friend Julian Wolf-Patrick. The PHAETON TRIKE is >From Germany. It has a stainless steel frame, standard spoked wheels, weighs 18 Kg, and packs to 1.35 X .6 meter. I can't read all of the brochure, but they include a picture and it looks to have canted rear wheels and a molded seat mounted in a semi- recumbent position. Featured in the current Drachen Magazin. Price is 3,550 DM. Das Trike dealer is Drachenmanufaktur Phoenix, Sophienstrasse 18-20, 5100 Achen, Germany. This is also the address of the Kite 'N Trike Assoc. Europe. They have faxed their intentions of bringing a few people to the January Buggy Boogie Thang. Sorry... No comp rooms. Das Trike brochure also includes this: "He feels the pressure of the blast as if he himself must stand against it, and with his whole being he participates in the flight. He walks on the earth, but a part of him seems to struggle with the elements and rise to the clouds. With the little shining sail he moves through space and hurries across the firmament. When the sun shines on its white surface it is as if he himself were bathed in light. Inertia is momentarily overcome and the heavy earthling is made one with the nimble winds." Yrjo Hirn, 1912 RESPONSE: I received many fax after the last issue went out, >From Europe mostly. Paul Jobin copied and shared all over England. Judy Neuger is including all issues of BUGGY NEWS with every buggy she sells. I haven't heard nearly as much from my American friends however, considering that most copies (80%) were sent within N. America. I know that Robbi Sugarman is using Jones Beach as a race track, with other buggyers close by. Jon Reinschreiber is having problems finding no-hassle spaces in Portland, while Scott Dyer finally has another buggy fanatic in Las Vegas to share the fun of Ivanpah with. Hans Jensen (no relation) has a buggy in Anchorage, Jeff Cain has one in Denver, and Don Tabor just got a new FTB for the summer in San Diego. Kathy Goodwind is supposed to have a custom sized buggy in Seattle. Of course Lee and Sue buggy in Erie, PA. Same for Pete DiGiacomo in Ohio and the Gramkowski's in New Jersey. REQUEST: The thing is... I've heard this from mostly third-party sources. Come on folks... A little feedback would be nice. I would like to share the locations of our favorite buggy sites within the buggy community. That is YOU! We need a register to find each other. I request everyone with a FAX machine to drop me a card with your Fax # so those can be networked instead of printed and sent by mail. Most of the European circulation is done this way. If BN receivers would stop by the local u-copy center and make up some copies for interested friends, not only would it be cheaper, but quicker too. Our own distribution network? FUNNY (Strange) STORY: Ideally, I could send out twenty or so and they would be copied and turn into a couple of hundred. Then thousands. Soon the racing circuit would develop as we learn more about what other are doing. We would get very excited. Coverage in BUGGY NEWS would bring huge crowds. Sponsors would flock to the events and sign big endorsement contracts with the daring pilots and publishers. NEWS FROM DOWN-UNDER: Jeff Cain from Denver took a vacation to New Zealand this winter (summer there) to learn at the feet of the Buggymeister-Himself. Those boys go hell-bent when racing. Jeff got an eye-opener to be sure and came back not only enthused, but sobered (eventually) by the experience. Ask Jeff about it the next time you see him. EURO-BUGGY: A couple of BIG events with buggies involved coming up in June. On the 17th - 20th, Fano, Denmark will be absolutely thick with buggies along the sandy beaches. As well as Scheveningen, Holland, June 26-27. These are established events that draw creative kite types from around the world. For buggyers, the Fano event is pre-eminent due to the open spaces and wealth of kiters who cover the island. WORLD CUP BUGGY: Dan Prentice of American Kite Magazine and guiding force behind the World Cup Team Competitions, wants (and will have) buggy demos at this year's World Cup (held over the Labor Day weekend at the Berkeley Marina Waterfront Park). The area is very large but mostly unrideable due to a plentitude of gopher holes and very rough surface except for the grassy competition field. There is an asphalt bike path that runs along the water at the downwind edge of the site. Two buggies can pass if careful, but back-n-forth (about 1/5 mile) is all one should expect as the upwind run can't leave the path. The comp field can be made available, but distance is limited for racing. Perhaps a chase race with three points to round. Peels or any power kite on long lines run the risk of taking a bath if released due to the downwind water at the edge of the field. Doesn't matter. See ya'll there! BY THE WAY: I also do this for a living and have a business selling the Buggy and associated power kites (along with all the other kite stuff). I take my job seriously and have tried most of the power available to be able to ensure our customers of the right choices. For the best in sales and service, and the most knowledgeable source for buggy gear, Windborne Kites! We also do after-market customizing and wheel work. We supply buggy fanatics with the right stuff at the right price. I could go on and on... We lead, others follow. WINDBORNE KITES 585 Cannery Row #105 Monterey, California 93940. Shop # 408 - 373 - 7422 Toll-Free Order # 1 - 800 - 234 - 1033 Fax # 408 - 646 - 8483 (This is the AKA fax # at Brooks Leffler's house/office across town. Useful mostly for European correspondence. And orders.) Summer work schedule (Start May 1) has me in the shop on Mon- Wed-Fri (10 am to Close) and Sat (5pm to Close). Please share copies of BUGGY NEWS with all interested parties. Keep your wheels on the ground and may the wind always blow you home, Corey Jensen