Date: Mon, 22 Jan 1996 08:16:43 -1000 From: jtavo@aol.com (JTavo) Message-Id: <4e0kab$d6u@newsbf02.news.aol.com> Organization: America Online, Inc. (1-800-827-6364) Subject: El-Mirage (was KTA & buggy thang) Just got back from my first time with the desert buggy experience. WOW, WOW, WOW!!!! That's all I have to say. Good night. O.K. I'll tell you more about buggy heaven. The distances one experiences in the desert is very deceiving. As Eileen and I turned onto the access road, we missed the lake bed entrance and drove up the side of a mountain that borders El-Mirage. We got out of the car and could see the lake bed. I thought it was a parking lot! It looked small. Just then Eileen said "look, there's a buggy!!" Looking through the binoculars, I found it not to be a buggy, but a TRUCK barreling down the lake bed!! Lets go!! After driving the wheels off the rental car, we found camp. The winds at the lake were blowing around 20 MPH and I immediately jumped on my buggy found myself going 30-40 mph easily with a Skytiger 18. Wow is this gonna be wild!! I attached the tandem and Ei and I (I and Ei?) went exploring. The lake bed offers flat out speed for miles and miles or tooling around the edge of the lake going over pucker bumps, avoiding those nasty little bushes that will flatten you tires, (I had 2 flats) and driving through the dirt roads around the lake bed. Some of the best buggying was when Dean Jordan organized an expedition. We gathered up a group of about 10 -15 buggyers and went exploring again. We went all over the place! It amazed me how we went where we wanted. Buggying at the desert makes you a much better buggier FAST! Some got caught by flat tires, not the right size kite, or losing nerve. It also helps to bring a pump, spare tube or patch kit, and a spare kite! I started the expedition with a Tiger 26 but found the winds dropped a bit. Luckily I had a Hi 40 bungied to the buggy and changed kites in the middle of the expedition. Keep forming those expedition Dean! Since this was my first time at the desert, I had top speed on my mind. I had gone 38 MPH at Wildwood Many time but no faster. So, on Friday we found winds at a steady 35 MPH with higher gusts!! Oh My! Most people had Zip- Zaps, Single 6 foot flexis and other small kites. Well the smallest I had was my Tiger 18. Out it went with me hanging on for dear life. I started down the lake and was going REAL fast!! I looked at my speedo and saw 44 mph. WOW! I had lots more room so I dipped the kite lower into the wind window. I was going faster, I looked down at the speedo again and saw that it Zeroed out. OK thats enough! I put the kite up and began to coast, The speedo stayed at zero a while and then it started reading 46, 45, 44 etc.!! Plenty fast for me, Maybe over 50!!!! (I have a new speedo on order) It was also nice to meet lots of rec kiters so I could put the faces to the posts. Nice to see Andrews DC-9 buggy set up with the six wheels, Hope mike Eason made it home, Nice to see Philip, (both of them,) I liked Steve Batemans tires, Hope Dave stopped processing all the large meals we ate, Still hungry? are you cold? Sherrie is one of the best Female Girbo type buggiers I know, Missed Gramfran but thanks for the beers, Nice gyro copter guy, Broyer! DEAN! (put yer helmet on dean) Nice raspberries on many butts, Nothing wrong with Dodds Lynn buggy, he breaks EVERYTHING! And, who can forget the infamous channel 19!!!! OOOHHHH!!! thats gross! (not Dodd) I'm still a little foggy so if I missed anyone or misspelled some name, so what! I'm still processing everything. I'm sure some others will post so come on guys and gals, lets here your stories!! I'm sure you have some. Can't wait till next time, I'm already going through buggy withdrawal!!! Oh yeah, it was a little to nippy to buggy nekid! Next time o.k? P.S. hats off to Corey for designing the best looking T-shirt I have ever seen!!! (great for scaring small children) ;-0 Later, John Tavolacci = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = Date: Tue, 23 Jan 1996 10:22:50 -1000 From: girbo@aol.com (Girbo) Message-Id: <4e3g2q$p5q@newsbf02.news.aol.com> Organization: America Online, Inc. (1-800-827-6364) Subject: Re: El-Mirage (was KTA & buggy thang) In article <4e0kab$d6u@newsbf02.news.aol.com>, jtavo@aol.com (JTavo) writes: > Nice gyro >copter guy, There were quite a few peripheral activities that got our attention last week. The gyro copters showed up late Friday evening and Saturday. The one on Friday night was checking out our camp big time while he hovered over us, then he zoomed right through the cars - way cool! Don't know if he was observant or lucky, but there were no kites in the air at the moment. He came back Saturday and landed so he could see what this buggy thang was all about, and we got a closer look at his craft. Saturday brought a fleet of Range Rovers out for a commercial shoot. Each truck had a professional driver and a model for a passenger. Didn't make our way into the shots, but we can at least say "Hey, that's us just outside the frame!" when we see the commercial. There was another shoot going on, too, but we never figured out what it was. The ultralights were really cool, and we saw a number of hot motorcycles, some with matching mini-bikes and kids tagging along. Landsailers were abundant - maybe I'll catch a ride on one next time. As Corey said in his original postings, the weekends can get pretty busy out there, but we had the weekdays pretty much to ourselves. Either way, it was all too fun, if that's possible. The food was a story in itself, too - our meals ran the gamut from tailgate bologna sandwiches, the biggest breakfasts ever, greasy casino food, great prime rib, and supreme Thai food across the street from the hotel. The fashion statements abounded. On Friday (?), when the winds were steady 30+ and gusting to 50, various storm gear was the style, and you couldn't recognize anyone unless you knew their buggy. Bandanas, goggles, tshirts, towels - you name it, it was being used to keep the dust out of your face. As John mentioned, there was no [documented] buggying sans coverings, but most days were a little chilly. A number of folks were sporting bruises, raspberries, and various cuts and scrapes. I meant to get everyone together for a group injury photo but it never materialized. (Too busy making those speed runs.) We could have included various broken helmets and bent buggies, too. Edwards Air Force Base was nearby, so military aircraft was a common sight. There was an unusual drone that sometimes seemed to be making its unmanned flight alone, other times we saw a manned chase plane. I had hoped we'd see the space shuttle land during the day, but it came in one night, instead. (Did any of the campers see or hear it?) It turned out there were quite a few folks excited to be in an earthquake zone. We didn't have one, but there was one about forty miles away, and Corey said he felt an aftershock the next day. As you can see, it wasn't just BBT2, it was an adventure. Sherrie (with the stories that weren't the story) = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = Date: Wed, 24 Jan 1996 04:20:26 -1000 From: eitavo@aol.com (EiTavo) Message-Id: <4e5f7a$sal@newsbf02.news.aol.com> Organization: America Online, Inc. (1-800-827-6364) Subject: Re: El-Mirage (was KTA & buggy thang) About that Buggy Thang. :-) We got to the lakebed Tuesday afternoon to find that we missed some of our friends. Could someone please give Joost and Dominique hugs for me?! And we would have liked to have met Nop. Thanks for the beer Fran! Whoever else we missed that I'm too tired to realize now, hope to see you soon! El Mirage is a unique thing of beauty. Driving a car 100+ miles an hour with no one in sight is way cool! So is the sound of the lakebed under rolling buggy tires! Would have liked to have heard it more on my own singular buggy, if only I hadn't gotten the curse of a million wraps (would've prefered the curse of a thousand wraps instead!). Guess we'll just have to go back. :-) :-) :-) (I'm dreaming too, Andrew!) -Eileen Tavolacci aoxomoxoa :~* P.S. Dquad: I think the dude on the back of the Thang shirt was rumored to be the infamous Cobey Benson. maybe it's a collector's item! = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = Date: Wed, 24 Jan 1996 06:31:42 -1000 From: jtavo@nyc.pipeline.com (John Tavolacci) Message-Id: <4e5mte$g1v@pipe8.nyc.pipeline.com> Organization: The Pipeline Subject: El-Mirage (was kta & buggy Thang) I don't think this got out to all so I'll try again. Sorry if you get this twice, also trying new internet service! Just got back from my first time with the desert buggy experience. WOW, WOW, WOW!!!! That's all I have to say. Good night. O.K. I'll tell you more about buggy heaven. The distances one experiences in the desert is very deceiving. As Eileen and I turned onto the access road, we missed the lake bed entrance and drove up the side of a mountain that borders El-Mirage. We got out of the car and could see the lake bed. I thought it was a parking lot! It looked small. Just then Eileen said "look, there's a buggy!!" Looking through the binoculars, I found it not to be a buggy, but a TRUCK barreling down the lake bed!! Lets go!! After driving the wheels off the rental car, we found camp. The winds at the lake were blowing around 20 MPH and I immediately jumped on my buggy found myself going 30-40 mph easily with a Skytiger 18. Wow is this gonna be wild!! I attached the tandem and Ei and I (I and Ei?) went exploring. The lake bed offers flat out speed for miles and miles or tooling around the edge of the lake going over pucker bumps, avoiding those nasty little bushes that will flatten you tires, (I had 2 flats) and driving through the dirt roads around the lake bed. Some of the best buggying was when Dean Jordan organized an expedition. We gathered up a group of about 10 -15 buggyers and went exploring again. We went all over the place! It amazed me how we went where we wanted. Buggying at the desert makes you a much better buggier FAST! Some got caught by flat tires, not the right size kite, or losing nerve. It also helps to bring a pump, spare tube or patch kit, and a spare kite! I started the expedition with a Tiger 26 but found the winds dropped a bit. Luckily I had a Hi 40 bungied to the buggy and changed kites in the middle of the expedition. Keep forming those expedition Dean! Since this was my first time at the desert, I had top speed on my mind. I had gone 38 MPH at Wildwood Many time but no faster. So, on Friday we found winds at a steady 35 MPH with higher gusts!! Oh My! Most people had Zip- Zaps, Single 6 foot flexis and other small kites. Well the smallest I had was my Tiger 18. Out it went with me hanging on for dear life. I started down the lake and was going REAL fast!! I looked at my speedo and saw 44 mph. WOW! I had lots more room so I dipped the kite lower into the wind window. I was going faster, I looked down at the speedo again and saw that it Zeroed out. OK thats enough! I put the kite up and began to coast, The speedo stayed at zero a while and then it started reading 46, 45, 44 etc.!! Plenty fast for me, Maybe over 50!!!! (I have a new speedo on order) It was also nice to meet lots of rec kiters so I could put the faces to the posts. Nice to see Andrews DC-9 buggy set up with the six wheels, Hope mike Eason made it home, Nice to see Philip, (both of them,) I liked Steve Batemans tires, Hope Dave stopped processing all the large meals we ate, Still hungry? are you cold? Sherrie is one of the best Female Girbo type buggiers I know, Missed Gramfran but thanks for the beers, Nice gyro copter guy, Broyer! DEAN! (put yer helmet on dean) Nice raspberries on many butts, Nothing wrong with Dodds Lynn buggy, he breaks EVERYTHING! And, who can forget the infamous channel 19!!!! OOOHHHH!!! thats gross! (not Dodd) I'm still a little foggy so if I missed anyone or misspelled some name, so what! I m still processing everything. I'm sure some others will post so come on guys and gals, lets here your stories!! I'm sure you have some. Can't wait till next time, I'm already going through buggy withdrawal!!! Oh yeah, it was a little to nippy to buggy nekid! Next time o.k? P.S. hats off to Corey for designing the best looking T-shirt I have ever seen!!! (great for scaring small children) ;-0 Later, John Tavolacci = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =