INHERIT THE WIND : KITE BUGGIERS KNOW NO FEAR.

Byline: Brett Pauly

For the few brave souls who cast kites to the wind and use its energy to be pulled about in go-carts, Mother Nature can be quite a source of power.

``There is an element of danger and an adrenaline rush involved in anything that you know can physically drag you,'' said Dan Rubesh of Ventura, who has been a kite buggy enthusiast for several years. ``It's kind of like hooking into a really big marlin; you know there is going to be a really big fight between you and that fish.''

And if things go afoul, if the kite or the craft is guided improperly, watch out. You'll soon be kissing the ground in what is known as an ``oobee'' - kitespeak for ``out-of-buggy experience.''

Rubesh and his kiting compatriots are preparing for the first North American Buggy Championship Races, to be held Saturday through Monday at El Mirage Dry Lake here. A sort of X Games for the kiting crowd, the contest is a precursor to the national convention of the American Kitefliers Association, scheduled for Oct. 2-6 in Santa Monica.

Kite buggiers are the daredevils of the bunch, intrepid individuals who want to take their hobby to a higher level. And the championships are a way of recognizing a sport still in its infancy.

Developed in the late 1980s by a New Zealander, kiting attracts thousands of participants in Europe and nearly 1,000 devotees in the United States, according to Corey Jensen of Pacific Grove, Calif.

``First of all, we're kitefliers,'' said Jensen, known in kiting circles as the left-coast buggy guru. ``And this is the ultimate kite power. We get to play with the wind.''

Yeah, in lightweight, three-wheeled vehicles that are steered by foot and carry occupants four inches off the ground at speeds of up to more than 60 mph.

Seat belts, roll bars or air bags? Forget it. Only bike helmets, gloves and knee and elbow pads protect against the dreaded oobee.

But that's the thrill - not being tied in. Unlike other wind-driven crafts, the drafts actually pull the rider, not the vehicle.

``The power from the wind hits the kite, goes through the (kite) lines, through your hands and your body is the transmission for the energy that moves the buggy. So you are the mast,'' explained Scott Dyer, a Las Vegas kite and buggy merchant who has been enjoying the sport since 1992.

Therefore, it's a delicate operation similar to tacking and jibbing a sailboat that provides quite an upper-body workout.

``You are constantly balancing the positioning of the kite and the buggy and watching where they are going,'' Dyer said. ``It's a complete mind game.''

It's an appeal that attracted Gary Gerfen of Monrovia last year, when he spied a spread on the activity in a kite catalog.

``I used to ride dirt bikes, then I got the idea of being pulled by the wind without all the noise and inconvenience of fueling up,'' Gerfen said. ``It's a much more direct connection to speed as opposed to a gas-powered motor.

``There is something very enjoyable about seeing these huge kites swooping through the air with all that power and having a direct sensory input to flying. You can enjoy the experience more because you don't have all the distractions.''

It's not an easy task even finding these eccentric souls who are most content harnessing zephyrs and zipping about at breakneck speeds in 25-pound carts.

A dusty, washboard-rutted gravel road directs visitors to El Mirage Dry Lake, a parched Antelope Valley outpost along the western edge of San Bernardino County near Adelanto. Sage and Joshua trees, classic vegetation of the Mojave Desert, line its edge.

Dust devils - the bane of the buggier because they can foul kite lines beyond all hope of straightening - spin mesmerizing funnels across the tan, cracked flats. It's a surreal scene to be driving along the bottom of a lake. No wonder people thought the world was flat for so long.

You'll pass motorcyclists, a variety of off-road vehicles and landsailors before coming upon the kite buggy crew.

You'll recognize their kites braced high in the sky, towlines pointing toward their carriages; the landsailors have sails on masts attached directly to their crafts.

Here you will find Rubesh and his worn white utility van - a roving repository of all things kites emblazoned with a bumper sticker that reads ``Buggy Naked'' and the license-plate cover that states emphatically ``Buggy or Die!!''

He and his friends prefer a stretch of the lake called Walt's Bay. It was named after a kiteflier who came to visit his buggying counterparts but turned back after spotting what he thought was water. ``They don't call it El Mirage for nothing,'' said Rubesh, whose answering machine addresses callers with the greeting, ``Good winds, tight lines and have a super day.''

Buggiers congregate in informal gatherings, testing their skills and speed along oval tracks and over cross-country routes of up to 20 miles or farther. Saddlebags carry water, snacks, spare kites, tire tubes and pumps in case the winds die or breakdowns occur in the middle of a run.

The buggies, which can be packed into suitcase size, and the kites can be set up in a few minutes. The units have light wind thresholds. ``By the time the wind is moving 4 mph, you are ready to buggy,'' Jensen said.

Landsailors, for example, need winds of 10 to 12 mph to operate, not to mention trailers to transport their crafts, an hour's time or more to set up and more room to roam, he said.

If gusts are nonexistent, buggiers pass the time tossing Frisbees or boomerangs - anything that will float for a while. Like their forefathers in the sport, they are transfixed by the four winds.

A kite historian of sorts, Jensen noted that in 1822, an Englishman by the name of George Pocock secured a patent on a kite-powered carriage to avoid the toll on the road between Bristol and Bath that was assessed according to the number of horses that drew a carriage. Pocock called his vehicle char-volant, loosely translated from French as wind chariot. Two centuries earlier, Dutch mariners put rollers on ships and filled the sails with ocean breezes to cruise up and down the tidal flats until a series of accidents brought the activity to a crashing halt.

Modern-day aficionados have replaced the buggy's wheels with pontoons for kite boating and ice blades for speeding atop frozen lakes. There is even a kiteflier's version of in-line skates nicknamed the wheels of doom. Apparently they provide a whole new slant on ``go fly a kite.''

But if you'd prefer kiting in something a little more stable, then ``buggy on.''

IF YOU'RE GOING . . .

El Mirage Dry Lake, the venue for the North American Buggy Championship Races, is situated 41 miles east from where the Antelope Valley Freeway (14) travels through Palmdale.

Drive north on the freeway, exit at Palmdale Boulevard and turn right. At this point the road becomes Highway 138 east.

Where the 138 veers to the south, exit from the left lane at a sign pointing the way to Edwards Air Force Base and continue east on Palmdale Boulevard until it ends at 240th Street East. Turn left. Then turn right on Avenue P (El Mirage Road).

Drive 9.1 miles and turn left on Mountain View Road at the sign for El Mirage Off-Highway Vehicle Recreation Area.

Follow the gravelly route 2.4 miles and turn left at the lake access road. Skirt the dry lake bed on the north, or right, side for about four miles until you spot the kite buggiers. If the winds are down, no one will be flying; look for kites sprawled across the flats.

This is an extremely desolate and arid place. There are no facilities, so bring everything you will need, including plenty of water, food, a regional map, sunscreen, sunglasses, a hat and toilet paper for the portable potty.

If you are interested in attending the 19th annual American Kitefliers Association National Convention, it is being held at the Holiday Inn Bayview Plaza, 530 W. Pico Blvd. in Santa Monica. There will be an array of kiting demonstrations, competitions and workshops. Information: AKA, [phone]; hotel, [phone].

CAPTION(S):

2 Photos, Box

Photo: (1--color) Santa Paula's Luther Brown catche s a gust of wind in his kite buggy at El Mirage Dry Lake.

(2--color) Steve Bateman of San Diego adjusts the reins on his kite buggy to maximize speed.

Brett Pauly / Daily News

Box: IF YOU'RE GOING...(see text)