Human-Powered Kinetic Craziness 2004
by Ellin Beltz
The Thirty-Sixth Annual World Championship Great Arcata to Ferndale Cross Country Kinetic Sculpture Race was held Memorial Day Weekend 2004. Nearly forty human-powered kinetic sculptures entered the race which covers 42 miles of all sorts of terrain: sand, pavement, water, mud and gravel.
After a safety and brake check was performed on all the sculptures, pilots dashed for their machines LeMans style at the noon whistle. After three mad spins around Arcata Plaza and a downhill dash to the tiny town of Manila, they crossed the loose sand of "June's Dunes." Perhaps the most beautiful part of the race is the run on the strand along the Pacific. Peace always ends however, what stops this idyllic journey is the huge dune named "Dead Man's Drop" for the angle of its downhill slope. Sculptures must go up it under their own power and down it by the force of gravity and sheer nerve. "Revenge of the Owls," piloted by two Eureka High School students was the first to pass this obstacle. They and all the other sculptures then rode across the Samoa Bridge into downtown Eureka and had a rest and show at the Old Town gazebo. The next morning the sculptures entered Humboldt Bay from a commercial boat ramp and sailed mostly under their own power accompanied by a flotilla of kayaks and row boats about two and a half miles past the Eureka boardwalk and fishing boats, exiting the water at a commercial dock. The next leg of the course was on Highway 101, past the Mall and the ugly commercial strip, over the dread Table Bluff Hill and out into the cow fields of the Eel River bottoms where the crews camped out for the night. The next morning, in sync with some of the lowest tides in nineteen years, the sculptures left Crab Park and crossed the Eel River. They raced along farm roads to the Humboldt County Fairgrounds where the pilots had coffee, donuts and could take showers if they wanted before a last mad dash to the Main Street finish line in front of the gallery of the race's glorious founder, Hobart Brown.
In 1969, Mr. Brown and four other artists had the first Kinetic Sculpture Race down Main Street in Ferndale. The event has grown since then and is now an annual tradition not only in Humboldt County but in
Port Townsend, Washington
Corvallis, Oregon
Ventura, California
Baltimore, Maryland and
Perth, Australia
in addition to similar events which have unofficially sprung from it worldwide.
The Kinetic Sculpture Race has been featured on television, in film and video as well as in newspapers, books and magazines. The Humboldt County race is the longest and most difficult cross-country race in the world. Year-round visitors can see the Kinetic Sculpture Museum and Hobart Galleries in Ferndale and make arrangements to attend programs and classes hosted by the Kinetic Lab in Arcata. Call 707-845-1717 or visit
the official Grand Championship Kinetic Sculpture Race Website for more information.
This year's sculptures included:
101-The Gourd of the Rings was expert Kinetinaut Ken Beidelman's entry this year. It is a four pilot, four-wheel-drive machine, articulated in the middle with chambered pontoons. Before every dangerous part of the course, pilots and pit crew intoned the "Gourd's Prayer."
102-Peace Peddler: Red, white and blue tricycle did well and spread its message across Humboldt.
103-Metal Mayhem's pilot wrote on his entry form, "My top land speed is slow and my top water speed is even slower on this three-wheel sculpture built in 2003."
104-Surly Burly featured hand-built wheels on a standard bicycle frame with wide tires and detachable outriggers. Unfortunately, the pilot's truck and gear was stolen during the race and even with wide appeals to the public has not yet been returned.
105-"Calamity June" Moxon and her hoss Sparkle have Aced the grand championship course seven times in the past. This 216 gear machine is topped by an eleven-foot tall blue horse with a human sized figure of "Calamity June" riding on top.
106-Melvin-The Kinetic Icon came back for their twenty-second year of fun. This machine earned the 2002 and 2003 Engineering Championship.
107-The Cyclops pilot did the entire course on a unicycle with his inflatable boat and folded paddle strapped into his backpack.
108-Wet Paint is a huge tricycle with three eighty-inch wheels boasting 120 spokes apiece.
109-FiFi, Dog of the Dead returned for its sixteen kinetic sculpture race; nine at the world championship.
110-Pandamonium is a two pilot four-wheel-drive kinetic sculpture surrounded by bamboo and stuffed pandas.
111-Corporate Raiders dressed in business attire and were surrounded by miniature corporate icons. This machine is one of the few to have a fully functional reverse gear.
112-Croak came back for a second year. Unlike most of the machines in the race, Croak is a slider-propulsion machine not a rotary powered beast.
113-Grampa's Flying Machine. Who knows how old Grandpa really is. All he'll say is he's older than God and has to cheat full time just to finish.
114-Drum Roll pilots pedal atop rolling barrels to a top land speed of thirty-four miles per hour and slightly less than 2 miles per hour in water.
115-Henry Ford Goes Surfing is a model of a 1927 Model T Ford designed to drive the entire course without any changes or additions. The tires from 800-horse-power dirt track race cars provide most of the flotation. A standard bicycle pedal and chain is geared through two BMW motorcycle transmissions. Each pilot has a separate drive train; both power the paddle wheel under the seat.
116-Team Chaos piloted a four-wheel-drive Tiki bar with palm trees and grass skirts.
117-Fruit Salad looked just like a real fruit salad with the pilot in the middle. It was made of 92.7 percent recycled materials including wheel chair drive rings and only one short chain.
Several machines ran together as "Kinetic Convoy:" The frame of 118-Spectre had aced the course many times before as had 119-Captain Chaos and 120-Bokephus.
121-Revenge of the Nerds drove well on land, but was slowly propelled by the pilots with paddles in the water.
122-Kinetic Caf-fiends took the grand championship of art, engineering and speed the latter probably provided by a non-stop drip of pure Kona Koffee. Race director Charlie Jordan was in the co-pilot seat; both pilots earned Aces.
123-The People Powered Popcorn Popper was piloted by an international crew from the U.S. and northern Europe. Unfortunately it broke in half in the middle of the Eel River and had to be towed to shore.
124-Flying Zucchini Brothers & Sister was late and unprepared. It had to be towed in by the Coast Guard in Humboldt Bay and was last seen hitched to a truck on its way out of town.
125-Bikin' Fools on Vacation piloted a real car, stripped of its engine but with it's transmission still in place, across the entire Grand Championship course, earning the Founder's Award for Kinetic Spirit for their folly.
126-The Evil Eye was piloted by Scott Coking who got married on day two of last year's race. Scott earned an Ace on the ground while his father buzzed around the course in his personal helicopter helping local media get an Eye in the Sky View.
127-University of California Santa Barbarians built their machine to look like a Viking Ship, their 9.1 gear reduction in one stage, four-wheel-drive vehicle was impeded however by their large, red and white striped sail. By day three, they'd lost the sail and were doing much better.
128-Axels of Evil sponsored by Bill Davidson Bail Bonds is a two-pilot, four-wheel-drive, center articulated machine with double axles.
129-That's AMower, Eh? left little pieces of its foam brick-painted columns all over Humboldt County. It started as a Honda riding mower and uses multiplier chain rings to get the pedal rpm high enough to move the five speed transaxle transmission.
130-Surfing the Web is a light-weight machine piloted by two women surmounted by a giant spider.
131-Cosmic was 90 percent recycled with school bus seats and a four-wheel drive. The "Area 51" team won best campsite award and it's pilot took the only solo female Ace award in 2004.
133-Revenge of the Owls was piloted by two Eureka High School students to an ace award and second-place speed.
134-Rogue Towing brought in two vehicles. One broke the first day and it's pilot finished the course on a bicycle.
135-Heaven Can Wait was piloted by Elvis and friends. In real life Elvis is a CalTrans bridge engineer. His partners keep trying to get him to lighten up his contraptions.
136-Bats in the Belfry won the Art award for its insane use of bats, belfries and chimes. Its a new machine from super Kinetinaut Duane Flatmo, but his bats were certainly loose this year; it had to be towed across Humboldt Bay.
137-A Star is Bone won first place speed.
138-Bare Bear: Sunny Brea Middle School students piloted their creation across the entire course.
Thanks to the entrants and to the Kinetic Goddess Jen-O for the information on the individual sculptures.
