Friday, May 13, 2016

Kinetic Sculpture Race

or How to Have a Really Fun Day

Last weekend, Ward and I went to the Kinetic Sculpture Race in Baltimore. It's an annual race that's been on our list of things to do for several years and we finally made it happen. It lived up to it's reputation of a really fun thing and I think this will become an annual thing for us.

For those of you who aren't familiar with a kinetic sculpture race (like I wasn't until a few years ago), it's a race using human powered works of art. The race we saw was 14 miles long and went up and down steep hills, into the Chesapeake Bay, and through sand pits and mud pits. There were a variety of participants from middle school students to work groups to civic groups.

Below are pictures from our really fun day.


We gathered with the racers and other crowd at the AmericanVisionary Arts Museum which sponsored the race. The contestants were putting finishing touches on their vehicles and there was an air of excitement and fun in the crowd. You see two of the contestants in this picture (FiFi, the Poodlecorn Unicorn and Monsters of a Middle School Brain.)


Each entry had to go through a safety check to show that their brakes worked by stopping on a "dime". This Monsters, Inc. entry passed.


The Chicken is the mascot of the race and Chickens are everywhere along the race helping.


This entry, Leg Power, was the first to break down and they were not able to finish the race. However, they made it further than the one entry that didn't make it out of the starting gate because of bad brakes.


Crowd participation was encouraged with costumes and ride-alongs like this outhouse and ghost buster. The outhouse had a dog in the bottom who seemed to be enjoying itself.


We watched the first part of the race on a hill with a great view of Baltimore's Inner Harbor. If you look carefully, you will see a couple of the racers in the far lane of the street.


Next we joined the race at the waterfront where the sculptures had to enter the water down a boat ramp and make their way around the dock and up the ramp on the other side. This sculpture, Tick Tock the Croc, was so long it had to swing much wider to make the turn than the other entries.


This entry, Flying Phoenix, was in the ACE class which meant that he had to get out of the water by himself.


However, others (Stumti the Tremendous Stork) were pulled out with the help of their pit crew.


The OMHS Scorpion, separated into two pieces and dumped the pilots into the water. However, they were still able to make it out and rejoin their entry together on dry land to continue the race.


This is the mud pit crew waiting for the first contestant. The pit was particularly difficult because there was a speed bump getting in and getting out of it.


It didn't matter if you had a large vehicle ( Golden Eyedra)...


or a small vehicle (Hydra), they all had a difficult time. This one fell over and the pilot took a dive into the mud.

After the mud pit, we headed back home after a full day of fun and amazement. We missed the awards ceremony, so we didn't know who won until a couple of days later.
Below are some of the winners.

Grand Mediocre ChampionThe Bee's Knees, 

Engineering: Birdie, The Sculpture Vulture (Birdie was made mostly from milk jugs.)


Art: King Bal-Tut-More


Best Bribes:  Wheel of Misfortune


Want to know more:

I've just barely scraped the surface of this event. You can go to the Baltimore Kinetic Sculpture website to learn more.

16 comments:

  1. I love the title Grand Mediocre Champion. I might have to start an event just so I can crown myself that!

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    1. So many possibilities for that title, aren't there?

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  2. Anne, that's what caught me eye, too!

    Live and learn, you and Ward go on so many interesting ventures!

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    1. This was another free one except for parking at one place. However, next year, I think we can find another place to park that will be free or just a meter. We were totally unsure of how we were going to watch this 14 mile race. From just one point, several points and where those would be, parking, etc. Now that we've been, we have a better idea and will have a better plan. However, this time, playing it by ear worked out well.

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  3. (meant "adventures" -- spell check didn't like how I typed)

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    1. I didn't even notice. Along with spell check, our brain automatically corrects a lot of things.

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  4. This is so awesome. I had fun looking at the pictures..wish there was something like it here in Louisiana.!

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    1. While not quite the same, some of the neighborhood Mardi Gras parades were fun like this. Do they do many parades where you live?

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  5. I like the water ones best. Not sure I could bring myself to put my creation in a mud pit! And I think I will join Anne in being Grand Mediocre Champion. Finally, something I can aspire to!

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    1. I would have a hard time putting one into the water also, but I guess that's part of the challenge. But those parts made it interesting to watch although I had a hard time watching some of the entries struggle through the water and mud. They would get so close and then have a mishap.

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  6. How fun!! I had never heard of this before. I love all the kinetic sculptures! To think that they had to engineer that AND race them AND also in water and mud boggles the mind. I'm exhausted just thinking about it. Also loved the staff dressed up as chickens. You took excellent pictures!

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    1. There were 32 entries in all, so you didn't see a lot of them. I just included a few to tell the story of the day. And there were a lot of fun costumes. The best thing was the atmosphere of fun, cooperation, and encouragement.

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  7. That does look like fun. Di Vinci Days in Corvallis which is across the Willamette River in another county from where I live, features kinetic sculpture races each year.

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    1. There aren't many Kinetic Sculpture Races around and I think most of them are on the west coast. If you can work it out, you should try to go sometime.

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  8. I don't know how you find the number of interesting events to visit but I sure hope you had nice weather for this one. The mud pit would have been the most fun to participate in. Yep, tomboy all the way. :-)

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    1. The weather was actually a little cool with some rain. However, not enough to slow anything down. I felt sorry for the racers when they were wet. They had to have been cold.

      I think the mud might have been fun to play in, but it was very difficult to maneuver through. I'm glad I didn't have to try to get a vehicle through it.

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What do you think?