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Saturday 7 May 2011
With more sculptures than ever before, more spectators than ever before, and more volunteers than ever before, this was a great race!
With 33 sculptures from 26 teams, there were bound to be curious coincidences: this year we had two teams of bees and two teams of cats.
Thanks to a dedicated corps of volunteers and hard work by the staff of the American Visionary Art Museum, 2011 also made
major advances coordinating and managing this extraordinarily complex and chaotic event through 15 miles in 11 neighborhoods over
7 hours.
Click the “Next Page >” button to go to the next team, or select any of the list of teams at the
bottom of the page.
To see others’ coverage of the race, or to tell others of your race experiences, be sure to check out the Kinetic Forum.
The Champion: PLATYPUS
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David Hess’ magnificient PLATYPUS
(Personal Long-range All-Terrain Yacht Proven Un-Safe)
finally received the 2011 Grand Mediocre East Coast Championship trophy for his seventh year in the race.
Fully loaded with his eight pedalling pilots, plus one barnacle steering and an optional barnacle aloft, Pokey weighs roughly two tons, yet
is propelled along the 15-mile racecourse entirely by those eight pedallers.
This year, the PLATYPUS sported a Scottish theme, with tam o'shanters and kilts.
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On the water, PLATYPUS switched to paddlewheel drive and cruised magnificiently on their pontoons. |
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Pokey has never entered the ACE level of competition, but instead demonstrates engineering prowess through
sheer capability.
When Pokey last year encountered the mud—the most difficult in east-cost Kinetic
history—Pokey’s pit crew sullied themselves heaving him through. They were prepared for mud that rough this year when the pilot
leapt forward out of the steering seat and operated a hand-crank winch which would have pulled Pokey through the thickest mud.
This year’s mud wasn’t the viscous shoetrap it was last year, and seemed rather shorter, so Pokey had no difficulty
pulling through.
As Champion of the East Coast 15-mile race, the PLATYPUS is eligible for the 42-mile
World Kinetic Sculpture Championship over Memorial Day weekend in
Humboldt County, California.
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While each of Pokey’s pilots pedals an individual bicycle chassis, the chains combine their energy in a transmission
from a Suzuki SUV. From that point, the drivetrain, wheels, and tires are all automotive components. |
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Captain Hess raises his hand triumphantly as the team receives its championship trophy—topped by gold-plated bicycle handlebars—at the awards ceremony. |
11/11/2024 4:27:37 PM 1:2 2: 3: 4:1 5: 6: 7: 8: 9: 10: 11: 12: 13: 14: 15: 16: 17: 18:1 19: 20: 21: 22: 23: 24: 25: 26: 27: 28: 29: 30: AllInOne:1
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