But as they crested Federal Hill, one of their two motorcycle power chains severed under the load, and the Lobe suffered a seizure.
Without tools to break and repair the chain, its terrestrial progress for the rest of the race depended upon being pushed by its crew.
Kinetic races have seen the failure of many a bicycle chain1 stressed beyond its capacity. However, we’ve never seen
any other instance in which a motorcycle chain2 has failed.
This photo shows after they had trailered the Lobe to the water entry, under the distant watchful eye atop the National Bohemian building.
Due to this surprising failure, they received the Worst Honorable Mention, given in this case for a design that should
have done better.
1ANSI series 40, with 810lb working load
2ANSI series 80, with 3300lb working load
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