It’s known as “The Triathalon of the Art World.”
That’s the Kinetic Grand Championship, held in Humboldt County this weekend. JPR’s Michael Joyce followed one team during their frantic, final week of preparation.
Jake Bailey and James Smith are showing off the outlandish creation they’re going to pedal in the race.
Jake Bailey: This is going to be the gearing that will power the drill aspect of this machine."
James Smith: “We’ve got a giant auger in the front, a big rock-grinding something on the back, we have four pilots, we’re really heavy, we’re all made of metal.
TeamTempus Fugitives has been headed up by James and Sarah Smith for the past seven years. They both have art degrees. James is a sculptor and former bike mechanic. So it seemed to be a natural fit to create a bicycle-powered sculpture that could traverse sand, sea, and roadways. But James says the annual 3-day, 42-mile race is full of challenges.
James Smith : “Well, first and foremost it is an art race. I think that has to weigh in as the heaviest category. Second, I do believe is engineering. It’s not about how fast you go, it’s about being physically able to pedal this machine over this course - which is extremely difficult - under your own power. It’s quite a feat when you see the steepness of the sand dunes, the distances you have to travel across water; and, remember, there’s no book to go by about how to build a kinetic sculpture."
But there is a rule book, and it includes things like: “Be happy (or at least fake it)”, “Always carry a toothbrush and teddy bear”, “Bribery and cheating are encouraged”, and “If you have super powers (like X-Ray vision) you are not allowed to use them."
It all came from the imagination of Hobart Brown who founded the race in 1969 and died in 2007. Cliff and Amy Berkowitz, who knew Hobart well, have called the race for KHUM radio for the past 15 years.
Cliff & Amy Berkowitz: “He was an amazing, eccentric artist, outgoing, creative … he was a character."
I asked Amy and Cliff what it’s like to MC the start of the race.
Cliff & Amy Berkowitz: “Just a cacophony of all kinds of crazy things, some amazing elaborate, beautiful things, like fire-breathing dragons, and some things that look like they were thrown together with chewing gum and bailing wire. One year there were people who had a plank across a bicycle seat and people were balancing on it. You’ll see single pilot machines, 10-pilot machines, some are huge (way too big), some are small … Pandemonium!"
In charge of keeping the pandemonium going is the Rutabaga Queen.
Lady Luck: “Queens need to have so much fun it’s almost to the point of obnoxiousness."
Reigning Rutabaga Queen, Lady Luck, believes strongly in one of race founder Hobart Brown’s main mantras.
Lady Luck: “Adults should never feel that they always have to behave like adults. It’s an amazing and awe-inspiring thing to see adults still behave like children."
Tempus Fugitives co-founders Sarah and James Smith took their team name from the classic Latin clock inscription: Tempusfugit.
Sarah Smith: “So we decided as Tempus fugitives we’re actually running from time. We’re trying to stay young by having fun and being ridiculous."
James Smith: “A lot of people think of ‘tempusfugit’ as ‘time flies’. But it’s more accurately translated as ‘time flees’ - or you could say ‘time escapes us’ . And I think that’s a wonderful way to go about life trying to stay young. Like Hobart said: we want to be adults having fun so children will want to grow up. It kind of ties into that."
Thousands are expected at the Arcata Plaza for the noon start on Saturday.