Kinetic Sculpture Racing Links

• Flickr.com KSR photos by Alex

Elliot S. Naess - Special to the Record-Bee

HUMBOLDT COUNTY -- Celebrations continue on Cobb Mountain where Tappy and Keith Nelson live with their mechanical pet "Melvin." During the Memorial Day weekend, Melvin and the Nelsons, and third pilot Dave Rempe of Novato, were crowned grand champion at the 37th Annual Arcata-To-Ferndale Cross Country Kinetic Sculpture Race.

Melvin consists mostly of seven wheels and three sets of bicycle pedals and the art work, which is a vital element for this racing machine.

Kinetic Sculpture Racing has been called a sport, a hobby, an engineering contest and an art-form. It is all of that, and to many participants it is almost a second family. Says Tappy Nelson: "It is creative, humorous, fun, crazy and healthy and we get to hang out with other creative, humorous, fun, crazy and healthy people. We love our kinetic family."

Longtime residents of Cobb, the Nelsons also have normal lives, of course. Tappy is a fourth-grade teacher at Cobb Mountain Elementary and Keith is a control technician at Calpine in the Geysers. Their son Kristopher is also active in the sport, having raced successfully on his own and now serving as "pit crew" for his parents. Ron Haworth and Alex Richardson round out the team.

Kinetic Sculpture Racing was founded in the Humboldt County town of Ferndale in 1969 when metal sculptor Hobart Brown built a five-wheeled tricycle for his son. A fellow artist one-upped him and a block-long race ensued.

Today the annual race starts in Arcata and ends 40 miles and three days later at the original finish line on Ferndale's Main Street. Racers travel over back roads, sand dunes, water, mud and anything else that nature might throw at them, and camping outdoors is required to qualify for trophies. The only rule, other than basic safety precautions, is that the vehicles must be human-powered. Most teams, like the Nelsons, rely heavily on bicycle parts, but any mechanism is allowed so long as the energy comes only from the riders themselves. Art and pageantry is just as important as speed, and outright whimsy is encouraged.

A key element of the sport is the difficult transition from water to land, where many teams find themselves unable to get traction when their front wheels are already butting against the shore. The Nelsons solve the problem by letting the air out of Melvin's inflatable pontoons just as they reach shore, thus deliberately sinking the vehicle until the drive wheels gain purchase on the bottom. So what if they all get a bit wet in the process.

Having perfected the mechanical function of their three-piece train of bicycle parts years ago, the Nelsons now concentrate on their artwork. Over its 24-year life, Melvin has been made up as a wide variety of critters all built from cardboard, chicken wire, cloth, papier-mch and similarly simple materials. This year's version portrays two little pigs being chased by the big bad wolf. With Melvin's patented performance over every terrain and the pilots' considerable muscular efforts, this getup earned top honors among the 45 entries from several states. Two other Lake County teams participated, but neither was able to finish the entire course without breakdowns.

There are many other Kinetic Sculpture Races around the country, but the Nelsons usually limit themselves to the grand championship.

They will make an exception this year by participating in the Third Annual Clearlake Kinetic Sculpture Race in the City of Clearlake Saturday, July 2. That race is part of the Redbud Parade and Patriotic Festival, and additional entries of every skill level are welcome.

There is even a $200 reward for first prize, which may or may not go to the fastest team. Contact me by email at elliotsnaess-@msn.com, or call parade chairman Ray Bridges at 994-3070 for more information.

Editor's Note: Elliot Naess is a Clearlake resident and race organizer for the July 2 event. [reprinted here at the request of Mr. Naess]

• Description of the race and
• 2004 photos taken on board the machine by a pilot who had just arrived here by air through San Francisco from a business trip to Beijing. Talk about culture shock!

• Journal and photos by Tom Jones and
• Online galleries by Karen Wallace. Karen, Tom and mechanic-nut Dave arrived from Baltimore the evening before the start, visited the Lab, helped take trophies to Hobart's, grabbed a few hours sleep, volunteered at the start, and followed the race on borrowed mountain bikes over the next three days, leaving minutes after the awards. Exhausted, driving to Sacramento to catch their flight east, they resolved to return next year. For the Glory!

• The Start and the Glorious Founder
• Description of the Course and a few entrants.

• North Coast Journal Cover Story, May 20, 2004.
• Visionary artists race for the glory of mediocrity Johns Hopkins Newsletter, April 29, 2004.
• 2000 Baltimore KSR May 4, 2000 top story in the Baltimore Guide Online archive.
• 2000 Baltimore KSR Baltimore City Paper Online May 3 to May 9, 2000. Students win Golden Dinosaur, Pilots Award and Glorious Founder Award after carrying their broken sculpture 13 miles to the finish line.
• 2000 Baltimore KSR -- Washington Post article.

• 17th Annual - 2005 Mid July
• 2001 Corvallis KSR photos and story from "the Rex Files."
• 2000 Corvallis KSR photos and story of "the Rex Files."
• 1999 Corvallis KSR photos.

• 1990 Pictures
• 1991 Pictures
• 1992 Pictures
• 1993 Pictures
• 1996 Port Townsend KSR photos of racers.
• 1999 Port Townsend KSR photos of racers and awards.
• 2004 Pictures - 1
• 2004 Pictures - 2
• 2004 Pictures - 3

• 2001 Ventura KSR race report (4th Annual)
• 1998 Ventura KSR Los Angeles Times story and photos
• Ventura KSR volunteer pages, photo galleries and more information about this race at Konodorink. (5th annual = 2002?)
• 2000 Ventura KSR online diary.

• 2000 Boulder KSR photogallery.
• KBCO 21st Annual Kinetic Sculpture Challenge.