Baltimore is a strange place. It has its own unique culture, cultivated in part by filmmaker John Waters (arguably Waters is as much a product as cultivator of this culture). Baltimore's American Visionary Arts Museum (AVAM) is probably the de facto epicenter of this unique scene. Part Dadaism, part outsider art, part who knows what.
One of AVAM's biggest annual events is their Kinetic Sculpture Race. It's probably best if I just quote their website here. It's too hard to describe.
My wife and I had a long conversation with a bike-mounted police officer and he was just amazed by it all. He had some unkind words regarding our current presidential administration. To summarize he found it very interesting that we could pedal all over town on these huge contraptions and not even need cars. To him it was a real shame that things like this weren't encouraged even more to save energy, and to reduce traffic and congestion. We couldn't have agreed more!
Now onto the good stuff. Beau coup de pics! I hope you enjoy them.
GPS Track of the race course (with a few side excursions for beer and food.):
We missed the start so we caught up with the racers at the water challenge. Here the sculptures must enter the water, paddle around the dock, and exit the water with out assistance.
While the racers were lined up waiting their turn to get wet I went around a snapped a few shots of the better ones.
Wallace and Gromit:
The Platypus:
More Platy: (note the crows nest)
Platy drivetrain:
The platypus was one of the most technically advanced of the racers. Her chassis was originally a Suzuki Samurai. Eight bicycles in tandem drive the Suzuki's 4wd transmission to make her go. For water use she has 2 large pontoons placed as outriggers. A lever is thrown which shifts power from the wheels to a paddle wheel to drive her through the water. It probably weights close to 2 tons.
Thing 1 and Thing 2:
Jules Verne:
Goats butting heads:
Dragon:
Part of the fun is of course people watching:
The Good Witch from the Wizard of Oz (in drag):
The Tinman and Dorothy (note the Tinman's gleaming erection):
I have no idea what this was supposed to be but there were a hell of a lot of wheels attached to it:
After spending sometime at the water front we took a break for some lunch. We found a little Irish pub in Canton that had $3.50 1/2 lb angus burgers. Sweet. I washed it down with a Blue Moon Belgian White and a helping of Strawberry Shortcake. Damn it was good.
After a nice relaxing lunch it was off to Patterson Park for the obstacle course. Here the racers had to pedal, push, or pull their vehicles through 50' of sand and 50' of mud. Good times.
Here is the Hindu Elephant stuck in the mud surrounded by throngs of spectators:
This guy from the Goat team had a little trouble with the mud pit!
While we were at Patterson Park we climbed up to the top of the Pagoda
It had really cool spiral staircase:
And a great view of the city from the top:
Pano by: Autostitch
After Patterson Park it was all downhill to the finish line back at the AVAM! It turned out to be a great day and even though it was a short ride (15 miles) spread out over many hours, both of us were beat. I think I was most tired from trackstanding at 600 different stop lights. Baltimore's also know for its great urban riding and I did my share of skinny ledge riding and stair dropping. After the race we headed over to Fells Point for more beer and some kick ass Indian Cuisine.
More random pictures:
Nice retro chopper:
Whatthehell?
More cool rides:
Bull Closeup:
Yours truly: jd"longstockings"schall googly eyes and all:
One of AVAM's biggest annual events is their Kinetic Sculpture Race. It's probably best if I just quote their website here. It's too hard to describe.
My wife, Christine and I set out to ride along the "race" course with the sculptures. The route takes you on a 15 mile loop through downtown Baltimore streets. Spectators are encouraged to dress up. We didn't go all out but we did a little accessorizing. The ride was probably one of the most enjoyable times I've ever had on two wheels. There were probably hundreds of other cyclists just riding along the race route. The attitude of the entire entourage was great.AVAM said:
My wife and I had a long conversation with a bike-mounted police officer and he was just amazed by it all. He had some unkind words regarding our current presidential administration. To summarize he found it very interesting that we could pedal all over town on these huge contraptions and not even need cars. To him it was a real shame that things like this weren't encouraged even more to save energy, and to reduce traffic and congestion. We couldn't have agreed more!
Now onto the good stuff. Beau coup de pics! I hope you enjoy them.
GPS Track of the race course (with a few side excursions for beer and food.):
We missed the start so we caught up with the racers at the water challenge. Here the sculptures must enter the water, paddle around the dock, and exit the water with out assistance.
While the racers were lined up waiting their turn to get wet I went around a snapped a few shots of the better ones.
Wallace and Gromit:
The Platypus:
More Platy: (note the crows nest)
Platy drivetrain:
The platypus was one of the most technically advanced of the racers. Her chassis was originally a Suzuki Samurai. Eight bicycles in tandem drive the Suzuki's 4wd transmission to make her go. For water use she has 2 large pontoons placed as outriggers. A lever is thrown which shifts power from the wheels to a paddle wheel to drive her through the water. It probably weights close to 2 tons.
Thing 1 and Thing 2:
Jules Verne:
Goats butting heads:
Dragon:
Part of the fun is of course people watching:
The Good Witch from the Wizard of Oz (in drag):
The Tinman and Dorothy (note the Tinman's gleaming erection):
I have no idea what this was supposed to be but there were a hell of a lot of wheels attached to it:
After spending sometime at the water front we took a break for some lunch. We found a little Irish pub in Canton that had $3.50 1/2 lb angus burgers. Sweet. I washed it down with a Blue Moon Belgian White and a helping of Strawberry Shortcake. Damn it was good.
After a nice relaxing lunch it was off to Patterson Park for the obstacle course. Here the racers had to pedal, push, or pull their vehicles through 50' of sand and 50' of mud. Good times.
Here is the Hindu Elephant stuck in the mud surrounded by throngs of spectators:
This guy from the Goat team had a little trouble with the mud pit!
While we were at Patterson Park we climbed up to the top of the Pagoda
It had really cool spiral staircase:
And a great view of the city from the top:
After Patterson Park it was all downhill to the finish line back at the AVAM! It turned out to be a great day and even though it was a short ride (15 miles) spread out over many hours, both of us were beat. I think I was most tired from trackstanding at 600 different stop lights. Baltimore's also know for its great urban riding and I did my share of skinny ledge riding and stair dropping. After the race we headed over to Fells Point for more beer and some kick ass Indian Cuisine.
More random pictures:
Nice retro chopper:
Whatthehell?
More cool rides:
Bull Closeup:
Yours truly: jd"longstockings"schall googly eyes and all: