Let My Inspiration Flow
featuring Team Terrapin in
the Kinetic Sculpture Race Grand Championship
Memorial Day Weekend - May 26, 27,28, 2018
RACE SCHEDULE:
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Pre-Race: Saturday May 25
Since there are so many teams this year, pageantry will take place at the Arcata Community Center from 5-7:00PM. Be there to see all the silliness! Team Terrapin will be performing at 6:55PM.
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Day 1: Saturday May 26
10:00 a.m. to NOON @ Arcata Plaza
Break checks start promptly at 10am. This is your best chance to see the spectacle of all sculptures (some will not make it past this point)
Teams enter the Arcata Plaza at H St. and 9th St. then circle the square, subjecting themselves to judgement by experts in important Kinetic Categories like Art, Engineering, Safety, Kinetic Thrills, and Safety. Then eventually, the Queen will decide it is "NOON," and set off the SIREN. First siren will be for ACE teams only. After they are off the plaza a second SIREN will go off for all NON-ACE teams.
Once they scramble to their seats, Pilots will speed their sculptures around and around the town square until Rampmeister opens the starting gate, and releases the Kinetic Madness on the road to Glory!
Brake test for Kinetic Chicken and Waffles 2016
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NOON to 3:00 @ Manila Dunes Community Center Kinetic Festival
Where is it: If you are driving from the Plaza to the Manila Dunes, please take 101 to Eureka, then cross Humboldt Bay on the 255/Samoa Bridges. The Racers will be tying up traffic on the 255 between Arcata and Samoa. Parking is extremely limited. We recommend bicycling. PLEASE BE AWARE YOU ARE SHARING THE ROAD WITH SCULPTURES THAT ARE IN A RACE!! DO NOT GET IN THEIR WAY!!
Kinetic Racing Teams will pit stop and take a quick break at the Community Center's Kinetic Festival, then prepare their sculptures to run on sand before setting off into the dunes toward the roaring Pacific Ocean. The Glorious ocean spray and hard packed sand are a brief treat, for soon they will turn inland through June's Dunes, and onto the inevitable Dead Man's Drop ...
1:00 to whenever the last team passes @ Dead Man's Drop
There's two ways to get there, it's a hike either way:
Beach Hike- Follow the teams out from the Manila Dunes Fest, over the dunes to the beach, and up the coast for around a mile, then turn inland and try to stay out of the way while the teams navigate the ever shifting, living landscape of the dunes.
Dunes Hike- Alternately, you can bike or drive from Arcata or Manila to the exit of Dead Man's Drop. Park on the side of the 255, and follow the crowd up through the dunes. Some of the best viewing spots are on the trail headed in.
Not so much a sand dune, as a soft sided skyscraper. Teams slog up, sliding backwards the whole time, then gather their wits about them for the white-knuckle ride down the far side. The "Golden Flipper Award" is given to the team which inverts its self most spectacularly under the influence of gravity.
Pro Kinetic Tip: Water & Bug Spray! Water is wonderful stuff on a hike, and it IS a hike.
Also. in order to prevent small children and pets from being carried away by the legendary Samoa Dunes Mosquitoes, we recommend you arm yourself with some kind of spray, lotion, or full body net suit.
1:00 until it gets dark @ Halvorsen Park Finish Line Party
Watch the Kinetic racers scramble across the Day 1 Finish Line after their adventures in the dunes.
See the sculptures up close. Music, food, Beer Garden.
One of the least coveted award in Kinetics is the 6:32 award, given to the ACE team which crosses the Day 1 Finish Line after the course closes at 6:32.
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Day 2: Sunday May 27
10:00 a.m. to NOON @ Humboldt Bay Eureka entry point
Teams will enter the Humboldt Bay at the Public Marina (Wharfinger Building). Awards are given for Biggest Splash, and Water Flipper.
NOON and after @ Eureka Natural Foods Pit Stop
See the sculptures up close as they Pit Stop at ENF for lunch.
1:30 p.m. to 7:07 p.m. @ Loleta Hill
The last chance to see Kinetic Sculptures on the course for the day is on Loleta Hill. It's a BRUTAL climb, followed by a fast ride on a winding road down. Park on the opposite side of the road from the teams, and give them some Glory! They need it, seriously seriously need it. And they will take cookies. Please give them cookies.
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Day 3: Memorial Day Monday May 28
10:30 a.m. to NOON @ Eel River Crossing Under Fernbridge
Teams will leave Crab Park at 10:01 a.m., and proceed through Loleta, past Fernbridge, where they will descend onto Private Property at the Worswick Bar.
Spectators should park on the Ferndale side of Fernbridge and walk down to the public side of the Eel River bank where they can watch the teams cross the River under Fernbridge. Please be careful where you park, and don't try to cross the freeway on foot.
1:00 p.m. to 4:37 p.m. @ Finish Line Main Street Ferndale
For just over three hours on one day a year, the corner of Main Street and Brown Street in Ferndale is the best party in the (Kinetic) Universe! Food, drinks, Kinetic Merchandise, and the handcrafted Victorian hamlet of Ferndale.
The racers are exhausted. They are bedraggled and sore, but elated. Some of them are racing to the last moment, trying to make the fastest time. Others are dragged across the Finish Line by their muddy, bloody crews. Why do they do this thing? This insanity that keeps us sane? . . . for the best reason to do anything: For the GLORY!