PORT TOWNSEND — The Kinetic Medics are greasing their gears.
The Loch Nutz Monsta has new wheels.
And Henry Ford is ready to surf as racers gear up for the Great Port Townsend Bay Kinetic Skulpture Race this weekend.
“I’m working on ground clearances, getting the surfboards up higher off the ground,” said Elliot Naess, “and I need some kind of cleats on the drive tires to get through the mud.”
Naess — his real name — usually drives an 18-wheeler, but is bringing his kinetic racer, a replica of a Ford Model T mounted on surfboards, from Clearlake, Calif., for Sunday’s 22nd Kinetic Skulpture Race.
Almost a dozen teams have already signed up to race vehicles that are pedaled or paddled through the streets, in the water, on the beach and through a mud bog.
Californians, here they come
“We actually have a couple of Californians coming for this year’s race,” said organizer Janet Emery.
Emery, owner of Kinetic Koffee Kompany, is also surprised that people have pre-registered and paid the $20.04 entry fee, which goes up a penny every year.
So far, she’s heard from Peter and Laura Wagner from Davis, Calif., who are making a return appearance on “That’s a Mower, Eh?”
Bob Durst of Philomath, Ore., will roll along inside his giant monowheel, dubbed “Time Flies” after a Groucho Marx saying: “Time flies like an arrow, fruit flies like a banana.”
“Almost nobody got it except the people of Port Townsend,” Durst said.
“So we took the banana and the Groucho glasses off, and have a different creature up on top.”
