(Jim #20) – So, on Sunday, I found myself on the highway between Eureka and Arcata, riding a pedal car with kinetic artist Ken Beidleman. We were pedaling at a moderate, comfortable rate while a small, lawnmower-sized engine provided an extra boost to our thrust.
A somewhat chilly breeze was whipping our faces, but we were able to converse with ease as the vehicle, a Beidleman creation, cruised along at 30 mph. The car has a lightweight “hood” with newspaper articles about kinetic feats lacquered onto it. There’s a clear plastic windshield and stretched spandex roof.
Each individual rider may pedal at whatever rate they’re comfortable (or not at all) without affecting the other rider. Each rider has three shifters to operate, which move a pair of chains on bicycle gears below. It’s a really trick vehicle.
Traveling from Beidleman’s home in downtown Eureka to the kinetic lab in Arcata took us just a few minutes more than Beidleman’s wife, June Moxon, and my traveling companion, Dave Palin, who were in Dave’s SUV. Before leaving for Arcata, Beidleman always tops off the tank. This time it cost him 67 cents. The price on the pump he filled up with was $4 for a gallon of unleaded. The pedal car gets 100 miles per gallon.
At the kinetic lab, we viewed a group of much larger vehicles that are being crafted into their final forms for the annual kinetic sculpture race on Memorial Day weekend in Humboldt County. These vehicles are outrageously sophisticated in terms of the engineering that moves them over land and sea. They’re even more outrageous in terms of being these giant creatures with movable body parts.
Ken, June and other artists, such as the well-known Duane Flatmo (one place to recognize his art is on Lost Coast Brewery labels), are all working along on various vehicles for the event. They seem so happy and energized. It’s as if they’re getting away with something. Where do I apply?
This much is for certain — they sure aren’t paying much for gas.
Wow, how cool is that! Where do I pick me up one of those jobbies?
Dude, you get to do all the cool things.
Anybody want to pitch in and design and build one of these benign behemoths? We know some pretty good artists who have been known to assemble some pretty cool stuff out of baling wire and tin cans! Maybe use it has an artistic “statement.” Besides, who couldn’t use some cheap, reliable transpo?
It was inspiring to be in the the world of these artists and see them “in process” all the time. There’s an alternative mode of thinking for everything.
Ken was almost delighted to pull up to the gas station (where it was $4 a gallon). In Eureka a few people gave us odd looks. In Arcata, as you might expect, there were honks and thumbs up.
Without getting too deep here, ingenuity is what we Americans do best (or, at least, used to). A not-so-well-intentioned segment of the world has us on our knees because of our dependency on oil. Imagine if we just unplugged from all of it? Imagine if we truly embraced hybrid vehicles, and solar and wind power.
Maybe all of us would be laughing as we pull into gas stations, instead of having that deep fear that something else in our lives is really going to have to give. As Michael Franti says in song, “Give the corporations some complications.”
Love it, Jimbo. But methinks I’ll stick w/ a scoot…