Handcar Regatta

URGENT NEWSFLASH!
Todd Barricklow, of the Steam Pedal renown in 2008, is hosting a fundraiser this Sunday for his latest masterpiece of cockeyed carriages on the rails:

Two Penny

3pm on Sunday, May 24th, 2009
Toad in the Hole Pub 
116 5th Street, Railroad Sqr., Santa Rosa

Featuring:
Such local eminent persons as Kelly “What-Won’t-I-Do” Cowan as master of ceremonies and the euphonious mélange of musicality called Earstu. 

AND:
Raffles for Todd’s own artwork, some welded sculpture, Roshambo Wine, a cool bike bag by Lucie Goods, and more! 

Did You Know?
The title of Mr. Barricklow’s Two Penny contraption refers to the large wheeled bicycles of yore known as “Penny Farthings”, “Bone-Shakers”, and occasionally just “High-Wheels.” Todd’s extravagant machine has upped the penny-ante by incorporating two wheels AND fabricating them by hand at a whopping 8 feet in diameter! Impressive indeed. One of the wheels will be on hand for proper inspection.

We, at The Great Handcar Regatta, tip our toppers in awe at Mr. Barricklow’s feats of the tool. Dear reader: please mount one’s own Penny Farthing or bicycle to attend the Toad for a rousing good time and to support your local makers of art and kinetic eccentricity.

Wired reports that the venerable bicycle turns 90 years old today (in a somewhat loose definition). The Great Handcar Regatta owes much to the Draisine and the many steadfast inventors who built upon each other’s discoveries, leading to the “bikes” we know and love today!

Around February 17, 1818, Baron Karl Christian Ludwig von Drais de Sauerbrun invented the first two-wheeled personal transport vehicle as an alternative to expensive and inconvenient horse travel.

Drais called his patented contraption the Laufmaschine or “running machine” as it had neither pedals nor brakes, forcing riders to use their feet for propulsion and stopping. Flimsy leather shoes of the day and virtually no smooth paved roads ruined any chance of the machine’s popular use.

However, aristocrats found the invention charming enough to buy and race with. Eventually the French, among others, adopted the steadily-improving bicycle, calling it the Draisine, a term that is still used today for human powered railcars.

For a quick tour of the bicycle’s humble beginnings, see the following slideshow from the Institute and Museum of the History of Science: Cycling Through Time

Andy Graham, of Joe’s Revenge fame from 2008 Regatta, has begun mysterious toils upon his latest contraption known as:

The Screaming Vortex

“The Future of Personal Rail Transport”

Take a moment to view the Web site…

The fine gentlemen at NARCOA (North American Railcar Operators Association) are privy to a wide variety of astonishing goods for your railcar endeavors.

Need some parts or even a complete railcar built for two? Head over to the For Sale section and glower in envy!

The Engineers’ Arcade has been updated with a wealth of exciting graphical depictions.

The amazing Welded Sykkelen is functioning as a four-person “rowing” railcar! You simply MUST see the moving pictures.

Additionally, Mr. Barricklow’s evolving solo craft has what appears to be a smoke stack of sorts blooming from the fore and now sports all hand-built wooden wheels.

ITEM!
Alas, tragedy has struck our very own Krank-Boom-Clank lads. While evidence is blurry at best and grains of salt are to be taken with anything issuing from Black Rock City, NV, The Hennepin Crawler has apparently turned against one of its own.

Or, perhaps, ’tis simply a case of overenthusiastic affection on the part of a big lovable beast toward its maker. Let us deliver hearty wishes that K-B-C may recover in time for the Regatta!

Excellent work, gentlemen! Word has it we now have up to 8 teams competing and possibly more. Hopefully, photographs of said teams’ jalopies will be forthcoming…

Huzzah!

The dazzling Railcar Videodeon has been added to the Galerie de Muse.

Kindly visit myself, Erasmus P. Kitty, on the splendid YouTube if you will.