Click on a thumbnail sketch to see the full size picture.

Clearlake wasn't ready for a real Kinetic Sculpture Race in 2003. But they invited racers to show off their machines and drum up local interest. For of us showed up. They called it the "Krash'n'Splash".

The Two Ton Tricycle, Poseidon's Trident and the brand new El Wobbler showed up, along with Rex. [We went undecorated.] Dave and I piloted. We didn't have any pit crew. But we recruited some of the locals to help out with things like inflating pontoons.

The parade came first. It was *much* longer than the 'race'. We did our usual stunts, doing daring donuts. Usually that is uneventful. But one of the donuts was on a hill, and we slid on the bottom side of the donut. That would be OK, but I think we also broke a spoke. And the events of the following weeks suggests that side was stressed. Over the next two weeks we lost 7 spokes, all from the downhill wheel. But that was all in the future. At Clearlake, the wheel was mostly OK. It was much too hot in Clearlake. We carried a supersoaker. Lots of folks requested to be squirted, and we obliged. Even tho I was only giving each person a short squirt, we ran out of water well before the end of the parade. Photo courtesy of Bob Kiel.

Poseidon's Trident Photo courtesy of Bob Kiel.

Between the parade and the race, we gave rides to as many folks as possible. Unfortunately we were staged in a rough parking lot, which made for considerably more exercise. While giving rides, I was recruiting light weight folks. I was hoping to find a tail gunner for when we went out on the water. I finally found one, a girl of about 10. I would have preferred an older passenger, but her dad was right with us and was OK with it.

	The 170 on Rex's grill was our number in the parade. That's Two Ton Trike on the right. Picture courtesy of Denise Rockenstein of The Clearlake Observer-American.
	We hit the beach together. [It was only about 50 feet of sand before the beach.] Two Ton Trike took an early lead. That's Poseidon's Trident on the left. Photo courtesy of Bob Kiel.

But here is where things started going wrong for Frogasaurus Rex. As we entered the lake, I noticed something wrong with my pedals. They were slipping. It turns out the key had shifted out of place. I had no power or brakes on my side.

We pulled Rex back out of the water and spent a couple of hours making repairs as best we could. The key had shifted into a bad location, rubbing the main bearing but inaccessible to the wheel. Also I discovered a spacer on the axle had fallen off at some point. There was no hope of finding it on the beach. Elliot plus some local guys contributed tools and materials, and I fabricated a new spacer and shifted the key.

The race continued without us.

	Two Ton Trike is an imposing presence on the lake. Picture courtesy of Denise Rockenstein of The Clearlake Observer-American.
El Wobbler Photo courtesy of Bob Kiel.
Poseidon's Trident Photo courtesy of Bob Kiel.
	The race was for speed. Poseidon's Trident was first place. El Wobbler came in second. Two Ton Trike discovered that turning radius matters, and came in third. Frogasaurus Rex was left on the beach making repairs. Picture courtesy of Denise Rockenstein of The Clearlake Observer-American.

Meanwhile, back on the beach...

There was something else that didn't seem right. We couldn't seem to get the pontoons pressurized. Partly that was because the pump was losing its seals. But it wasn't clear that that was the only issue. [I am kneeling on the pontoon with my back to the camera. Our tail gunner is on shore with a life-vest, having her shoe removed by her dad.] Picture courtesy of Denise Rockenstein of The Clearlake Observer-American.

When we took Frogasaurus Rex back out onto the lake we determined that both pontoons were leaking. One was leaking rather quickly. We could do a couple of donuts in the water, but then we had to come back to shore. Sinking would be so unseemly!

This may have all sounded like total disaster for Frogasaurus Rex. Not so. I was actually pleased. We discovered all of these problems in a place that wasn't dangerous [like the Willamette]. We did so without losing an actual race. And still Dave got lots of good training and experience. Remember, this was his first experience with Rex on water.

Copyright 2003 C. Allen Brown