DaVinci Days

A Fun Festival

Corvallis, OR, July 2013

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While out in Oregon for Dona's nephew's wedding celebration, we stayed with some friends in Corvallis. The weekend happened to correspond with the town's da Vinci Days summer festival. The event features a canine frisbee contest, an electric car race, demonstration and educational booths about alternative technology and ways of life, and the big attraction for us, the "Graand Kinetic Challenge" (yes, that's how it's spelled). According to the official website:

"Racers must ride over 10 miles of city streets, over a man-made sand dune, across 3000 feet of sun-dried, clay pasture, through 200 feet of deep, thick, sticky mud, and down 2 miles of the Willamette River. All of this under pedal power with no help from their friends (or spectators)!"

It's a great challenge for engineers and would-be engineers. But the first rule is "To have fun." Other important official rules: Teams must have

"a flag, prominently waving in the breeze at all times, which symbolizes an important aspect of the team's philosophy of life, the universe, and everything."
"a team song/chant demonstrating cunning rhyming technique, utilizing the team name and the words da Vinci, kinetic and Corvallis, to be performed on demand by the Judges."
"a thematically appropriate, comforting, and/or cuddly stuffed animal, preferably bear-ish and of fabric composition."

When all is said and done, it's my kind of event! But we were only spectators. Bummer.

There were a lot of kinetics going on just getting there.


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