Feeling the Eel

Wet Glory!

Rain, sleet, or bay, team Chain Mail is pushing toward Crab Park with its ACE still intact.

Chain Mail is All Mail and No Chain

Chain Mail, the first sculpture to make it to the Manila Community Center, is now falling behind as the team is having trouble making it up Dead Man’s Drop.

Eli Rohl tells the Outpost that the sculpture’s chain has just malfunctioned for the second time.

First Team to MCC!

Special delivery! As many expected, speedy Chain Mail is the first team to arrive at the Manila Community Center. Will they be able to maintain lightning quickness in the dunes? Only time will tell. (No, they won’t.) —AG

Description of Chain Mail courtesy its creator: 

ART: Chain Mail is the offishul mail carrier for the 2016 Kinetic Grand Championship Race. Three-day Guaranteed Speedy Delivery from the Square in Arcata to downtown Ferndale traveling over 40 miles the hard way. Through rain, heat, gloom of night, mechanical breakdowns, sunburn, getting lost, scary downhills, mosquitos, unscheduled swimming, lack of sleep and Konfusion, Chain Mail will promise swift completion of their appointed rounds. Where one professional mail carrier is usually enough, we have employed two, for faster handling of all your important delivery needs. Other deliveries may one day be done by drone, but Chain Mail sees the future as one where human power and personalized service beat out convenience, low price and dependability. Branching off from over twenty years racing with Team Melvin, this is the first foray of Dave Rempe and his son Joey Rempe to go out on their own and try their hand at building and racing a sculpture. Rescued from the bone yard, Chain Mail is a heavily refurbished retired sculpture that was named Sushi from the early 90’s and originally built by Rick Nelson.

ENGINEERING: Engineering highlights include an entirely new drivetrain fashioned from recycled parts and genius. A great deal of the design work was done increasing the strength of Chain Mail’s drivetrain to accommodate the robust cycling power of the two pilots. Two-speed rear end gearing transfers power in the sand at a ratio of 10 pedal rotations to 1 axle rotation. Sand climbing power indeed. We’ve added grease to the main bearings when in previous incarnations of this machine, it appears they used only sand. “Strength through Flexibility” really comes into play with this machine and the pilots aren’t going to let fear intimidate them into going slow and easy. The flotation is large and helps Chain Mail skim over the water with its paddle wheel drive system at a rate higher than anyone could have ever expected. Aerodynamics are increased with the innovation of keeping the pilots heads down in a tucked position which brings Chain Mail’s top road speed up to a pace that hasn’t been determined yet.

OTHER: Chain Mail is a three wheel, two pilot, tandem riding position machine. It is about 4’ wide and 10’ long. It weighs about 100 pounds empty and has pneumatic flotation and paddle wheel water drive. The Chain Mail machine was originally built by Rick Nelson over 25 years ago but, after years of neglect and retirement, has been brought back to life by Dave and Joey Rempe.

Description of Chain Mail courtesy its creator: 

ART: Chain Mail is the offishul mail carrier for the 2016 Kinetic Grand Championship Race. Three-day Guaranteed Speedy Delivery from the Square in Arcata to downtown Ferndale traveling over 40 miles the hard way. Through rain, heat, gloom of night, mechanical breakdowns, sunburn, getting lost, scary downhills, mosquitos, unscheduled swimming, lack of sleep and Konfusion, Chain Mail will promise swift completion of their appointed rounds. Where one professional mail carrier is usually enough, we have employed two, for faster handling of all your important delivery needs. Other deliveries may one day be done by drone, but Chain Mail sees the future as one where human power and personalized service beat out convenience, low price and dependability. Branching off from over twenty years racing with Team Melvin, this is the first foray of Dave Rempe and his son Joey Rempe to go out on their own and try their hand at building and racing a sculpture. Rescued from the bone yard, Chain Mail is a heavily refurbished retired sculpture that was named Sushi from the early 90’s and originally built by Rick Nelson.

ENGINEERING: Engineering highlights include an entirely new drivetrain fashioned from recycled parts and genius. A great deal of the design work was done increasing the strength of Chain Mail’s drivetrain to accommodate the robust cycling power of the two pilots. Two-speed rear end gearing transfers power in the sand at a ratio of 10 pedal rotations to 1 axle rotation. Sand climbing power indeed. We’ve added grease to the main bearings when in previous incarnations of this machine, it appears they used only sand. “Strength through Flexibility” really comes into play with this machine and the pilots aren’t going to let fear intimidate them into going slow and easy. The flotation is large and helps Chain Mail skim over the water with its paddle wheel drive system at a rate higher than anyone could have ever expected. Aerodynamics are increased with the innovation of keeping the pilots heads down in a tucked position which brings Chain Mail’s top road speed up to a pace that hasn’t been determined yet.

OTHER: Chain Mail is a three wheel, two pilot, tandem riding position machine. It is about 4’ wide and 10’ long. It weighs about 100 pounds empty and has pneumatic flotation and paddle wheel water drive. The Chain Mail machine was originally built by Rick Nelson over 25 years ago but, after years of neglect and retirement, has been brought back to life by Dave and Joey Rempe.