Wednesday, February 22, 2006
Alternative Racing!
Most people know about the Iditarod, The Iron Dog, The Daytona 500, The Indianapolis 500 and the Kentucky Derby. But, if you are looking for something a little out of the ordinary, you might want to try one of the following.
Every year the World Championship Tiller Racers are held in Emerson, Arkansas. There are various categories ranging from stock tiller to souped-up dirt slingers. There are brackets for women and children. The rules suggest that any female who is thinking about entering the dirt slinger category would be well advised to have a mental examination first. It might not be a bad idea for the gents either. The rules specify that the engine is limited to 100 horsepower, it must have tines, and you must have a kill switch attached to your arm. Engines are frequently modified to run on alcohol—not necessarily the store bought variety. Two other rules are worthy of note: you must wear shoes and you must be in control of the tiller when it crosses the finish line. The latter can be a bit touchy at times. Some participants have been dragged across the finish line with dirt flying in their faces. Others have swerved out of control and one or two have hit a fence. The two hundred-foot track may not seem very long to a spectator, but everyone who has ever used a Troy Bilt in high gear knows those things can really fly. Top speed in the event approaches 19 mph.
Outhouse races constitute another weird set of races. There are a number of these. The Outhouse Classic is held the last week in February every year in Trenary, Michigan. A properly outfitted privy with a door is mounted on a pair of skis and is pushed 500 feet to a finish line. One of the best entries was a 1999 entry known as the Vati-Can and was pushed by a group of “nuns” who of course had their own Ten Commandments. The most noteworthy was: Thou Shall Not Leave the Seat Up! For a miniscule fee you can even get your very own electronic Outhouse Calendar. Other races are staged in Gravel Switch, Kentucky (I sure hope they know what toilet paper is there), Conconully, Washington, and Mountain View, Arkansas. My own personal favorite, however, is the World Championship Outhouse Race held every October in Virginia City, Nevada. There the outhouses really look like the real McCoy. And when the racing is over, you can step inside the Bucket of Blood Saloon for a nice, double dip ice cream cone.
Every June the citizens of Fort Sumner, New Mexico, hold the Billy the Kid Tombstone Race at the football field of the high school. Male participants are given 80-pound replicas of the Kid’s headstone and must cover a course of twenty-five yards and clear two hurdles along the way. Females only have to lug a 20-pound facsimile. Advocates of the theory that the Kid did not really die at Fort Sumner and is actually buried in East Texas are automatically disqualified.
The largest chuckwagon races in the United States are held every year in Clinton, Arkansas. Last year 30,000 people watched as contestants competed in five categories. Chuckwagons may not look like what you see in old western, but they all have a driver, a cook and an outrider. Since it is hard to procure genuine wagon wheels, participants have put car tires on their chuckwagons. The Calgary Stampede also features chuckwagon races. But how did Clinton come to be the home of the national championships? Think Rooster Cogburn and the Hanging Judge. Think Dan Eoff, a self-described cowboy, who just wanted to have fun one day and suggested on a lark that they race chuckwagons.
Leave it to a university to try something different. Since 1957 Rice has staged its annual beer bike relay race. Participants race around a course, chug a cold one, and then the next member takes his or her turn. When Brown College was formed, the females were not to be outdone. So they started their own tea- trike races. Many coeds don’t even bother with the bikes and the trikes, they go directly to the beer and the featured event of the day—the water balloon fight.
Most people know about the Iditarod, The Iron Dog, The Daytona 500, The Indianapolis 500 and the Kentucky Derby. But, if you are looking for something a little out of the ordinary, you might want to try one of the following.
Every year the World Championship Tiller Racers are held in Emerson, Arkansas. There are various categories ranging from stock tiller to souped-up dirt slingers. There are brackets for women and children. The rules suggest that any female who is thinking about entering the dirt slinger category would be well advised to have a mental examination first. It might not be a bad idea for the gents either. The rules specify that the engine is limited to 100 horsepower, it must have tines, and you must have a kill switch attached to your arm. Engines are frequently modified to run on alcohol—not necessarily the store bought variety. Two other rules are worthy of note: you must wear shoes and you must be in control of the tiller when it crosses the finish line. The latter can be a bit touchy at times. Some participants have been dragged across the finish line with dirt flying in their faces. Others have swerved out of control and one or two have hit a fence. The two hundred-foot track may not seem very long to a spectator, but everyone who has ever used a Troy Bilt in high gear knows those things can really fly. Top speed in the event approaches 19 mph.
Outhouse races constitute another weird set of races. There are a number of these. The Outhouse Classic is held the last week in February every year in Trenary, Michigan. A properly outfitted privy with a door is mounted on a pair of skis and is pushed 500 feet to a finish line. One of the best entries was a 1999 entry known as the Vati-Can and was pushed by a group of “nuns” who of course had their own Ten Commandments. The most noteworthy was: Thou Shall Not Leave the Seat Up! For a miniscule fee you can even get your very own electronic Outhouse Calendar. Other races are staged in Gravel Switch, Kentucky (I sure hope they know what toilet paper is there), Conconully, Washington, and Mountain View, Arkansas. My own personal favorite, however, is the World Championship Outhouse Race held every October in Virginia City, Nevada. There the outhouses really look like the real McCoy. And when the racing is over, you can step inside the Bucket of Blood Saloon for a nice, double dip ice cream cone.
Every June the citizens of Fort Sumner, New Mexico, hold the Billy the Kid Tombstone Race at the football field of the high school. Male participants are given 80-pound replicas of the Kid’s headstone and must cover a course of twenty-five yards and clear two hurdles along the way. Females only have to lug a 20-pound facsimile. Advocates of the theory that the Kid did not really die at Fort Sumner and is actually buried in East Texas are automatically disqualified.
The largest chuckwagon races in the United States are held every year in Clinton, Arkansas. Last year 30,000 people watched as contestants competed in five categories. Chuckwagons may not look like what you see in old western, but they all have a driver, a cook and an outrider. Since it is hard to procure genuine wagon wheels, participants have put car tires on their chuckwagons. The Calgary Stampede also features chuckwagon races. But how did Clinton come to be the home of the national championships? Think Rooster Cogburn and the Hanging Judge. Think Dan Eoff, a self-described cowboy, who just wanted to have fun one day and suggested on a lark that they race chuckwagons.
Leave it to a university to try something different. Since 1957 Rice has staged its annual beer bike relay race. Participants race around a course, chug a cold one, and then the next member takes his or her turn. When Brown College was formed, the females were not to be outdone. So they started their own tea- trike races. Many coeds don’t even bother with the bikes and the trikes, they go directly to the beer and the featured event of the day—the water balloon fight.
