Or - A Long and Winding Road…
That leads to the Red Bull Soapbox Race. It did, it did take a lot of bravery to compete and there was evidence of more than a few screws that were decidedly loose…in the audience and on the track.
Today we headed downtown to Pi2 for the Soap Box Race.
It was a beautiful day, one of the many we've had lately, and not overly hot, thank goodness.
So we walked on down to the Link and jumped aboard our Magic Carpet Ride to The Emerald City. Ready for adventure and what ever comes our way.
And, by golly, was I wrong with that last statement.
We were totally unready for what we encountered. The crowd was huge!! This was the scene as we came up to street level from the Link and this is tame compared to what will happen within the next hour. Loads of people came down to join in the fun.
LOADS!!
We didn't yet realize just what we were getting ourselves into as we walked up Yesler looking for a place to watch all the fun.
We ran into a big crowd at 3rd and Yesler…food trucks and vendors and lots more people. So we picked the best spot we could find. Mind you, we got there around 1140, about an hour and 20 minutes before the race started at 1300.
Haha, I thought we'd have time to wander around and look at all the stuff but it was a good thing we stopped when we did cause things backed up around us very quickly.
Love my camera extender. Hope you kids are using yours.
I stretched out with the extender for this shot up the hill towards the starting point. You can see the track. It's defined by the bales of hay.
See that little fence across the course maybe two-thirds of the way up? Right in front of it, kinda hard to see, is a ramp, an obstacle that caused one of the first racers down to crash when he went airborne and lost control after hitting the ground hard.
A shot across the course to the other side of the event. There was some kinda Special Area on that side for the #@#$&@* people. Money does talk…and, obviously, it gets you the good seats, too.
By leaning, and shooting between the $&%@&%$ cameraman and the ^@#$% crazy lady who was always looking backwards towards us and saying, "I can't see!!" I got the starting point. Can't really tell too much about it but I did get it. It was up the hill about 4 or 5 blocks.
Artsy-Fartsy Break!!
We were, literally, standing in the shadows of the Smith Tower…had the sun been behind the Tower. But, you get the idea. Anywho, I was standing there with a good view of one of my favorite examples of distinguished and stately architecture, The Smith Tower.
And I got this shot.
Kind of a new angle for me.
Here's Ol' Smilin' Jack…still smilin'.
The whole thing was fun, but, you know, I do like to complain. I'm so good at it.
I've practiced a LOT.
A whole lot!!
I put the camera on the extender, set the timer and then held it up as high as I could for this shot. The crowd is getting a bit thicker and more and more people are jockeying to find places to watch the race. Unfortunately, there just wasn't that much space available where you could see the race.
Camera up for another crowd shot!!
Red Bull sponsored the event and the truck they'd had at the Fire Festival a week or so ago was there again.
Seriously good advertising by Red Bull.
I wonder if their Ad Agency used to do cigarettes years ago?
OK, we found a place and we stood. For a LONG time.
After a bit, we struck up a conversation with the folks in front of us. They had a kid, well, really, several kids and relatives, racing.
Their last name was Wamsley…as in Ryan, Cameron, Alex and Kristina. Plus a grandson or two and a couple of cousins. They were there to root for their kid's team. In fact, their boy, Ryan, was the pilot of their entry. Their kids had done a play off of Star Wars with their racer.
They were from North of Spokane and they had arrived to stake their spot, with their chairs, around 0900 that morning. Hmmmm, the early bird does get the worm, or at the least it gets good seats for the race.
There's the cameraman. He had a good spot and to heck with everyone behind him. (Do I sound a bit bitter? I am!! I know, I know, it's his job. Still…)
If I have any shots up the race course, it's because I am leaning way to my right to get around this @&*@#^& cameraman.
And Red Bull had their little racing car or whatever come onto the course and park there for some unknown reason. That's it, just behind the $#$^@#* cameraman.
Each team of racers had a theme and they dressed up accordingly. They were judged on speed, costumes and drama…or how they played up to the audience. So, there were some wild outfits there. One of the entries was hunting for Bigfoot and, sure enough, we saw a Bigfoot up on the course right before he started. The Bigfoot jumped off the track before they could catch him.
But I do know where the Panda from Outer Space was.
Right there. See 'em!! Crazy, eh!?!
There were a lot of costumes out there today.
This is the end of the raceway. You can see, just beyond the Red Bull Arch on the right side, that shiny part there, the curved ramp.
The racers come down the hill and then hit the curve into the last bit of the course. Duck Tape, one of the racers, crashed into this and broke the curved ramp. So they had to remove it while they tried to repair it. Eventually, they did find something to repair it with and they put it back up on the course later.
Oh, you'll see Duck Tape in a bit.
The raceway. Yesler and 3rd.
SELFIE!!
It's been a while and no selfies…way too long so here ya go.
Still smiling about 30 minutes into the wait. It's true, I don't like standing for a long time in one spot.
Now I'm just bored and shooting the same thing again and again. But I did notice Steven Spielberg. I wonder if he's gonna check out the Star Wars entry…Hmmmmmm...
Here's the second ramp on the course…right before the curved embankment into the finish line. This is looking West down Yesler towards Pioneer Square.
"De Crowd, Boss!! De Crowd!!"
I'm pretty sure this fine fellow wasn't wearing a costume. Just another ordinary and average day.
I'm pretty sure she WAS in costume. I don't know why and I don't know what, it was just a part of the whole experience. Oh, and she wasn't alone. I just didn't get any other of them. They were across the street from us and the crowds (did I mention the crowds?), were getting a bit thick.
And the Seahawks represented, too!!
There's Butz glad-handing the audience.
You'll see him again, later.
And the Red Bull Girls were there. Unfortunately, they didn't get down our way. They would walk along and hand out free Red Bulls. About this time I could have used one…or two.
OK, the races have started!! Here they come!!
Remember Butz!?! There he is, piloting the first racer down the course!!
Find the white line down the center of the course and you'll find Butz in his racer. He did a good job of it, too.
Luckily I got this shot of Butz as he raced by…in an old, oaken barrel.
You rock, Butz!!
Gooooooo, Seahawks!!
Here they are getting the next racer ready. I don't know, that was a long course with plenty of turns and bends.
Wipe-Out!!
This guy lost control after he went airborne over the first ramp and hit the hay bales.
They're carrying out his poor little car. He was unhurt but his car suffered mortal injuries. You can see it there, right in the center, a kind of yellow thingie with a red seat.
But they're lining up the next racer!!
Can you see him? Look just in the center and you can see one eye on the little red car.
Here he comes!! Mind you, I'm reaching out, over my head to get beyond the women in front of me and taking a guess as to when to press the shutter button.
Oops!! A wee bit too early, here.
Nice smile, though.
There's the second ramp towards the finish line and…
…THE CROWDS!!!
And the folks in the back, wanting to see what was happening, pushed toward the front.
ARGH!!!
Here comes the next one!!
It's Duck Tape!!
I didn't realize it but I guess the racers could go out and get sponsors. Guess who sponsored this one!
The guy in the back of this racer would bounce up and down and wave his arms to gin up the crowd.
They didn't do well on the curved ramp, in fact, they wiped it out. Broke it completely.
But, fortunately, they were able to fix it with…Duck Tape!!
I do love me a good dose of irony.
Now things are moving along at a fast pace and…here's the next racer!!
Missed by a bit but you can still make out their sponsor.
Clever.
Starbucks. They're everywhere!!
I'm sure there's a sponsor there somewhere but I can't recognize it. Do you know? Let me know if you do.
Oh, each pilot also had a Go Pro camera on top of their helmet. I bet they're gonna have some fun watching those videos.
Sea Hawks!!
This Hawk was on a Trike and bounced up and down on it the whole way down the course.
Goooooo, Hawks!!
This one was almost a total miss. I couldn't straighten it because the whole racer would disappear if I did.
Same thing with this one. I could barely see the racers and I couldn't tell what this one was. Nor the one before it. Carol tells me this was the Teen-Age Mutant Ninja Turtles entry.
Carol had lent the Dad of the racing team her binoculars so he could see up to the starting point. He was on the rail and he could see everything. So we waited until his son raced before we left so he could use the binocs for his kid.
And, finally, his son came down. Remember, they were doing a play on Star Wars. This is suppose to be one of the fighter planes (?) from the movie. Not bad for a bunch of kids from North of Spokane. He made the curve and across the finish line.
Both his parents were pretty excited and happy. They were also plenty relieved, too.
I had enough by then and was ready to go. Before we left, I thought we'd walk up and down the course and just sorta gander at the goings on.
NOPE!! That just wasn't gonna happen!! Hahahaha, the crowd was bigger than my desire to wade through it.
I admit it. I am not a Big Crowd kinda guy. I prefer some room and some quiet. Oh, I don't mind a bunch of people at an event but not all the time!! And so many. It's why I don't think I'll ever go back to Disneyland again. Too many people.
Haha, there, I've said it. Don't judge me!! I admit, I'm an old, cranky man.
So we headed out. And saw this photo op!!
There she is!!
Ah, finally, on the Link heading to some peace and quiet.
And we got two free passes from the Link folks at the Othello Park International Festival.
So we were riding for free!! Hooah!!
These aren't flowers, so no griping from ya.
Several homes along the way back home have some quite impressive displays of weeds along the sidewalk.
These bad boys have been growing, unimpeded, for the entire Summer so far. There were many magnificent specimens on display here.
Same beauty, but with a different and closer view.
And these. None of these are dandelions…of that much I am sure. What they are, I have no idea. But looking at them up close, they are interesting.
While the race was way too crowded, it was still a fun experience. We did leave early from the race but things didn't quite work out the way I thought they would and, honestly, standing that long, for both of us, was a bit too much.
Would I do it again? Yeah. But I'd arrive a bit earlier and I'd bring some chairs of our own.
Hahahahaha, I am a lazy man.
And, you know, given all that we saw today,
life is, indeed, good.
Hooah!!
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