What Rough Beast Slouches Toward Arcata?

MAKE goes to the World Championship Kinetic Sculpture Race.

By William Gurstelle

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Photography by Karen Hansen

WHILE IT COULD BE NAVIGATED FASTER, it usually takes at least eight hours to drive up Highway 101 from San Francisco International Airport to Arcata, Calif. If you go, it’s worth taking your time, because this road takes in a lot of interesting society and scenery changes along the way.

At the start, you cross the heart of downtown San Francisco, slowly cruising up Van Ness Avenue northbound across the Golden Gate Bridge toward the congested freeways traversing the Bay Area’s northern suburbs. Soon, ...

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