Take a normal crew boat, throw on four wheels (Or 2 larger ones) and exchange the paddles on the ends of the oars with rubber, friction pads. Then take to the streets.

Races could be held in city streets, or anywhere really, this potentially very dangerous sport (all the better) would be a natural crowd pleaser. For the sleekness and speed that the contestants would reach... I can totally see this being the new event at this summers Olympics! (Maybe)
-- Curiosity, May 11 2006

The Idiotarod http://www.urbaniditarod.com/index.shtml
Now in San Francisco and New York, and I don't know where else. [DrCurry, May 11 2006]

White Traffic Rafting White_20Traffic_20Rafting
[DrCurry, May 11 2006]

The Iditaroad Iditaroad
[theircompetitor, May 12 2006]

Land Rowing millipede_20landrowing
a minor idea - but similar BY ME! [xenzag, May 12 2006]

Neat, but I refer you to the Urban Iditarod, better known as the Idiotarod. And my own idea, same concept of dry land boating, without the race element. And tc's idea, of course.
-- DrCurry, May 11 2006


No, I don't agree. This is a race in an urban setting but that is it, no other similarities with idiotarod. White Traffic Rafting is as much like this as formula one racing is like demolition durby. Besides: //the oars with rubber, friction pads.// is very original.
-- zeno, May 12 2006


Similar indeed,[xenzag], very similar. In fact it borders on spooky how similar this is.
-- zeno, May 12 2006


So.. redundant, then.
-- moomintroll, May 12 2006


So it's bicycle racing with some silly handicaps. Whee.

The oar blades cannot be replaced with a pad. The blades move away from and toward the boat as the stroke progresses.

Here's a fishbone. With a skull. Try sculling with that.
-- baconbrain, May 12 2006


And regular bike racing doesn't have silly handicaps?
-- Galbinus_Caeli, May 12 2006


Even sillier handicaps, then. (Bike racers should be riding recumbent bikes, IMHO, but they were forbidden at some point.)

There are landrowers of all kinds, amphibious contraption races, and kinetic sculpture races already. I don't see this idea as being original.
-- baconbrain, May 12 2006


You know i like the idea its not a kentic scupture race i am not trying to pull it off as that but, with the massive amouns of leverage in the oars, and to slove your well founded problem with my oars, what if indead of conventional oars, i had two parallel bars attached to a set of wheels the parallel bars keeping the set of wheels always perpendicular to the side of the boat, thus allowing the wheels to move to and from the boat , yet still providing resistance the way that we want them to. and i still think it would be fun.
-- Curiosity, May 14 2006



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