Redbull Soapbox Derby, Might We Suggest the Viaduct?

There were all the things a soapbox derby should have at last weekend's Redbull Soapbox derby in Fremont: sleek, high-design vehicles next to totally scrappy, yet hysterically themed clunkers (the pickle seemed to be a crowd favorite). Attitude, bravado, and shenanigans mixed with derring-do. There were kids and old folks, and everyone in between. And ridiculous skits before each run (many requiring the removal of pants), a nice twist. Unexpectedly, there was Sir Mix-A-Lot and Travis Pastrana (we actually thought that was cool, but many seemed not to know the moto trickster by name) for judges. There was just one thing we wish there had been more of, and that was sightlines for the race. Or, as fellow Seattlest contributor Jack put it: "No matter where we stood along the course, it was hard to see anything without dry-humping the person in front of us as we leaned forward hoping to catch just a glimpse of our heroes cruising down Fremont Avenue."

Seattlest tried swimming upstream with the crowd, but ended up backing out and hiking up a sidestreet to find one of the best vantage points for checking out the rigs: the pits. True, we missed much of the on-course action (though we caught quite a bit once we'd hiked up there and got a good angle on one of the big-ass video screens), but were able to watch the teams get ready and rehearse the last-minute details of their skits. Our favorite was the rather delicious set of tall men manning the apocalyptic rust machine (their motto: "Rust is the new black"), who wrestled with us when we tried to get a peek at what they were hiding away in the big box accompanying their cart. Rwor.

We'd love to go to this event next year and be able to see more. Fremont has the right vibe, what with the beer fests and nekkid cyclists that pass through; but damn, a bigger, wider street with at least 4 lanes that could totally be shut down for a major event and still runs pretty much through Fremont...huhn, wonder what that could be?

A few more pics from the event after the jump, the rest in Jack's or our Flickr sets.