The gears ground, the flames shot and teams of Kinetic Grand Championship racers tumbled down the dunes of Dead Man's Drop and into Humboldt Bay for the water crossing. When the clever contraptions finally passed the finish line on Ferndale's Main Street after their 50-mile journeys, there were winners and ACE-ers, but all were Glorious.

HumBULLdt Pie Factory, a riveted (and riveting) bovine behemoth, took the race by the horns for the Grand Champion trophy. First prize in Engineering went, fittingly, to Beaver Fever's dam on wheels. AI Apple Intelligence took the Art and Pageantry trophies. And for sheer speed, Hobart Here's the Whos was victorious, finishing with a breathless time of 9:32.

Photographer Alexander Anderson captured highlights of the three-day tour from the splash and crash zones. See the full slideshow at northcoastjournal.com.