Karting

Its always fun to go karting. Every year, whenever I am in Atlanta, I make it a point to go karting with Marc at Andretti Speedlabs. This year was even better as Chad (an even more avid karter than me) was with us.

I remember 5 years ago when Chad first came to Atlanta... we did not have time to race in Andretti, so he could only look at the track. 5 years is a long time to wait to race on a track, but it was worth it!

After Marc briefed us on the course and the racing line, it was time to put on our balaclavas and our helmets and head towards our karts and onto the race track.

It is such a different experience to race karts as opposed to simply watching them. The sense of speed is not fully captured if you are a bystander. It may look like smooth racing, but only when you are taking in too much speed into the first corner, pressing the brake and then the gas and feeling the engine rumble beside you, all the while steering the kart do you realize how difficult karting is. They may not be as fast as cars but since you are so low to the ground, the sense of speed is enhanced, and it is very easy to get carried away.

As usual, the competitor in me was unleashed, and drove every lap as hard as I could, my lap times going lower and lower as I kept pushing the boundaries of myself and the kart. My goal was to complete a lap in under 31 seconds, and I accomplished that, even almost getting down to 29 seconds. Fractions of a second is almost an eternity in motorsport, and it will take a lot of practice if I want to consistently lower my lap times.

If there is anyone that doubts that karting or any other motorsport is not demanding physically, they should try karting. A typical session last approximately 10 minutes, good for about 17 laps. During that time, especially if you are pushing yourself to the limit on every lap, your body and mind is active... the mind is actively seeking the racing line, and you are physically trying to steer the kart into it. At the end of the session, it is not uncommon for your neck and arms to hurt, as well as the shoulders too. And thats only after 10 minutes! What more the endurance races that Marc joins, where they race for 30 minutes or more?

If only karting were as affordable in the UK as it is in Atlanta, I would be on the track more often...

Life is Beautiful!