Pedal to the floor
Last week I went go-karting. I had never been before, and I was picturing the Indy 500– race cars, an outdoor track, and grandstands. I was terrified. So I was relieved to find that driving a go kart is pretty much like riding a lawn mower. The racetrack was nothing more than walls of stacked-up tires inside a warehouse– pretty twisty but definitely not scary.
Our group of 20 suited up in jump suits and helmets for the practice round. I started out like the cautious driver I am, braking into the turns and trying to avoid skidding around on the floor. Meanwhile, my teammates zoomed past me, screeching into the turns and lapping me effortlessly. Towards the end of the practice session, I noticed a giant projected score board on the wall, listing everyone’s times. Darn. I was last.
When we got back to the waiting room, I realized just how bad my performance was. While the first-place driver had a lap time of 30 seconds, mine was 50 seconds. Clearly, I thought, it was possible to go MUCH faster. I would just have to learn how. After grilling the winner for tips on technique, I headed into the 2nd round with renewed enthusiasm. I was not going to be last this time!
Aaah, wishful thinking. I headed in to round two gunning every straight away, braking at the last minute into every turn. For a lap or two, I climbed to second-to-last place. And then I started to slip. Firmly in last place again, I got hit hard by another car. My ankles hurt, and I got scared. I considered giving up. But no– I was not going to lose! I gritted my teeth, pounded on the steering wheel, and set off again, zooming around the track and skidding around the turns with the accelerator pressed to the floor.
Well, I lost. Not as badly as the first time– only by about 5 seconds per lap. But I still lost. As it turns out, some of the other drivers had not only honed their reflexes over years of video game playing (who knew the simulations were that physically accurate?), but were less afraid of crashing!
On the way home, I tried to revert to "normal" driving. It was tough– I kept wanting to race up to the stop lights and then slam on the brakes. Afterwards, adrenaline still high, I picked fights with friends all day in hopes of winning political arguments. I hate losing. But go-karting was fantastic.
