What's to love about that? Well, first off it beats having the same damned thing day after day... I used to live in a place with one long, hot, humid season and one short, slightly-less-hot-and-humid season. Denver has four honest-to-God seasons, and sometimes they don't quite arrive in order. Secondly, we got a pretty good forecast of this change in the weather, so I got my butt outside yesterday and crammed as much as I could into the day. I went for a decent ride in the morning, went out with the family, then took the kart out to The Track at Centennial.
Wow, what a great session at the track. I didn't get out there until mid-afternoon, as is typical for me because I go when the kids are napping. It took a little while for me to get onto the track, as there were multiple groups of renters followed by a group of Kid Karts. While I was waiting, I drove a short distance in the pits and confirmed an engine repair I had just made was working... The previous session, my balance-shaft drive came out of sync, which made the engine vibrate horrifically. Now? Like buttah!
Once I finally got out on the track, I settled in nicely, but for a few laps was having carburetor flooding issues. I started driving with the throttle partly open in the corners, and it cleared itself up... Must've had some debris in the carb float valve. After that, my last few laps were reasonably consistent, and on the very last hot lap I finally broke a minute... 0:59.93! That was close. I've done a 58.7 before, and if anything I'm driving many corners much better now than I was back then, but my tires are just about worn out. Time to learn to change them.
This will be the first of many, many plugs for karting... If you have a track in your area that offers rentals, go try it out! It's an awesome way to experience handling a vehicle at the limit. We just don't get many (or any) chances to do that in everyday driving, at least not legally. I can actually feel my eyes opening wider as I barrel towards some of the higher-speed corners, where missing your turn-in point by a foot or two can have dire consequences, or at least ruin your time for that lap. It's truly an immersive experience.
Karting also teaches smoothness that translates well into everyday driving. For example, your braking will improve once you learn how to find the limit of adhesion with only rear-axle braking. Lock it up, and you're spinning quickly. People seem to think they don't need to worry about braking technique with ABS. Those are the same people who will one day embrace a car that drives itself, thereby freeing them to read the paper while commuting. The thought throws me into despair.
I'll have much, much more to say about karting. For now, enjoy the rest of the weekend.
Today's song: "Universal Mind" by Liquid Tension Experiment
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