Wednesday, November 16, 2016

How Dangerous Could It Be?

It was all fun and games until...

Karting was totally my idea, or at least I pushed to make it happen.

My mom bought Ben a gift card for Unser Karting for his birthday in 2015 and it's been collecting dust in our kitchen junk drawer. Our friends Becca and Daniel agreed to get their kart on and we coordinated calendars weeks in advance.

I even tried to find my baklava or balaclava (I can never remember which one is which - one's a sock you put over your head inside your helmet and the other is a Greek pastry).

We rolled up surprised to see the parking lot full on a random Tuesday night. We paid for three rounds. The track is pretty sweet - it spans the entire third floor of a big commercial building on the corner of I-25 and Highway 36. The karts probably top out at close to 25mph, which might not sound like much but if you add in tight corners, fast moving objects, and gas exhaust fumes - you definitely have the makings of a fun race.

I was seated in third for the first round with a fast kart. I passed one guy and then saw the blue flag, letting the guy behind me pass. Then going into one of the tight hairpin turns, some guy decided to cut my inside and I slammed into the wall, hearing a crunch and feeling instant pain in my ribs.

Kart down!

And potential broken ribs. Or maybe bruised. Ouch.

For all of the bike racing and speed that I enjoy - I (KNOCK ON WOOD!) haven't been injured in a long time. A really long time. I sat out the next two rounds and took it easy. The kart was apparently fine - it went right back into rotation for the following round. Thankfully I didn't feel it too much this morning when I woke up.

And as much I would have loved to answer, "how'd you break your ribs?" by karting, I'm thankful I don't have that problem. Don't worry mom - I'll get back on that kart soon enough.

Next time I want some green and red turtles to throw at people.

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