#780 Off-track Petting

So not long ago we were at this go-karting place. It was totally cool, all indoor, quarter-mile track, really fast go-karts. I see why speed can be addictive.
These little butt-scooters zipped along at close to forty miles an hour. That doesn’t seem that fast in a big SUV, but buddy, when your equipment is zipping along at 3 inches from the pavement, it’s fast.
And amazingly physical too. Wrestling the steering wheel on these tiny road terriers left me feeling like I’d had an intensive upper body work out. Your shoulders and upper arms were pumped.
The race was eight minutes long and that was just perfect. I was whipped, not from just whipping around corners, but from driving myself to fantastic physical feats of exertion. Funny thing is, after I caught my breath, I was ready to get back out and do it again.
My goal? To beat my own time. The prospect of speed addiction was rearing its roaring head. Forget about road rage—this was road mania. Faster, faster, round and round, faster.
But the cool thing? It was also a pastime that brought other speed freaks together. There were adolescents there, country and hip-hop and RC nerds ready to drive a real car. There were older folk of all walks of life, and there was this one couple that was really surprising.
Surprising because they both left the place on motorcycles, but she had a Harley and he had a Japanese crotch rocket. She was decked out in leathers; he was clad in a brightly-accented tech suit that matched the colors of his bike.
Were they going to get it together for good, or just a little off-track petting? Was it possible that they could have a relationship? Cross-cultural relationships rarely work out. Go-karting could bring them together, but go-karting makes up a small part of life.
The biggest danger in any relationship is the everyday. Your Harley bikin’ buddies, his crotch-rocket cronies. Let’s face it, your whole perspective on life is different, shaped by whether you drive leaning back or leaning foreword.
And what about the kids? Vespas?
America, ya gotta love it.