16
Sep
InterBike 2013 Files, Day Zero: False Starts and Fast Karts
By Scotty Mac
Leave your baggage behind. You won’t need it tonight. Enjoy your flight. ~New Order, “Jetstream”
“Ladies and Gentlemen, this is your captain speaking. We’re currently sitting on the runway due to weather delays out of the west… basically, all flights are cancelled until we can re-route. We’ll be under way as soon as possible.” Great, I thought. It’s already
bad enough I’ve gotta fly on…let’s call them… “Peer-it” Airlines, they of the “charge everyone for everything,” business model. Now Mother Nature’s against me, too. Justin Holmes-Winters and I were on the “Peer-it” flight, with Clay and Lisa Allison, Pat Cross, Tanya Sansoni, and Kal Farmer a couple hours behind us. The rain poured down steadily, one water line in particular tracing a hectic track down my porthole window. I tried not to
let the latest news from the pilot get me down.
bad enough I’ve gotta fly on…let’s call them… “Peer-it” Airlines, they of the “charge everyone for everything,” business model. Now Mother Nature’s against me, too. Justin Holmes-Winters and I were on the “Peer-it” flight, with Clay and Lisa Allison, Pat Cross, Tanya Sansoni, and Kal Farmer a couple hours behind us. The rain poured down steadily, one water line in particular tracing a hectic track down my porthole window. I tried not to
let the latest news from the pilot get me down.
Instead, I focused on the good stuff, and as my mood lightened, the airplane lurched into motion, taxiing to the runway. Namely, I focused on the fun waiting for us in the City of Sin, the one, the only… Vegas, baby. The Ascent Cycling boys and girls were headed
back to InterBike, the industry-level cycling convention, for the first time in three years. We wanted to get our hands on the latest bikes, see the latest trends, and maybe try to accomplish some other things as well. It was business and pleasure, sweaty work riding in the high 90’s out at Bootleg Canyon and many miles walked at the convention at Mandalay Bay. Kal and Justin were first-timers to InterBike and their enthusiasm was infectious. We were set to have a productive run-through at the convention.
back to InterBike, the industry-level cycling convention, for the first time in three years. We wanted to get our hands on the latest bikes, see the latest trends, and maybe try to accomplish some other things as well. It was business and pleasure, sweaty work riding in the high 90’s out at Bootleg Canyon and many miles walked at the convention at Mandalay Bay. Kal and Justin were first-timers to InterBike and their enthusiasm was infectious. We were set to have a productive run-through at the convention.
But first…
Go karts. Because of course we would. Two races, ten minutes each, all seven of us on track. Hands on the wheel at nine-and-three, I flexed my right foot a little, listening to the kart motor blast. The track marshal removed the orange cone and we were off! Kal, blithely ignoring the rule that the first lap was a “familiarization” lap, hammered the loud pedal home, shooting by Pat and getting into clean air. By the time I got out of pit lane and started
moving up to speed, he was by me, tearing toward a lap time of 27.07 seconds, fastest time of the week. I caught up to Clay and we worked together, cracking off some good laps right up until four karts tried to go through a hairpin turn that was only really wide enough for
one kart. Tanya came off the worst, as she got sandwiched into a barrier and then rear-ended by yours truly. I saw it happen as I moved for the pass, my window closed, and that was all she wrote. A lap or two later, we were back in the pits, our first session over.
moving up to speed, he was by me, tearing toward a lap time of 27.07 seconds, fastest time of the week. I caught up to Clay and we worked together, cracking off some good laps right up until four karts tried to go through a hairpin turn that was only really wide enough for
one kart. Tanya came off the worst, as she got sandwiched into a barrier and then rear-ended by yours truly. I saw it happen as I moved for the pass, my window closed, and that was all she wrote. A lap or two later, we were back in the pits, our first session over.
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| Kal Farmer: Fastest Lap Of the Month! |
Race two was a little less bruising for all involved. The track seemed to be greasier, and the slipperiness caught Lisa out a number of times, her pace too hot for the rear tires. I watched her put a great move on Justin to get by him, and then the back end of her kart came around in the hairpin, putting her up against the barrier. I lifted off the gas and swung wide, which
was right about the time the Kal train came partying through. A bump, an un-recoverable spin, and all of a sudden I was up on the barrier too! I gave the Team America: World Police secret sign, waving my hands helplessly. The marshal got me out of the wall and I got back on it, drifting the rear occasionally but mostly trying to pick good lines. At some point, I did a 28.55 second lap, good for second-fastest in the heat. My reward for the performance? Sweat-soaked shorts, patterned in a way guaranteed to be socially crippling. Lovely.
was right about the time the Kal train came partying through. A bump, an un-recoverable spin, and all of a sudden I was up on the barrier too! I gave the Team America: World Police secret sign, waving my hands helplessly. The marshal got me out of the wall and I got back on it, drifting the rear occasionally but mostly trying to pick good lines. At some point, I did a 28.55 second lap, good for second-fastest in the heat. My reward for the performance? Sweat-soaked shorts, patterned in a way guaranteed to be socially crippling. Lovely.
The boys and girls capped the night off at the pool, though I abstained to give you, the reader, the inside scoop. That’s the plan for the rest week too, give you guys and gals the skinny on what’s hot and what’s not.
Lawd, it’s late. InterBike 2013: Demo Days starts early and hits hard. Catch up with y’all later. Peace.