Burning Dinosaur Bones

Last weekend was one for the record books. Never before have I packed car racing, dancing to awesome live music, and hovercrafting (is that a verb?) into one 48 hour period.

It all started by watching a clip of Top Gear in which the hosts postulated that one could get into car racing for less than most people spend getting into golf. I myself find golf to be incredibly boring, let alone a waste of land and an irresponsible use of water resources, so I’m a fan of most things that make fun of it. The style of racing the hosts decided to pursue was Rally Cross, and after a few minutes I really wanted to try it. A quick Google search on the sport revealed that Rally Cross is typically a test of precision driving with time additions added every time a car hits a cone or misses a gate. There is a Colorado race series that doesn’t require any car modifications (no roll cages or race harnesses) and entry fees are less than a bicycle race. Sign me up!

With the last race of the season was on Saturday, November 3^rd, 40 minutes east of Denver. I decided it would be nice hang out in the city the night before so I didn’t have to get up as early. I took the opportunity to explore the Denver nightlife with my friend Alex, and it turned into a night of epic proportions. Herb’s Bar was just supposed to be our first stop, but each consecutive song by the Moses Jones band made it harder and harder to leave. My friend Bombay Beats, who has been teaching in Spain and the Dominican Republic for the past 4 years, came by and before we knew it the bar was closing. As we were walking home Alex started talking to a girl on the sidewalk and next thing we know all of us are in her and her boyfriend’s baller apartment rocking out and continuing the festivities. Alex’s roommate and I left around 3am, leaving the others to rock out as they saw fit.

After getting to bed around 4am, I woke up late and rushed to the last Colorado Rally Cross race of the season where I met up with my friend Maggie. The course was set up with a series of cones in a dirt field with turns tight enough that most of my time was spent in first and second gears. I was in the first wave of the morning, and after passing tech it was time to race. I didn’t even know how to properly get to the start line, but with a bit of friendly coaching I started to get a feel for it. I felt so cool and had a huge smile pasted on my face between each of the 4 runs. During downtimes between waves, drivers are asked to work the course. I was posted next to Jason, one of the fastest drivers in my category who was absolutely crushing my times. He agreed to let me sit shotgun in his next race laps so I could try to emulate his lines and driving style. I have never seen a stock car do the things he was demanding of his, but once I realized what was possible my lap times started dropping. They didn’t drop enough and I finished somewhere near the middle.

Saturday night was spent laying on the couch, talking with Maggie and my roommate’s friend AJ who just got back from a few years abroad. Sunday was looking to be pretty lazy too until my roommate Adam walked in and announced he was the temporary custodian of a hovercraft. We walked out to the street and for the first time in my life I saw a hovercraft up close. In a bit of irony it’s painted camouflage, for duck hunting, though I’m not sure how a vehicle could be more obvious with a huge propeller and a deafening 250cc two-stroke motor. I rarely have a hovercraft delivered to my house, so naturally we took it to some backroads and tried it out. It wasn’t functioning perfectly, but it worked and it was a blast. We’re planning on taking it over water sometime soon.

Thus concluded my amazing weekend. Live music. Dancing. Racing cars. And hovercrafts. Boom.

 Getting ready to take a hot lap!

 Vroom!

  Getting the engine to fire up at altitude was a bit tricky, but eventually Adam figured it out.

 Success!