Professional Go-Cart Racing?

This past weekend the road outside our apt was transformed into a go-cart track. Honestly, this is a very real thing that happens. People truly do race go-carts professionally! It all began on Friday night as fences began to line the streets and we weren’t allowed to park within two blocks of our home. It was further emphasized when we saw truckloads of hay bales stacked up to outline the track, along with huge plastic barriers that served to protect not only those on the sidelines, but those who were driving. We woke up early on Saturday morning to the sound of go-carts buzzing past our house as the racers warmed up and got a feel for the curves and the straight-aways. We were told that it only took 30-40 seconds for one of the go-carts to make one lap…and it wasn’t a small track. These things were absolutely FLYING. We heard they went up to 100 miles an hour. In a go-cart. We left our apartment like normal, about 15 minutes before we need to be somewhere, only to realize, as we wove our way through the fenced in blocks surrounding our house, that we were living in the center of the track; in order to go anywhere, we would have to cross the track. Easier said than done. They had pretty strict regulations on when and where people could cross, mainly because if you were to step out onto the track at the wrong time, you were endangering not only your life, but the lives of any of the drivers that would come zipping around the corner at any given moment. They were letting 3-5 races go without letting people cross. Translated into minutes, it ended up being about 30 minutes in between crossings, and since Mark and I have impeccable timing, we always got to the designated crosswalks during the first or second race :). It was pretty funny. And we were late a lot this weekend :). It was only mildly frustrating at times, and it was easy to put up with knowing they were done in less than 48 hours. Mostly it was just funny to us, and kind of fun to watch. I guess I never knew people did this professionally. It’s pretty amazing to watch people zip around on go-carts, and kind of unnerving at times to watch people hit those plastic barriers and spin out of control or flip. Luckily, we never saw anyone get seriously injured. It was a pretty fun thing, and the best part about it? We could sit in our apt and watch from the window! We had the best seats in the house!