Putting the Ouch in European Style Indoor Karting
My company's IT department engaged in a team-building activity yesterday. (Team building in the sense that we were all in direct competition with one another.) We went to an indoor track to race go karts. It was a good time.
What is the most surprising is how physically grueling it was. At first we were all driving fairly tentatively. As the evening went on, though, everyone became more comfortable with the vehicles and more aggressive. Predictably perhaps, by the end of the session the track had devolved into little more than a bumper car rink where the cars could reach speeds of 40 miles-per-hour.
Everyone rolled into work today with stifled groans and weight being awkwardly shifted from foot to foot. I can't blame all of my weariness on the bumping, though. Even if I had been alone on the track, I would still have difficulty walking today. I'm shocked at how sore my hands (particularly my index fingers) are. I guess gripping those tiny steering wheels while guiding a roaring vehicle through hair pin turns is just exhausting.
Apparently I had the good fortune of being large enough that I had to wedge myself into the car. While it was uncomfortable, it did keep me from jostling around too much when I made contact with the wall or another car. Some of the more wiry members of the IT department had colorful welts from when they had been slammed around in the car. I ache all over, but I'm as pretty as ever. (Insert punchline here.)
