I’d Forgotten how Exciting Life Could be!

Dressed in full racing suit, helmet and gloves, I stared at my at my middle aged reflection in the mirror. Then panic began to set in …

‘What in the name of f..k do you think you’re doing! Just make your excuses and get out of this bloody mess before it’s too late.’ I thought.

But it was one of those moments that was unnegotiable. Just last night, I had been boasting to my son how fast a kart racer I was in my youth …

‘You should have seen me back then son. I was like Ayrton Senna after an espresso. None of my mates could get near me on the track. I reckon I could have easily been an F1 driver given half the chance.’

I could see he was impressed. Another point scored for Dad! But I wasn’t prepared for his response …

‘Oh wow! I had no idea Dad, that’s really cool. Tell you what, I’ll book us a race session on the track tomorrow. You’ll love it! They go up to 75 kilometres an hour. Perhaps you can show me your racing lines. I’ve been trying to get the fastest lap for ages now.’

‘Ahh… yeah… that would be…ah…yeah…great,’ I swallowed hard.

So there I was, about to step into a racing kart for the first time in 30 years. I wondered if I should have phoned my wife beforehand, just to say my goodbyes!

I seemed to be the oldest person on the track by a quarter of a century. The marshal waved me forwards in the pit lane and asked me to try the brakes. Thankfully he didn’t hear the groan from inside my helmet as my back twinged.

Then he waved me out of the pit lane and on to the track!

As the amber lights flashed for the safety lap, all the drivers began weaving from side to side to warm the tyres. I stayed well back behind everyone to try and get the feel of the kart. Then …

GREEN LIGHT!!!

I put my foot on the throttle, gripped the wheel for dear life and surged towards the first chicane. I managed to get around it unscathed, so I pushed a little bit harder. Then even harder still …

I couldn’t quite believe it, but within just a few laps I began to catch the racer in front. I weaved around impatiently behind and heard myself shouting ‘MOVE!’ inside my helmet. I glanced sideways as I passed, looking like a very smug Max Verstappen passing Lewis Hamilton.

‘Yeah that’s right. I’m coming through you …little…ah…12 year old…ah…girl…ahem.’

At this point, my son came out of nowhere and passed me like a bullet! I swear I could see him laughing inside his helmet! Cheeky sod. If it wasn’t for me you wouldn’t have been born! So I floored it as hard as I could to catch him up and teach him a thing about racing.

Lap after lap I tried desperately to catch him, but just like everything else these days, his old man’s just a little bit slower. But I did however, manage to catch many other drivers. I felt alive for the first time in years!

When we had finished the session, I could barely get out of the kart. My body was in so much agony my son had to drag me out of the seat. The track marshal looked ready to call an ambulance. But it had been worth every single second!

So now I’m now seriously considering being the oldest kart driver in the UK. I’m not joking! I’ve actually started looking at season membership and my own racing suit.

So you’d better watch out son. Dad’s in your slipstream and I’m coming through!

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Originally published at https://medium.com/never-stop-writing/id-forgotten-how-exciting-life-could-be-32acfea36e62