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Photos and review of karting adventure last Sunday
Okay, so here's the review of the karting demo that John at Fastech Racing hosted last Sunday, October 6 at the Atwater karting track. Sorry for the delay in getting this up, but I haven't posted pictures before and I had to do the "owner" thing and figure out the photo album. Anyway, here we go...
Seeing as how the Atwater track is about a two hour drive from the South Bay (unless you're Kster in his M3), and seeing that I don't like getting up any earlier than absolutely necessary on a Sunday, I decided to fly to the track. A friend of mine who's also been looking for an opportunity to try out karting is a pilot, so we made arrangements to fly a Cessna 182 to the old Castle Air Force base which is about ten minutes from the track. Josh (aka Unabageler) joined us for the flight.
Click on any of the photos for higher resolution.
Here's our plane
Anyway, we left Reid Hillview airport in San Jose at around 8:25 am Sunday. Beautiful day for a flight.
Here's our flight path
Here's a picture of the Atwater track from the air as we flew in
We landed at Castle at 9 am (the flight was 35 minutes). We met John from Fastech at the track and also found that Khurram (aka Kster) had decided to drive out. So it was just the four of us and John.
John began by giving us some basic pointers on the kart we would be driving, a 125cc 30 hp single speed (automatic) kart. The kart was set up with very sticky tires. The kart also had a computer that provided basic engine and lap time information. Apparently John had won his race the day before at Atwater in this kart.
Here's the kart we drove
John also gave us a vest to wear while driving that's designed to prevent you from breaking ribs or tearing ligaments in your chest due to the high G-forces the kart generates -- about 3Gs! Pretty cool!
Josh was first out and seemed to be turning some nice laps right away. I went next.
Here's me all set to go in the kart. That's our host John checking the kart.
WOW! What an awesome ride! Acceleration was very quick and you feel extremely connected to the kart and the track. I had a hard time learning to trust just how fast the kart could go through those turns (and I know I never approached the limits). Once I started to stay in the throttle through the turns I was amazed at the G-forces generated -- especially the banking turn at the end of the straight! And you really have to keep your eyes way ahead of you because things happen pretty quick. The level of performance of these karts is very impressive and demands considerable concentration. In short, totally and completely exhilarating (and pretty tiring as well). I am definitely hooked!
Here's Josh on the track
and Khurram
and our pilot and karting buddy Damian (in a different kart)
and me
We also shot some video of Josh and me doing some laps:
After the track sessions, Khurram split and Josh, Damian and I went back to Castle Air Force base and had some lunch.
And before we flew out of Castle, we decided to visit the outdoor museum of military aircraft they have there. Here are some cool shots of nose art on some bombers.
I particularly like the composition of this photo
This one ain't bad either
Anyway, all in all a great day!!! Thanks again to John at Fastech for making it possible.
Nice write up Richard, you got a great shot of the track from the plane. Taking that left banking turn at full throttle up until the first right hand turn is very intimidating. But it's a fun, high speed track with a challenging slower section through the middle. I can't believe they give full one year access for only $200.
No prob Richard...thanks for the write-up! I'll have the 80 shifter up and running next week if you want to compare.
Whenever you guys are ready...don't hesitate to call!
Anyone that's interested in a FREE kart demo, please call or shoot me an e-mail.
BTW, Atwater Kart Track membership is $200 the first year and $150 for the years after...again for full track access 7-days a week. Most tracks operate in this fashion, like Davis, Dixon, Stockton, Atwater, Redding, Reno, etc.
Yeah, we missed you guys! You would've had a blast!
Well, there's always next time....'cuz I definitely want to do this again
kster, I'm with you...let's go buy karts...and...uhmm...can I store it at your house? Glad you like the photo of the track from the air -- I knew I had to get one and I barely got the shot off as we flew by (thanks Josh). It took a little bit of work on the original, but I was able to expand the portion of the original photo containing the track so that it came out okay.
I'm somewhat surprised no one's commented on the "Virgin's Delight" photo...
10-09-2002, 10:02 PM
Photos and review of karting adventure last Sunday
Pretty cool!
)
And you really have to keep your eyes way ahead of you because things happen pretty quick. The level of performance of these karts is very impressive and demands considerable concentration. In short, totally and completely exhilarating (and pretty tiring as well). I am definitely hooked! 
