Ever ride a Razor scooter?

Started by tshort, December 10, 2006, 11:56:23 AM

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tshort

It may seem hard to believe, but razor scooter racing may be one of the best things you can do for off-season training.  Bear with me...

I bought my now 3.5 year old nephew a razor for his b-day this past summer so he could try to keep up with his two older sisters.  Mom/Dad had Thanksgiving at their house where they live on a small cul de sac, only instead of the circle being wide open, it's got land in the middle of it, you know, like an oval race track. 

So being a good uncle, and wanting to take full advantage of the 65 deg thanksgiving weekend weather, I thought I would encourage my neph/godson to take his razor out for a lap around the "track" so he could show me his riding skills.  His sisters joined in, and the next thing you know, I've got the three of them lined up, and it's third call...and off they go.

After about, oh, five laps, Jake comes around and pretty much falls off the Razor into the grass, exhausted.  Score one with sister-in-law for Uncle T.

My nieces still had some gas in them, and they cheered me on to join in the fun - "C'mon, Uncle Tom, you try it!" 
Tom
ThinkFast Racing
AFM #280 EX
ex-CCS #128

tshort


Caroline, Jennifer and me lined up - Caroline was the starter.  One-two-three-GO!

And we're off.  No one provided any details regarding race length, much less allowable equipment mods.  But we were off like a shot anyway, and 8-year-old Caroline was giggling with glee as she headed down the slight incline on the hole-shot toward T1, clearly in the lead.  I thought about stuffing here, and started kicking harder, but still couldn't catch her.  Coming off T1 (or NASCAR 2), the downhill becomes an uphill, the stripe is at the apex of T2, and it looked like Caroline was going to hold her lead.

But power ends up giving me the edge, and I gain on her as we cross the line, and now it's half a bike length as we head back down the hill.  She's laughing at me.  Between gasps I manage to sputter out to her, "there's more to racing than going fast."

Coming off T2 (NASCAR 4) I begin using some race strategy - I'm next to her on the inside, so I start walking her out toward the curb.  I know she won't push back too hard - I'm bigger than her (hey, she's got nearly 40 years on me - I figure it's fair).  Then as we head into T1, I dive in for the apex and exit wide, maintaining corner speed and flying up the hill.  She's trying to follow, but runs wide, loses all her mo, and starts struggling up the hill to catch up.

At this point I could've just checked out, but I thought, what fun would that be?  I'd end up exhausting myself, and have no more racing while I'm doing it.  So I backed off a bit.  And Caroline starts shrieking that little girl shriek - it's not really a scream, more like a giddy squeal.  This time she chooses an inside line coming off T2, so as  I can't walk her to the curb again as we head down the hill into 1.  Smart girl.

"You won't beat me now, Uncle Tom."
Tom
ThinkFast Racing
AFM #280 EX
ex-CCS #128

K3 Chris Onwiler

The frame was snapped, the #3 rod was dangling from a hole in the cases, and what was left had been consumed by fire.  I said, "Hey, we've got all night!"
Read HIGHSIDE! @ http://www.chrisonwiler.com

tshort

So she's got the inside and she's feeling pretty good about taking the corner and leading me up the hill.  But this one is an easy one.  She's got the inside line, and sets up for more of a radius turn, while I flare wide so I can dive into the apex, take a wide exit, and preserve the all-important mo as we head up the hill.   And as a bonus, just for grins, I figured I could hit the apex tight and pinch her off to boot!  MMMMWWWAAAAAHHHHH....(I know, I am an evil sh*t).

And it works perfectly.  I mean, Rossi perfect.  I am a god.  Poor Caroline is confused and demoralized.  She can't understand how her ancient uncle could possibly be pulling her up the hill, with a clear lead and no hope now of recovery.

I figure it's a good learning opportunity for her - maybe upon further reflection she will - hopefully sooner than later - grasp the full meaning of the old saw I left her with: "Age and treachery generally overcome youth and enthusiasm."  She collapses in the grass, I raise my arms in triumph, and make my way to the pits, chuckling to  myself - "evil, Uncle Tom.  Truly evil."  But it sure was fun. 

And then my older sister, Maggie, pipes up - hey, Tom, want to have a try with me?
Tom
ThinkFast Racing
AFM #280 EX
ex-CCS #128

tshort

#4
"Uh oh" I say to myself.  I've now got several laps in, and I'm feeling it a bit.  Fortunately I've been mountain biking a good bit, so I at least have some conditioning.  But that, alas, will be of little use to offset what my sister Maggie is bringing to the table.  Although three years my senior, my sis happens to be an aerobics instructor.  And marathoner.  And, most recently, triathlete.  Yup.  And, altho she has no racing experience, she got the same competitive gene that I have.  So this is going to be interesting.

The five board comes up, and she takes off on young Caroline's pink Razor, going for a couple warmup laps and checking her set up.  The bars on these things are adjustable, and max high seems to work best for anyone over about four feet tall. Maggie figures this out quickly.

And now the one board is out, and Caroline is the starter, and we're off - it's a clean start and we're both pushing like mad as we head down the hill into one.  I give Maggie the holeshot, figuring she's going to walk me up the hill and leave me in the weeds.   "Man is she strong," I think to myself as I puff up the hill. 

But I notice a bit of a wobble in her turning technique - she still hasn't gotten comfortable in the turns on these things - not surprising - they're kind of twitchy.

So on the second lap I power down the hill, not even worrying that she's on the inside line. I keep it wide and give one almight push just before I tip it in and head for the apex.  This propels me right over the top of her - she was slowing way down for the turn.  Meanwhile I've got both feet on the scooter deck, and I'm just sailing, carving a nice, smooth arc around the turn.  Then it's max power as we head up the hill.  She is toast.  She can't believe it.  I can't believe it.  "How did you get up that HILL so fast?" she begs to know.  "That thing doesn't look like much, but, man, it takes some oomph out of you to get up it." 

I just laugh.  "There's two things you need to know about racing.  First, you need to know about going fast.  And second, you need to know about racing!" 

"Huh?" she asks.  I just laugh.  I'm done for the day, and as I give Jake his scooter back I have that big, boy-was-that-fun grin on my face that's usually reserved for pitbike racing in the dirt at BFR.  I also realize how much my right thigh aches - what a workout.
Tom
ThinkFast Racing
AFM #280 EX
ex-CCS #128

K3 Chris Onwiler

Thanks Tom!  Almost as good as being there!
The frame was snapped, the #3 rod was dangling from a hole in the cases, and what was left had been consumed by fire.  I said, "Hey, we've got all night!"
Read HIGHSIDE! @ http://www.chrisonwiler.com

benprobst

you better start using that left leg more often, or else you going to be all lopsided going into the corners, youll go to weight the outside peg coming out of the bus stop and youll flip the damn bike over into the tree with your giant right thigh  :biggrin:
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spyderchick

Quote from: benprobst on December 10, 2006, 03:13:25 PM
you better start using that left leg more often, or else you going to be all lopsided going into the corners, youll go to weight the outside peg coming out of the bus stop and youll flip the damn bike over into the tree with your giant right thigh  :biggrin:

That will forever be known as a tshort thighside!  :lmao: :lmao: :lmao:


Good story Tom.  :thumb:
Alexa Krueger
Spyder Leatherworks
414.327.0967
www.spyderleatherworks.com
www.redflagfund.org
Do or do not, there is no "try".

jimmyboost

I'm sitting in a dungeon-of-a-research lab right now where I've been performing a modal analysis on an fzr swingarm (nearly as exciting as it sounds) for about 10 hours.  I was about ready to go crazy.  Luckily, that story just had me rolling on the ground and I feel refreshed anew.


Thanks