Inn of the Wandering Dragon

Under normal circumstances I do not enjoy shopping, especially for shoes! I have narrow feet coupled with orthotics which dictate nothing higher than a 1/2 inch heel. Finding anything I like that fits properly and is not stupidly expensive has been quite a challenge for many years. Add on top of that the obsession with high heels and the end result is that I have been largely confined to running shoes as my primary footware. But as my feet have been informing me for some time now, it was once again time to suffer through the frustrating agony of shoe shopping. Here is the usual strategy, drag myself through every shoe store in the mall and note the few possible options I have before I go back to try anything on. I do have a budget to stick with. If I am lucky I may find another pair of runners.
But something has happened durring the months of studiously avoiding shoe stores... Those mysterious and fickle entities of fasion have been lowering (somewhat) the heels! To my sheer amazement I find I have more choices now, ok some of them are still ugly but hey this a definate improvement. I find a style that is more appealing - but out of my price range, ok... on to the next store. I find the same style on sale! And there is a second style that is just lovely and on sale as well! I would not normally dance for joy over shoes but I am really close to breaking out into song over this!
The end result is that I found two different pairs of shoes that I like, they fit nicely with the orthotics, and they are comfortable. I'm practically in heaven! Ok one pair is sort of runnerish but is still nice enough to go other places. In fact I'm seriously considering going back for another pair....

Ok, the photo is not from my class but it looks remarkably like the overcast rainy morning two Sundays ago so I pulled it. The drivers are in the front straightaway after going through the "carousel" as they call it.

After our wet and chilly walk about the course we split into our two groups again for more exercises. My group started off with the south end of the track and we would get three laps at a time with an instructor to get to know that end of the course and the line we were supposed to be aiming for. Again, we had a different instructor for each turn. The line is supposed to be the most efficient and fastest way to get around the track, using the whole track. There are always variations but the line we were learning was essentially the corporate line taught by the school. Having a corporate line is actually a good thing - otherwise we would be standing around all day while the instructors debated amongst themselves which line should be taught based on their own experience. It is safe to say you will never get them all to agree to the same thing!

We switched places with the other group to learn the north end of the track. This time we found a couple of extra exercises placed on the front and back straightaways. After lining up, you started with a braking exercise - accelerate to 80 km/hr and then brake hard. There are markers in place so you can see how far your vehicle actually travels with your foot on the brake. Each time you go through this you increase the speed and see how far your stopping distance increases in relation. For myself in the truck, the distance increased by about 50ft for each additional 10 km/hr. I also put a nice big flat spot on the front tires and sent up a nice bit of smoke for my efforts, which was the whole point. They want you to feel the ABS kick in, they want you to try and lock everything and see what happens.

Next we wound our way over to the chicane (sp?) which is a double curve leading on to the back straight. There we did another serpentine weaving in and out of cones to practice smooth car handling. Again we are going faster than the day before and staying smooth while having to move faster is a challenge! Jerking the wheel will only end up in more flattened cones and possibly heading off track - although we are past the swamp at this point. After that we learn the sequence of curves at the far north end and go through a chicane made of cones (to make us slow down) before lining up to start over.

Lunch time finds the whole lot of students frantically reviewing flags and procedures for the written test. There are two parts and the questions are pretty straight forward, except in a couple areas where they recently changed the rules a bit but oh well. Meanwhile the instructors took their own cars out for a bit of fun on the track to do some lapping. A few students missed the "instructors only" part and joined in which earned them a big red flag once the head instructor noticed. I thought a black might have been a little more appropriate but for now it was a strict warning.

We found ourselves assigned instructors for the afternoon, no more hopping in and out of cars for them. The list was then to be adjusted after one petite lady informed them that no man larger than herself would possibly fit in her little Triumph. That naturally led to some interesting jokes.. It was time for us to run the entire track now. We were kept in our separate groups so as not to crowd things too much. One group would run while the other watched and then we switched. The first session was run with the instructors driving while we sat in the passenger seat and tried to take it all in. Of course, when you have people, instructors included, who are not at race city often and are not familiar with the routine then you have the odd mix up. That is how I ended up in the drivers seat one session early and running with the other group. I will say that I don't mind having a little extra practice - I certainly needed it!

The opening quote in the title was from my instructor. Despite the fact that I had promtly moved my foot from the brake to the gas there was a time lag for the gas to actually kick in, the reason for this was the automatic transmision. This would prove to be an interesting juggling act for the rest of the afternoon as I was trying to get to the gas a touch earlier without messing up on the rest of it with mixed results. For the first few sessions we had to remain under a set speed limit and no passing was allowed. All the way throughout my instructor was explaining the line, where to brake and where to add gas. Never coast! When you are coasting you are not in control of the chassie. Now and then he would throw in a question like, "what does a red and yellow flag mean?" which would throw my concentration for a loop - and that was the point. His line was slightly off of the corporate line in some parts but I didn't feel like getting too close to the concrete wall so I didn't mind. Also the changes had reasons behind them, as opposed to changing it for the sake of change. For the final session all speed limits were lifted and passing was allowed on the front and back straight only. This was the time when the guys with the really fast cars opened everything up and let fly. The extra set of eyes in the truck were absolutely neccessary as cars literally appeared out of no where and flew past on the straight. This dakota was no match for them, although I was able to keep up in the corners reasonably well. My personal favorite was the guy with the race car that passed me with barely inches between - that's good for some nerve wracking moments. I know it happens on the track all the time but that isn't where I'm driving 99.9% of the time. :)

We finished off the day getting into formation (2x2) and making some practice starts to get an idea of how the rolling starts work. It's tempting to allow the usual driving distance between yourself and the other cars but we have to stick close together or else the marshal will just wave us around for another lap to bunch up before giving us the green. We had three tries in total and we saw the green flag for two of those tries. The middle attempt saw the marshals waving at us to close up ranks some more.

By the end of the excersize and the checkered flag I was going through corners much faster than normal (for me) and I was picking out the line by myself with pretty decent results. After all, I wanted to do it well first. The higher speeds can come later. My instructor was pleased and said that if we had time for some lapping I would be free to go by myself. He had confidence in letting me go alone and so did I. Unfortunately the lapping did not materialize before it was time to go up into the cafe to get our certificates. We all passed the written test and our instructors had filled out evaluations on us as well - which I would be interested in reading but I don't know if that will happen. I thoroughly enjoyed myself over the two days and to be honest I would seriously think of doing it again. I can only get better with practice.

Saturday night was spent fixing the "issues" on the truck so I would be allowed on the track again. The boyfriend decided I could get more hands on in this so after topping up some fluids I was given a panel to put back in place. He also decided to let me "learn on my own" by not saying a word as I voiced my idea of how this piece would attach and proceded to try. With him under the truck it was difficult to hear if he was laughing or not under his breath but I am sure there was something going on. Eventually I discovered the correct way for the panel to fit without leaving any wires sticking out. We packed up and headed out for dinner with some friends and I was able to re-live last wednesday from the other end of the spectrum. We went for sushi and one member of the party is allergic to seafood. Go figure. "Life is a risk and dammit I'm having something to eat!" was his motto for the evening. Fortunately there was a reasonable selection of bbq items for him to feast on while we kept our fish at the other end of the table.
Sunday was the day to move from the oval track to the road course. We parked in the pits and went back up to the cafe for our introduction.
We all pile into a variety of vehicles for a quick tour around the track, stopping and getting out at each turn. The instructors give their views on the strategies and things to look for as well as things to avoid. Parts of the track are bordered by cement wall (bad), straw bales (not so bad), open grassy field (perfectly ok to go through if you wind up off the track), and swamp (definately not good). Each description of how you could end up in the swamp ends with either being backwards or upside down in the swamp. The weather is cool and raining but we will be going ahead with the driving anyway. I am seeing a clear correlation between last night's dinner and todays excersises.

Allright... So the classroom in question is actually a small cafeteria / cafe. As I find a chair to perch on and check out the books that were handed to me upon entering I also check out my fellow classmates. Wow, I'm not the only girl! In fact there seems to be a grand total of four out of a group of roughly 60. While there are some young guys who are into racing, at least half the class is made up of older guys who have purchased the really nice sportscars and want to drive / race without killing themselves or the car. I already start to feel my eyes glaze over as I am immersed in a sea of car talk.

We are given a brief introduction before group A is sent back down to the oval. Basically there are only so many volunteer instructors so the groups will alternate class and track time. Our group is then split in half again as there are two different excersizes set up and this gives everyone a little more time at each one.

The first excersize I get to do is the serpentine - weaving in and out of pylons. At the begining and end of the straight there are a few instructors to debrief me. Hand position, objective and speed are discussed and pointers are given each time. If you hit any pylons you pull into the "penalty box" for a little chat. For those asking, I sat in the penalty box twice. :D On one of those occasions I was greeted with "What the hell happened?!?", after decimating most of the line of pylons. :D But on the bright side I was gradually increasing my speed and improving my line - slowly - throughout. Later on in the afternoon we repeated the excersize with a small twist, there was an instructor at the end with a cone directing us to skip certain cones. And we were supposed to go a bit faster!

The next excersize involved navigating a sea of cones laid out in the infield (for lack of a better word). I had to drive two circles, one 48 ft and the other 36 ft in diameter. Then I switched direction into a couple different turns before ending up on the oval to get back in line. Let me be blunt at this point - the Dakota I was driving does not turn as nicely as many of the sportscars. Many more cones were sent flying! But by this point I was starting to get used to the idea of hitting them so I wasnt cringing so much. Laugh all you want but when the boyfriend is this picky about every pothole or curb we ever find, the thought of hitting anything at all is not pleasant! After all, this is not my truck. For these runs the instructors were jumping in and out of vehicles so you had a different person each time. I particularily appreciate the rotation since some are more communicative than others.

The main points behind the excersizes are as follows:

LOOK AHEAD - use your periphiral vision to avoid the pylons, and this way you are anticipating what to do next as opposed to reacting to it.

WEIGHT TRANSFER - also known as observing physics with your butt, the idea is to better feel how the weight of the vehicle is moving and why - this way you learn to work with the physics of the vehicle and you have more control.

SMOOTHNESS - to excecute your input into the car smoothly, going hand in hand with weight transfer and get through the line efficiently.

We had a third course in the afternoon that involved another sea of cones in the infield with the drivers now comming in at gradually higher speed off the oval and navigating the turns to get back out. The emphasis for that one was in learning the different strategies for increasing and decreasing radius turns. At what points do you enter and exit to maximize your overall acceleration? Where is the apex of the turn and how does it change? The earlier points still had to be put into practice of course. Again I had a different instructor each time.

Suffice to say it was a lot to take in along with the in class time. They tell you up front that they have two goals for the weekend. 1.Help us be better drivers and have fun. 2.Send us all home exhausted!

My boyfriend had signed me up for the High Performance and Competition Driving Class held each year at Race City. I figure that's a pretty good birthday present, even if he didn't want to count it as that. The event itself was last weekend, and the friday night before was spent making sure the truck was in top shape for this. The rear shocks were changed, the tires checked, and most important of all - the truck was completely emptied of everything in the cab and the box. You can not have anything rattling around to distract you or fall under the brake pedal whilst driving at high speeds. (makes sense to me)
Saturday morning I was at the track bright and early. The boyfriend decided to stay home and sleep so I was on my own. I pull up to the entrance and sign the waiver, which basically says that if anything bad happens - tough. Motorsports are dangerous events so I assume full responsibility and Race City is not liable.
After that I pull into the oval track and I am directed to the south end for tech inspection. We had been split into two groups and a marshal with a white bingo dauber sponged a nice big letter "A" on my windshield. I park and pop the hood fairly certain all is well. But to my dismay the tech finds a few points he's not happy with plus I do not know what the tire pressures are supposed to be. I just have Larry's assertion that they are "good". This is what happens when it is not your truck. Remember the whole "empty your vehicle" thing? Now I get to be the silly blonde girl wandering from car to car asking to borrow a tire guage so I can record the tires! After that I find out I need electrical tape (long story for another day) and I begin the treck up and down the line again. Now I figure that I have pretty much demolished my credibility with these guys after that. Oh well, not much to done about that - other than politely give the boyfriend crap for the points that were overlooked when I get home. I was having visions of being told to leave but the techs said as long as I get everything done for the next day I would be ok.
Off to the classroom for the introduction....

The past week and a half has been very busy in my little slice of the world. We had a night out for the staff last Wednesday, dinner at the Cattle Baron. The purpose of this gathering was to hold a belated celebration for the numerous birthdays that had occured in the previous month. On the whole it was an enjoyable evening to just relax and goof off a bit. At the end of the dinner the waitress appeared with 4 slices of cake complete with sparklers for the birthday kids. Since it looked a little more involved than the standard flavored sponge cake I had to ask if it contained nuts - which the answer was a dissapointing Yes. I passed my cake over to Janet and the waitress asked if I would like anything else instead so I made my selection. Unfortunately the end result is that there was only one caramel type dish that I was allowed to have and everything else was off limits as decreed by the kitchen staff. I tried getting just a bowl of plain ice cream but even that attept was thwarted as "they could not guarantee the serving implements had not come into contact with nuts". This of course leaves me to wonder why it would be so hard to find a clean spoon! Let's face it, for someone like me with serious food allergies the world and the grocery store can be a pretty hazardous place. Picking an item off the shelf poses the same risk of encountering nuts as going to any restaurant and that is the simple truth of it. In the end I opted for no dessert at all. My co-workers said something to the effect of bringing me dessert the next day as consolation, although we had a good giggle at Janet's idea of bringing trail mix.
The next day Jim did indeed bring in some tasty desserts, which I have had before and quite enjoyed. But with a surprising twist of irony this time they had come into contact with nuts and I spent the rest of the day rather sick. Janet had made a large batch of baking and somewhere along the line things got mixed up apparantly. The intentions were good but sometimes life happens.
My boss cringes at the thought but we joke that they are now part of the family for trying to kill me off. When you live with allergies like this you tend to need a warped sense of humor to get by!

Ha! Another test down and now only 5 more modules to go for my course work! It is so very satisfying to finally begin to see the light at the end of the tunnel.
Last night after pounding away at my studies I went upstairs to hang out for a bit the upstairs folk. They had some friends over and it was fun to catch up with a few people I haven't seen in a while as well as joke around with everyone else. Everyone was in good spirits and having fun - even though no one wanted to go outside to light the fire. Warm was a good place to be. And I don't think Rodney is going to live down the "I don't need a glass - just give me a bowl" episode.
Plus to add to the overall fun of things this weekend I will be heading off for dinner with my parents for a dual Dad's birthday / Mothers Day night. We are doing both because I am going to be spending next weekend at the race track learning how to drive road course. As I recall, when I first obtained my drivers licence, I was greeted with the bizarre debate between my friends as to who was going to be the unlucky soul to have to ride with me in the car - such confidence! Just wait until I can fly around a race track!

I have to admit I have itchy feet. Of course that is not exactly a surprise to those who know me. With friends abroad in France and elsewhere it is so easy to get lost dreaming of elsewhere and drool over the travel guide section in the bookstore. I have been fortunate to travel as much as I have and here's hoping I will be able to travel much further afield in the future.
Travel is it's own freedom. I can plan out my trip to a point but invariably I turn a corner and find myself off the itinerary and in a world of different possibility. That random chance has been the start of some amazing adventures and beautiful moments. A lust for wandering is a lust for life, an opportunity to shake loose the mental cobwebs and enjoy being a little more awake than in our normal lives. Despite the phrase - coming back to the real world, the truth is you never left the real world in the first place. People are still the same nice, petty, self centered, helpful, complicated, warm and beautiful people they are in your own home town regardless of language or dress. There are still needs to be met in terms of shelter, food, and schedules. There is still the need to be watchful and take responsibility for your own care. There is still loneliness and friendship, the feeling of being on the outside looking in and yet also being a part of what is going on. None of that ever changes.
I always keep journals when I travel both written and the snap happy camera. I shop for things that leap out at me and talk about a particular time and place. I typically come home with twice the luggage that I set out with and my head and heart brimming with memories and experiences.
What are some of your favorite travel memories?