Saturday, May 27, 2006

Racecar dreams

Current mood: vroom

I can be kind of a jerk on road. I try not to drive too aggressively, but if the people in front of me glanced into their rearview at the right moment, they might be alarmed to see the crazy gesticulating and if they could read my lips... clearly, that is not dancing. I was guilty of being a bit of a road rager today. The car in front of me had a ride-the-brakes-all-the-way-down-the-mountain type of driver, and I was not in the mood to accommodate 10 miles under the speed limit. So I sort of rode their bumper for several miles. Hard. Unfortunately for my sense of road entitlement, the lesson I learned today is that a**holery pays off, because they pulled into a turn off (after many excruciating miles) to allow me to blow by them.

I like to practice inflection point driving. Strategically accelerating or tapping the brakes at the right moment to glide around corners takes driving straight to the sweet spot and it's just... viscerally pleasing. It can be fun going uphill - you can't go very fast, but there's a lot less fear (that the brakes will give out, that I'll suddenly be overcome with the desire to turn off the cliff, that the tire will blow and send my flying off the cliff anyway, etc...). But going downhill on a switchback-like road, besides being gas-saving, can be absolutely exhilarating (except when I'm caught behind slowpokes - how can they bear to drive like that? Never mind the agonizing snail pace, it's just feels awkward to brake all the time! Hugging tight along the curves makes the ride feel smoother, not the other way around!!!). Combining slightly-faster-than-is-likely-smart speed and perfectly balanced shifting with the road is, well, wicked awesome! (Adding a dash of techno is probably a bit excessive - and goading.). It's like creating a personal roller coaster ride, except you get to be in control. Whee!!!

All this can only happen when I'm the driver. If I'm a passenger and the road is even a little twisty, soon it's battle with Chuck. I used to date a guy who liked to go for long drives in the mountains, which is romantic, in theory. However, it's seriously less mood-making when the seducee is green with nausea.
I miss my Celicar.

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