Somehow, we always end up doing something fun for Charles’ birthday. Never for Zaq, Cory, John, Rolo, Miguel, Peter, Caitlyn, Jill, Marianne, Abby, Jen, mine or anyone else. Only Charles. Now that I think of it, it might be because he actually plans it way in advance. I oughta try that.
Anyways, Charles wanted us all to go to K1 Speed and race. After a bunch of Mario Kart references via iMessage, we all found ourselves there at 7pm on a Saturday night.
In typical San Diego Crew fashion we mobbed deep and pretended like we owned the place. I think we stood at the front desk for almost 11⁄2 hours while bewildered patrons wondered if we were in line or not. We weren’t.

Eventually we found out that there were a few arcade games around the corner and migrated over. Of course they had on of those punching machines were guys like Zaq and John who are locked in eternal rivalry can face off to see who can punch harder. Low key, I think Rolo had the most solid hit. I remember seeing the whole machine wobble when he threw his blow.




After what seemed like eternity, we got called up and seated in the staging area. Within moments, we were flying through the course. I didn’t think it would be that fun but damn, those things dip. The amount of control, the insane amount of traction and the danger all added to the thrill. On the first run, everything was a blur as I white knuckled it around the turns. I felt the endorphins coursing through my brain.We sat and watched as the other half of our group had their turn. Caitlyn was part of that second race. I couldn’t wait to go again.

As we sat in our karts waiting for our turn, I was ready to floor it the moment the gate opened up.
Soon enough, we were all flying again. I felt much more comfortable this time. The tires seemed a little looser on the track but as most humans tend to do, we all drove a little more reckless as we pushed to see how far we could go. What a mistake that would turn out to be. As accidents are just that, let’s just say that the second race did not bode well for some of us.
As a reminder, go karts are not bumper cars and thus are not meant to hit each other. Drive safely, my friends.
