Part One: Elice, Artineh, & Andrew
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Andrew:
Go-karting seems to be a common activity that many people have done, especially kids who have attended their friend’s racing themed birthday party. However, everyone in the group had never been, but we’ve attended various birthday parties as kids, so don’t feel too bad for us! When we were brainstorming for something to do, the idea of go-karting came up. We then all realized neither of us had ever gone before and we were shocked about this shared coincidence. We decided to fix this together, scheduling a trip to Racers Edge Karting. Before I even arrived—which was late because I “had” to grab an iced coffee from Starbucks—I was starting to feel less like an outsider, aligning with a millennial stereotype. We were so clueless about go-karting, that we had to research a place after deciding to take this on as our challenge. |
Elice, Artineh, & Andrew
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Elice:
After we had finally gotten through our first race, which was 16 laps and really difficult yet exciting, we decided to take a little break because it was too much for us to handle. There was this one turn at the end of each laps and the wheel would tighten up so much to the point where I was about to give up and just stop the car. When I signed up for this, I was thinking it was the easiest thing ever... but nope! The go-karts were pretty cool though. They were so tiny and low to the ground that it didn’t even feel like a car that could go 50 miles per hour but once we started racing, I realized why we all had to be at least 18 years of age. It was insane; the go-karts didn’t drive smooth which is what made it fun but I’m pretty sure I have so many bruises on my back because of how fast and bumpy the cars were.
It was really worth it to be honest.
For protection, we had to wear these tight helmets with a ridiculous pink head-wear to cover our hair from getting in the way which made us look funny. The helmets were pretty cool although it was honestly suffocating me every single second that I had to wear it. It made me feel trapped inside and I have no idea how race car drivers always wear them without complaining. If I had to always wear that thing on my head, best believe I will be complaining every second of the day. The second the race was over and all of us were impatiently waiting to take them off which was pretty fun. It did look pretty cool with them on though, so we decided to take a bunch of selfies. While we were racing, I tried to take videos and pictures but it was so hard to do without the possibility of me dropping my phone, so I didn’t risk it which kind of sucked.
After our break it was time for the second round of our 16 laps. At first, I wasn't really up for it but what kept me motivated was thinking that right after we were all going to go and eat so that kept my hopes up!
After we had finally gotten through our first race, which was 16 laps and really difficult yet exciting, we decided to take a little break because it was too much for us to handle. There was this one turn at the end of each laps and the wheel would tighten up so much to the point where I was about to give up and just stop the car. When I signed up for this, I was thinking it was the easiest thing ever... but nope! The go-karts were pretty cool though. They were so tiny and low to the ground that it didn’t even feel like a car that could go 50 miles per hour but once we started racing, I realized why we all had to be at least 18 years of age. It was insane; the go-karts didn’t drive smooth which is what made it fun but I’m pretty sure I have so many bruises on my back because of how fast and bumpy the cars were.
It was really worth it to be honest.
For protection, we had to wear these tight helmets with a ridiculous pink head-wear to cover our hair from getting in the way which made us look funny. The helmets were pretty cool although it was honestly suffocating me every single second that I had to wear it. It made me feel trapped inside and I have no idea how race car drivers always wear them without complaining. If I had to always wear that thing on my head, best believe I will be complaining every second of the day. The second the race was over and all of us were impatiently waiting to take them off which was pretty fun. It did look pretty cool with them on though, so we decided to take a bunch of selfies. While we were racing, I tried to take videos and pictures but it was so hard to do without the possibility of me dropping my phone, so I didn’t risk it which kind of sucked.
After our break it was time for the second round of our 16 laps. At first, I wasn't really up for it but what kept me motivated was thinking that right after we were all going to go and eat so that kept my hopes up!
Artineh:
“Are you guys ready for your final race?”
One of the employees asked us - hot, sweaty, tired and sore we all geared up one last time for an epic and shattering final race. As we sat in our assigned go-karts, me being the first kart, we strapped our seat belts on, and waiting for the employee’s nod to begin. While the first race was a little rough and we were following the rules of the signs plastered ever: “Do not bump go-karts.” It didn’t last long because in the second race we turned into professional rebels. A few minutes had gone by and I was smiling and minding my own business driving my kart, and winning the race might I add, when out of nowhere BAM! Andrew rams into my go-kart and makes me lose control and crash into the barricade. I yelled, “Hey!, It says no bumping!” my words did nothing really as Andrew sped off - laughing, followed by Elice and then our friend Stephanie. Sitting there with my over-sized helmet which did not fit, and eyeglasses jumbled up together, I prepared my go-kart and rejoined the others. Who was I kidding… I don’t follow the rules on the regular road I wasn't about to start following it on a race track.
It. Was. On.
We continued the race with cutting each other off, bumping into each other and aiming not to try and flip the karts over. Sometimes I would look from the corner of my eye and see the two employees looking at us like they should probably say something but decided against it. Continuing the race, an idea popped into my head, I slowed my kart down, took my phone out of my pants pocket and tried to flag Elice, Andrew, and Stephanie down so I can take an action shot of them in the karts. However, they couldn’t comprehend what I was saying, so I put my phone into my hoodie pocket instead of back in my pants pocket, which I regretted instantly.
“Are you guys ready for your final race?”
One of the employees asked us - hot, sweaty, tired and sore we all geared up one last time for an epic and shattering final race. As we sat in our assigned go-karts, me being the first kart, we strapped our seat belts on, and waiting for the employee’s nod to begin. While the first race was a little rough and we were following the rules of the signs plastered ever: “Do not bump go-karts.” It didn’t last long because in the second race we turned into professional rebels. A few minutes had gone by and I was smiling and minding my own business driving my kart, and winning the race might I add, when out of nowhere BAM! Andrew rams into my go-kart and makes me lose control and crash into the barricade. I yelled, “Hey!, It says no bumping!” my words did nothing really as Andrew sped off - laughing, followed by Elice and then our friend Stephanie. Sitting there with my over-sized helmet which did not fit, and eyeglasses jumbled up together, I prepared my go-kart and rejoined the others. Who was I kidding… I don’t follow the rules on the regular road I wasn't about to start following it on a race track.
It. Was. On.
We continued the race with cutting each other off, bumping into each other and aiming not to try and flip the karts over. Sometimes I would look from the corner of my eye and see the two employees looking at us like they should probably say something but decided against it. Continuing the race, an idea popped into my head, I slowed my kart down, took my phone out of my pants pocket and tried to flag Elice, Andrew, and Stephanie down so I can take an action shot of them in the karts. However, they couldn’t comprehend what I was saying, so I put my phone into my hoodie pocket instead of back in my pants pocket, which I regretted instantly.
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As I continued speeding through I heard something fall onto the track; continuing to drive, I frantically checked my pockets and was telling myself “Please be my keys, please be my keys”, but alas it was my cell phone. I heard three go-karts slam into each other because Andrew spotted my phone on the track and braked just in time before they all went over it. The employee came onto the track and took my phone and showed it to me. Yup, it was definitely broken, and the irony was I just had the glass replaced.
I did say earlier that it was a shattering race! After we finished our final lap we parked our go-karts and returned our helmets. We noticed an arcade-like section near the racetrack and decided to go check it out. We played games for a bit and took some more pictures until we realized we had worked up an appetite from racing. After a fun and adrenaline pumping time go-karting, we ended our first go-karting experience by going to Buffalo Wild Wings to put the stamp on an exciting and memorable day! |
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Elice & Andrew playing an arcade game.
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The Winners Podium.
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Andrew trying to win a prize!
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Part Two: Farzan & Eduardo
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I find it really odd that two car-guys have never been Go Karting, and that our first experience would be at a place in Burbank. But that is what happened. I love to drive. I’ve been driving since I was fifteen and I’ve put thousands of miles on my cars, driving around aimlessly in the middle of the night. And it's not like I’ve never had the opportunity to go there. I have friends that go, and have been invited to a Go Karting place for somebody’s birthday, but I just never ended up going. So when the opportunity to do this as a challenge with Eduardo came around, I was very open to the idea, and although most of my friends were interested in coming along, it seems that everyone has a little bit of a resistance. All of a sudden, spending twenty bucks was way too much money and everyone moaned and groaned about going.
We ended up going with one of our architecture classmates, Maoqiang, who happens to be in our journalism class as well, who also happens to have never been Go Karting. During the car ride to Racer’s Edge, I assumed that our friend Maoqiang would be the fastest one out of us three, given how he drove. When we got there, the place was empty. There’s all sorts of motor sports related decor, a NASCAR sitting in the lobby area, checkered flags hanging on the walls and a bunch of arcade games. Since the place is empty, we start taking our photographs but a big family with four kids show up and take our place. This ended up being a good thing because it allowed us to observe them and see what it was like to drive these electric go karts. We sign up and get our tickets for a 16-lap circuit. We put on our helmets and go through a quick orientation on operating the machines, then we line up in our karts and wait for our turn to drive. |
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We were all pretty excited and anxious to begin the race. The other group of people were being waived down by the course operator to slow down and pull the go karts back into the initial line formation. Now, we were ready to go. The course operator flipped our machines on and one by one we sped off into the course trying to not lose any precious seconds in the race. Farzan was the first one up, followed by another visitor, then myself, another visitor, and finally Maoqiiang. Farzan clearly had no issue keeping the lead and the visitor behind him kept trying to sneak past him at every turn. Eventually, they were beginning to bump one another and Farzan ultimately was able to shake him off his tail and the visitor ended up crashing into the wall. Everyone passed him as he quickly tried to back up his kart and get back in the race. The other visior and myself kept trying to compete for second as Farzan was greatly keeping the lead and was in fact about to overlap Maoqiiang who had yet to come out of last place.
The visitor I was competing against for second place eventually lost control of her kart and drifted a bit to wide into the curve to the point of hitting the wall and slowing her down, allowing me to pass. However, out of nowhere, the same visitor who had crashed initially passed all of us out of nowhere. He now held his original second place, and Farzan had just overlapped the two people behind me and was about to overtake me. I tried really hard to not have him pass however at one turn he saw his chance after I had turned too wide into the curve and he zoomed past me with a bit of bumping involved. The race was more than halfway over at this point and everyone was determined to pass one another up so the we all got pretty close to each other and began bumping into one another. Maoqiang seemed to be having some trouble going fast so he would literally allow everyone to pass him as they came around the track. He was taking the slow lane for a majority of the race
He now held his original second place, and Farzan had just overlapped the two people behind me and was about to overtake me. I tried really hard to not have him pass however at one turn he saw his chance after I had turned too wide into the curve and he zoomed past me with a bit of bumping involved. The race was more than halfway over at this point and everyone was determined to pass one another up so the we all got pretty close to each other and began bumping into one another. Maoqiang seemed to be having some trouble going fast so he would literally allow everyone to pass him as they came around the track. He was taking the slow lane for a majority of the race.
The visitor I was competing against for second place eventually lost control of her kart and drifted a bit to wide into the curve to the point of hitting the wall and slowing her down, allowing me to pass. However, out of nowhere, the same visitor who had crashed initially passed all of us out of nowhere. He now held his original second place, and Farzan had just overlapped the two people behind me and was about to overtake me. I tried really hard to not have him pass however at one turn he saw his chance after I had turned too wide into the curve and he zoomed past me with a bit of bumping involved. The race was more than halfway over at this point and everyone was determined to pass one another up so the we all got pretty close to each other and began bumping into one another. Maoqiang seemed to be having some trouble going fast so he would literally allow everyone to pass him as they came around the track. He was taking the slow lane for a majority of the race
He now held his original second place, and Farzan had just overlapped the two people behind me and was about to overtake me. I tried really hard to not have him pass however at one turn he saw his chance after I had turned too wide into the curve and he zoomed past me with a bit of bumping involved. The race was more than halfway over at this point and everyone was determined to pass one another up so the we all got pretty close to each other and began bumping into one another. Maoqiang seemed to be having some trouble going fast so he would literally allow everyone to pass him as they came around the track. He was taking the slow lane for a majority of the race.
Geared-up and ready to go!
Ultimately, it was the final lap and Farzan and the other visitor seemed to be going neck and neck for the first place and fastest time. Farzan eventually lost him on a corner and pushed through the first lap to make it first place. The visitor followed not to shortly after for second. I came in at third and the other visitor and Maoqiang came in after.
It was an exhilarating time and by the time it was over our hands and feet were so tensed up from grabbing the steering wheel tightly and flooring the gas pedal. We all came out of there laughing with a bit of adrenaline still pumping through us and that’s when we decided that we would come back again with more people for a rematch. We would definitely recommend this place to anyone looking for a quick rush and having a good time.
It was an exhilarating time and by the time it was over our hands and feet were so tensed up from grabbing the steering wheel tightly and flooring the gas pedal. We all came out of there laughing with a bit of adrenaline still pumping through us and that’s when we decided that we would come back again with more people for a rematch. We would definitely recommend this place to anyone looking for a quick rush and having a good time.
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If you want to experience a thrilling, adrenaline pumping, and exhilarating time with your family and friends, then go-kart racing is what you are looking for!
Racer's Edge Indoor Karting Address: 960 Chestnut St, Burbank, CA 91506 Phone: (818) 861-7223 |
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