"I wanna be a racer."

"I wanna be a Pro Racer."

"Where do I start."

You know how your lateral displacement in a cross wind is about proportional to your speed?

Or how a butterfly flaps it's wings in China and a Hurricane forms in the Caribbean?

So, just what were the choices that brought you to where you are, and how entrenched are you? And is that to your benefit or detriment? What's it all mean?

As proof that I write too much, let me repeat a story:

I once asked Victor what he loved more "racing" or "racing his ITR". He replied that he loved "racing" more. Still a couple of years later and he still has his ITR, and he's still conflicted.

That is a solidly representative story. With a few exceptions I think it's safe to say that it could hardly be different.

When you make a choice to enter the shallow end of the racing pool - you necessarily have to take a direction. This initial decision will have long ranging consequences for your development and enjoyment. It's probably impossible to make the optimal decision. It's awfully hard to make one that still looks smart just a couple of years down the road.

Your race car is, or will be, a negative cash flow instrument in your life. And, speed costing money, you are in control of how much money it's gonna cost.

Some say that you shouldn't race anything that you can't afford to wad up into a total loss. A corrollary to that might be that you shouldn't buy or build anything that you can't sell without losing your ***. If you are a regular guy, and you take this advice to heart, you would probably find something else to do with your time and money.

But you're not that smart. You just gotta race. Romantic visions have you gyrating between agony and ecstasy.

What you're really faced with is what kind of racer do you want to be. Don't just say "I want to be a racer", and lurch in an almost random direction. Stop, think, choose.

There - now you're ready to make a reasonable decision.

No you're not.

Underlying your choice was emotion and/or irrationality. I dare you to argue otherwise. Stop, think.

You look around, you spend alot of time in the paddock. You start to get an idea of who gets the most bang for their buck. You can pick out the smart guys right?

Now you're really ready. You've got it dialed in and now you just have to execute.

Wrong. You've got it all wrong.

You don't know where you're going till you get there. And there being no there there you'll never BE THERE. Now do you see what you're riding?

It's really about who you are.

You have at best a Fifty Percent chance of being happy with your destination.

Knowing that then gives you your best chance to be happy with yourself.

You just have to start. Though your decisions are perhaps no better than random, you can claim them as your own. If you sustain your claim to ownership, and work it toward a goal you can believe in, then you can be a successful racer.

You will be the one to judge your own success. And you can be a success.

In the end there is nothing...else. Not even winning.

Scott, who, yet, will be really pissed if you stupidly crash me...

 

Stream of unconciousness ???

 

I firmly believe that life in general, and any endeavor you undertake, is mostly about blazing the trail, not reaching the destination. That is to say that taking your own path, either the path not taken before or one close/similar/the same to others before you, is where the fufillment and excitement comes from. Also the hard work, stressing and wondering if it would be worth it to turn back to more familiar territory, but if you push ahead, at least to me, its all about move forward on the 'path'.

You'll inevitably be happy with the destination (or scenic look out point if it is a really long journey) if you thoroughly enjoy the process, the path.

Like you said, you don't know where you are going, so its better to go with the flow to some degree, and see where the path leads you, within reason.

Action is better than no action. You will never reach a destination or have any fufillment or enjoyment if you don't take the first step in any undertaking. Even if you don't know WHY you are doing it....

Chris - who reads Scott's posts and thinks of Catcher in the Rye. (stream of consciousness)

 

I agree completely. There are a lot of one year old race cars out there for sale...with all spares and trailer...make an offer.

 

...and I'll tell anyone who listens how they should buy an already-prepared race car BUT I'm going to spend the weekend raping a perfectly good daily driver, tearing out its perfect, un-smoked-in, pampered interior so we can weld plates to the floor for a cage. And loving every second of it.

K

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Knestis &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote"> I'm going to spend the weekend raping a perfectly good daily driver, tearing out its perfect, un-smoked-in, pampered interior</TD></TR></TABLE>

Ahhh, the memories...