You might not expect the baby boomer generation to be very much interested in the topic of Go Kart racing. But, if the truth be known, many older adults are finding that Go-Karts offer a terrific recreational outlet. Jay Leno, who’s 59 as of this writing, is a fan. What youngster isn’t enthralled at the prospect of driving? If you’re a boomer with kids or a grandparent with grandchildren, you might just want to consider participating in this ideal sport for the entire family. You might want to consider this, if you want to spend some high quality time with your children or grandkids.

Because these cars started out as youngsters’ toys, many people think that go karts are basically for children. It’s no surprise that many people don’t know that older adults can have a lot of fun on go karts, when you consider their small size and the peculiar spelling. While there are junior leagues in go karting, it’s a lot more in demand with adults, with karts capable of travelling as fast as sixty miles an hour.

That kind of speed doesn’t feel very fast if you are driving a car on the interstate, but just try it in a go kart, and you’ll see how fast sixty miles per hour can really be. There’s no enclosed cabin to keep you from feeling the wind in a kart, no suspension, no windshield. In addition, you’ll feel every change in the pavement, since the bottom of a kart is only a few inches from the ground. Travelling at top speed in a go kart feels much faster than the same speed in a Formula 1 racer, even professional racers say.

Go karts are becoming popular with adults in all kinds of settings, even including corporate outings. With sessions focused on leadership development, staff motivation and team building, some go kart tracks do mostly corporate business. These corporate events are committed to the metaphor of racing, and even business professionals get to cut loose and hit the track in a go kart. Karting is, if truth be told, very likely the fastest growing motor sport.

Serious go karting can be pricey, with kart ownership costing as much as a small car. High end go karts can cost more than ten thousand dollars and hit highway speeds, making it clear that they’re not basically for children. Indoor karts are used on smaller tracks and usually go only about forty miles per hour, while high end racing karts are used only on large outdoor tracks.

Nonetheless, the turns and twists on a commercial go kart track can make even that seem considerably faster – it’s like a roller coaster that you can control. Indoor karts also have more safety features, like steel buffers to keep cars from knocking wheels on a tight track – something that could be hazardous at high speeds.

Adults who are curious about driving go karts can simply walk into a track, and pay for a session – usually about thirty to forty dollars. However, they’ll have to wear protective clothing and go through a safety talk, since these karts are a lot more powerful than ones driven by children. It’s also possible for kart enthusiasts to race against one another, with adult racing leagues at most tracks. Each lap takes about twenty seconds, and a typical race is fifteen laps.

Think again, if you’ve been thinking that go karting is basically for kids. This is a fantastic sport that can be enjoyed by all. Many adults are getting back into go karting, and having a lot of fun.

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Tags: go karting, go-kart racing, go-karts, karting, kids go-karts

This entry was posted on Thursday, March 11th, 2010 at 6:56 pm and is filed under Trampolines. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.