Scotty,
Ever use one of those folding canopies? If there is room at the track,
these
things are great for keeping people and coolers - cooler than sitting in
direct sun.
We use one anytime we're at an outdoor event (like birthday parties at
the
beach) and it's a life saver. Ours has the folding frame and rollup
screen
walls to keep the bugs out in the evenings.
Yes, I do have one with the sides too but somethimes it's just over
there and the cooler is over here for now I am not sure how long you
have been reading but my daughter, I and our race team spend weekends
out in the middle of nowhere, usually on top of some dusty old hill,
rain, mud, whatever, and we go racin' dirtbikes! Sounds funny, but
sometimes you don't even have time to worry about if the cooler is being
moved all day out of the sun Most times actually, the big one stays
right in the back of the truck so that get's real hot during the day,
but we try. My new coleman, huge thing like four feet wide, does a bit
better than our older coolers, I bet if I kept it out of direct sunlight
it could keep ice a few days...
For some reason I was thinking track racing like MX where you would have
your own pit area with a nice recliner (folding) for dad to rest in the
shade and pull mechanic duties when required....ha!.
Close enough, we do motocross, ...but things have changed since we took
our dad's beer money and went track racing on the weekend, or crashed at
the local sandpit. The competition is incredible and there is little
time to sit around.
I start at about 5:30 am for sign-ups, latrine visit, cook breakfast,
and wake my daughter at about 8:30 for the drivers meeting. Racing
starts at 9. From there it's air filter, tire pressure, oil, carb, chain
adjustments, suspension and various other equipment changes and
adjustments between each the 6 motos. Bikes are completely pressure-
washed, dried with a leaf blower, wiped down and plastic/wheels, etc are
wiped down with WD 40 to keep the mud off, radiator, oil checked, and
the chain is also lubed between motos, I have maybe 45 minutes to do
this and go potty, eat, get a drink, pet the dog, talk to the rider,
whatever between motos.
15-20 minutes before each moto I start and warm the bike up for 5
minutes, and sometimes push it to the line depending on track rules. I
go to the line and watch 95% of the races if I am not working on putting
out another fire or helping another team member put out theirs. Staging
is probably a 15 minute setup before each race. Remember the 45 minutes
I noted I had to do my list between motos? Starting/staging is part of
that
Every other moto or so, the water barrel for the pressure washer needs
to be hauled to the supply and refilled, dragged back, and the washer
reprimed. That is a typical day of racing for me, and I am sure there a
few things I forgot in the routine
Racing ends about 5 pm and I have about an hour of maintenance to do
like change out new oil, filter and fresh air filter if it is a two day
race. She gets to go hit the showers and gets to go play with her
friends for a while.
At about 6pm or so I will lock the bikes in the trailer and start
cooking and cleaning up the camp site from the day. Then I gather up the
kids and eat, she gets to sleep between 10 and 11, hey, kids gotta' have
some time with her friends. Sometimes after she's crashed, one of our
team makes a run to town for supplies, gas, ice, etc... Sometimes Brian
makes drinks and orders Dominoes, and some toothless old hippie pulls
out a weird little guitar The next morning it starts all over, except
instead of changing out filters and fluids at the end of the day, we
break down camp and head home. So, anybody seen the cooler???
Yeah, I know it's probably too much info, but I am trying to get myself
wound up for the season, all of this was done last year in the rain,
every weekend at least one day it poured...yikes
Either way, besides the 356 day diet, and constant gym work off track,
it's not like it was when we were kids and threw the bikes in the back
of the pickup to go racin'...