Journeys›Photograph

Indoor Go-Kart Day in South San Francisco

·San Francisco, California·#bay area#friends#go-karting#indoor-racing
Two men, one in red and one in purple, stand in a room with a rack of jumpsuits behind them.

Drove down to the indoor kart track on Beacon Street in South San Francisco with a full group, everybody in from the moment we hit the suit rack — small runs blue, medium runs purple, large runs red, so you can read the whole room's sizing at a glance. Some people wore theirs better than others. There was a lot of loitering in the lobby in coveralls before anyone got near a kart.

After the briefing came the head socks, which make everyone look like a burglar, then the helmets — one pink one in the rotation that got claimed fast. The karts stage in rows along a chain-link fence and the crew walks the line buckling belts before each heat. Once you're strapped into kart 41 with the engine going behind your head the joking mostly stops.

We ran several heats and by the end the standings were real enough to argue about. Three of us ended up on the actual podium under the WINNER TAKES ALL banner, checkered wall behind, trophy held overhead like it meant something. It sort of did.

Four people in red and purple racing jumpsuits pose in a brightly lit indoor go-kart facility with a "GoKart Racer" sign.Two people in red and purple racing suits are smiling at each other indoors.Two people in GoKart Racer suits, one in a balaclava, the other smiling, are seated indoors.Three people in racing suits and helmets prepare for an activity in an indoor facility.Several people in helmets and racing suits sit in go-karts at an indoor track, with staff members assisting them.A person in a pink helmet and purple jumpsuit sits in a black go-kart on a track with tire barriers.Several people in go-karts are lined up inside a racing facility as a staff member walks by.Three men stand on a winner's podium in front of a checkered wall; one holds a trophy, another gives thumbs up.

More Entries