He was a little nervous, being his first time and he had to go without previous pushers to learn from. After a little bit of a warm up, we all assumed our positions
I explained the responsibilities of the driver to Jamie(9 years old), which mostly consists of NOT hitting any type of brakes when the pusher is in full stride. He was ready, Mike was ready and it was a go.
Mike started out hard, got the Tercel up to a nice clip when the car started veering to the right pretty severely. It immediately became apparent that this was going to be a problem and the yells of "TURN LEFT, TURN LEFT!!" "I CAN'T, I CAN'T!!" "YOU GOTTA PULL HARD!" "I CAN'T, I CAN'T!!" "LEFT, LEFT!!" filled the quiet night air. I ran for the car, grabbed the door and pulled as hard as I could, but it had too much momentum.
Poor Mike, for putting all that effort into forward motion, then having to pull it backwards when it was going full clip. Poor Jamie for being totally traumatized as the car went up over the curb with everyone yelling at him because he couldn't turn the steering wheel. It seems that I forgot the steering wheel locks up when the keys aren't in the ignition, and for some reason I pulled them out after explaining the driving rules. It was all quite dramatic, but when everyones heart rate returned to a non lethal level it was hard to stop laughing.
The possibility for danger just makes this club more manly.
Another first for the Tercel Club
We returned to the starting line and Mike pushed an impressive 26.17 which was a 3rd place club time. By this time, Steve(another first timer) came out to join the fun.
Steve went for it and pulled out a smoking 2nd place club time of 25.55. We took a little break, as Mike was still reporting a heart rate of 500 beats per minute.
A few minutes, and some manly talk later, Mike was back up and rocketing to the new 2nd place club time of 25.05. He had talked about going 3 times, but as he staggered past the finish line, he announced (with feeling) that 2 times would be it.
Steve's 2nd run started at a record pace but lost it about halfway, still coasting to a respectable 26.30 finish.
It was great to hear Steve and Mike talking push strategy after the first run. Long stride at first, short stride to get going? Hands up on the trunk or lower on the bumper? Signs of serious men right there people.
Jamie earned the title of Official Driver with some great steering, and plans to be a solid part of the team. On the ride home, it was noted that with 3 record holders in the car, and our best driver to date, we very well could have an Olympic hopeful team. Time will tell.
