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RE: Duryea hillclimb

To: Ronald R Gates <Ronald.R.Gates@usa.dupont.com>,
Subject: RE: Duryea hillclimb
From: Bill Babcock <BillB@bnj.com>
Date: Mon, 28 Aug 2000 10:31:07 -0700
I agree completely. I love driving open wheel cars, and I'd have one in a
heartbeat if they wouldn't be so expensive--It would cost me at least one
house and half my savings--the wife has made that completely clear. 

I've never flipped one, but I came very close--a wheel bump kicked the nose
of a FF I was driving almost vertical. It finally came down and just broke
the front suspension, but it teetered at the edge of a backflip for what
seemed like several weeks. That didn't stop me from racing them, I just
wandered away. When I started wandering back I found these new Radical
sports racers that look like similar fun without the added complication of
wheel tangling. 

My comments were meant purely as cautionary insight. I loved flying power
hangliders too, but when I hear about somebody getting ready to buy one I
explain to them what they are getting into and how sensitive they are to
changes in wind velocity and crosswinds. I talk to kids buying sportbikes
about getting on-track lessons, gravel at the turn in point of corners, and
how easy it is for mommies in SUVs to kill you. I don't expect them to
listen to me--hell, _I_ don't listen to me. I'm just an old fart with a lot
of scars and places that don't tan. 

But you and I both know, the ante is raised far more than a casual observer
would suspect when you take off in a packed grid of open wheel cars. 

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