Joyride

Vince
Cebu, Philippines
explorer

For someone who recently learned to ride a bike just early this year, Vince surely has one-upped most commuters by taking the ultimate thrill ride ever – a 200 mph drive at a NASCAR race track.

The adventure began when in the Spring of last year, Vince befriended an investment banker online. They had exchanged emails and talked on the phone for awhile, until one day, Vince had mentioned in passing how he was thrilled to be spending the summer here in New York, especially with its slew of free, outdoor concerts and film screenings.

Later that night, the biggest surprise awaited him on his inbox: his new friend was inviting him to start his summer season with the most daring activity of all the following morning. It just so happened that his friend, when not playing with numbers and charts at the boardroom, taught race car driving on the side. Totally blown away by the invitation, Vince had barely four hours left to prepare for his big trip, let alone catch some shut-eye.

Somehow, he still made it in time and six hours later, he found himself standing on a race track with his personal race car driving instructor in tow. The rustic, backwoods setting of the Poconos was a welcome respite for the young urbanite whose schedule revolved around a fulltime grad school course and internship at a film production company.

It amused Vince so much that he was actually engaging in such a macho sport with someone he’s only met for the first time. Considering that he mostly spends his free time trekking to museums, galleries, opera shows, and all things cultural one can find in New York, the day at the race track turned out to be an experience of a lifetime for Vince.

“Being that I have this penchant for adventure and a thirst for trying out new, unfamiliar things, it was but only natural to give the race car a shot,” he said, his face beaming. Strapped tight to his seat in the compact vehicle with a snug helmet and his heart leaping out of his chest, Vince completed five revolutions around the race track at speeds faster than the most powerful cyclone.

As soon as he stepped out of the car, the world around him was a total blur, but Vince says the experience was truly worth it, dizziness and all. The rest of his summer was just as unforgettable, but nothing had given him more adrenaline rush in his whole life than that one day at the race track. This summer, he doesn’t see any racing adventures happening, but he did finally learn to pedal a bicycle, albeit not as daredevil-like as a race car, but equally just as satisfying, especially now that he’s the one behind the wheels.