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Guest
Guest
Been slow on the board lately so i thought i would start a thread. I have been thinking a lot about past hobbies I did before PWD. I am the kind of guy that has to always be competing at some level. Starting at age 14 I began racing BMX at the local level. By the time I was 18 my parents, 2 other brothers and myself were traveling all over the USA racing the BMX national circuit. I raced BMX off and on for about 15 years. My highlight was when I was ranked #1 in USA (26-31 cruiser class). I quit when my injuries were keeping me from working and I was starting my family.
After the BMX days were over I moved on to RC off-road racing. Again this was another hobby that started at the local level but a year or 2 into it I was traveling many miles to race the "big boys". This was such a fun hobby and miss hanging with my friends every weekend. I had about $10,000 invested into my racing program and still couldn't compete with the top guys equipment.
One day after a rough RC race, I seen an ad on a bulletin board for a slot car track about 20 miles away. I packed up my RC stuff and headed down the road to see what the slot car racing was all about. As I entered the slot car track all I could hear was the sound of electric toy cars buzzing around the track. I was instantly intrigued! The 1st night I bought a slot car starter kit and my RC car days were over. Slot car racing turned out no different than any other hobby of mine. I raced locally for about 3 years before i started traveling to the biggest races in the USA. I was flying to California, NY and many places in between. I raced what we call "wing cars". These little toy cars would do a 155' track, with 6 turns in less than 2 seconds a lap! At the top level we would race 8 heats and change a motor every heat to keep the speeds at the top. Problem is, motors cost about $350 a piece! Motors were the biggest expense and you could always rebuild them. So after buying several tools to build these cars i decided to make my own tools. After a few racers seen my tools, and tried them, I was getting racers wanting me to make there stuff. Goat Boy Products was born! I ended my slot car racing back in 2005 after going to Tulsa,OK and being the #1 qualifier in the 2005 USRA natioanls. There were 51 racers in my class and after all the racing was over, i ended up 4th. I blew a motor in 1 heat that cost me several laps.
I had so much money and time invested and with my 3rd child on the way, decided it was time to move on.
PWD was my next hobby and started when i guy came to me at work wanting me to help him build his sons car. I was never in Boy Scouts and had never done anything with a PWD car. I told him i would help but would look on the net to see if there was anything. Well after about 10 minutes reading and seeing pics, I was hooked! This hobby gives me the same feelings as i got in other hobbies but it's a little better on my wallet.
I am very thank full that that guy came to me that day a work because I may have never come across this great hobby. I enjoy racing with all the great builders here and love meeting new racers.
So anyway, this was just a bit about my life before PWD racing. I know many more of you have had a life before PWD. I personally would love to hear some of the stories. Thanks for the read.
Ian
[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XJ-T6-FajTA[/video]
This is a clip from a big race over seas. This was the cars i raced in slot car racing. This is normal speed. You had to paint your cars bright colors so you could pick out the flash when racing /images/boards/smilies/smile.gif
After the BMX days were over I moved on to RC off-road racing. Again this was another hobby that started at the local level but a year or 2 into it I was traveling many miles to race the "big boys". This was such a fun hobby and miss hanging with my friends every weekend. I had about $10,000 invested into my racing program and still couldn't compete with the top guys equipment.
One day after a rough RC race, I seen an ad on a bulletin board for a slot car track about 20 miles away. I packed up my RC stuff and headed down the road to see what the slot car racing was all about. As I entered the slot car track all I could hear was the sound of electric toy cars buzzing around the track. I was instantly intrigued! The 1st night I bought a slot car starter kit and my RC car days were over. Slot car racing turned out no different than any other hobby of mine. I raced locally for about 3 years before i started traveling to the biggest races in the USA. I was flying to California, NY and many places in between. I raced what we call "wing cars". These little toy cars would do a 155' track, with 6 turns in less than 2 seconds a lap! At the top level we would race 8 heats and change a motor every heat to keep the speeds at the top. Problem is, motors cost about $350 a piece! Motors were the biggest expense and you could always rebuild them. So after buying several tools to build these cars i decided to make my own tools. After a few racers seen my tools, and tried them, I was getting racers wanting me to make there stuff. Goat Boy Products was born! I ended my slot car racing back in 2005 after going to Tulsa,OK and being the #1 qualifier in the 2005 USRA natioanls. There were 51 racers in my class and after all the racing was over, i ended up 4th. I blew a motor in 1 heat that cost me several laps.
PWD was my next hobby and started when i guy came to me at work wanting me to help him build his sons car. I was never in Boy Scouts and had never done anything with a PWD car. I told him i would help but would look on the net to see if there was anything. Well after about 10 minutes reading and seeing pics, I was hooked! This hobby gives me the same feelings as i got in other hobbies but it's a little better on my wallet.
So anyway, this was just a bit about my life before PWD racing. I know many more of you have had a life before PWD. I personally would love to hear some of the stories. Thanks for the read.
Ian
[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XJ-T6-FajTA[/video]
This is a clip from a big race over seas. This was the cars i raced in slot car racing. This is normal speed. You had to paint your cars bright colors so you could pick out the flash when racing /images/boards/smilies/smile.gif
