Why Not go Go-Karting

Another Groupon specatular....and thought, Why Not?  go to Team-sport Go Karting, Tower Bridge
This time I bring PJ :)

So I get there first, well I felt a bit scared in Bermondsy neighbourhood.( i thought it was near Tower bridge...hmmm....Nope, however i was told that it was mostly old folk residential area) .finally found the place in a warehouse type setting, similar to another Zombie scene...and it looked good, very basic and abandoned. but looked ok...the bar was empty, maybe good for groups?

I got changed (another nice jumpsuit) and waited, and PJ showed up, then we waited, waited, and waited some more..and finally we got sent to a safety briefing room..

There was one group ( about 10 of them), all about 20yr's old..and another mixed group of couples, etc..we accidentally sat on the side of the one group together. The safety video didn't work...so the main guy gives a quick briefing..but listening to a man chat with no props , was a bit of a bore rather than watching a video, hmmm made me wonder if is this was a slick operation or what?  I had been told the place had been open for 11months.

We ended up being  kept with the group of 10...they didn't seem too pleased we were with them..so, we get our helmets ( no helmet liner - comparing to F1) and sit in electric karts wanting to get going....
What I thought was a big track on two floors, was two tracks on both floors...so one group started above, the other below..

We sat in the cars and had to wait till all were charged up....and then off we went...told, green go, yellow slow down, red, stop....simples....compared to F1 go karting, where if someone was fast, you got shown a flag to let the fast people through, there was none of that here...and we were told about being shown black flags for banging into each other...and you received a time out, or you were taken off the race course depending on severity..

To win, you had to get the fastest lap,
There was no get set, go ready, go....... it was just go for it, on you go...green light go, etc..on your way..

So off we went...and 2 mins in to the racing, some lights go out on a corner of the building...and we are stopped....return to pit stop...Great...I start laughing ..here we go..something always happens to me..

The staff faffed around with the lights, and then realised they couldn't fix it....so, we had to take turns with the other group up top...and also wait for cars to be charged... the races are only 8mins per race, and you get a total of 3 races...

There was a lot of sitting around and the people who worked there were acting like it was there first day on the job and didn't know what to do..

PJ, luckily had his helmet on as he got whacked by the ropes of the charging thing twice..

Well  - back to the good bits....the karts did go quite fast, some good hairpin bends...I came 2nd on the first race, was laughing...as i was flying...however, there was a slow girl infront of me who wouldn't let me past, and when she spun on  the corners, i sort of kept spinning too but in to her and giving her a bang, I could tell she was getting pissed, but i found it funny..let me past please  :)

So, after 1st race, i saw her look over and then look back to her mates, obviously not happy with me and talking about me, it made me smile more.. I couldn't help it. Its part of racing, i was being banged too...

Anyways, unbeknownst to me..PJ was also banging into people too...so on the last race, which I was loving...we all got out of the cars at the end of the race..and one of the guys in the group shouted at PJ..."man, what were you doing, that banging is bad, blah blah"...
I also hadn't realised that PJ had been black flagged on that race...but was just given a warning...so i spoke up, "relax man, i got banged loads too...its all part of it, and you aren't a pit marshall, so it must have been fine :)"  Pj was just like, "dude chill man too", that annoyed him more..

We spoke to the guys in charge to get him to calm down, the young guy who had shouted walked off all annoyed, but then had to come back again to get his score card...I was smirking...and PJ won the last race...so he smirked too.   I must admit, the staff handled it all very well and were apologetic about the dude.

I mean, what is the point in go-karting if you cant take a bump...we sort of knew they didn't want us with them in the first place...pffff ...So PJ and I went home giggling about how pathetic they were..

On another note..we arrived at 5pm and we didn't leave the place till 7pm...in there for 2hrs!! and only 24mins racing time..I am sure when you go, it wont be as bad..just a string of unfortunate events..

Would i go back...yes, but only with a group i know that doesn't mind Racing!!...but I prefer F1 or greenwich docklands indoor-karting racing by the Dome...so much better, slicker, and nicer facilities..and professionally run...