June 8th 2014: Driving an Indy 500 Racing Car in Loudon NH

I had to get up really early this morning in order to get to the New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon, NH,

where I was to drive an IndyCar racing car for the first time around a track with Mario Andretti Racing Experience.

After signing in at the gate, I drove into the area surrounded by the track,

where the race cars were being prepared for the day's driving.

Signing in for the second time, I received my racing jersey to wear for the day.

After having put it on, our instructor brought a bunch of us into a classroom to show us an educational video on how to drive the car and to be safe, as the cars have no mirrors at all, and the only way to know about the surroundings and where other cars on the track are would be by radio communication with our instructors. I didn't know there would be other cars on the road beside me. Oh dear.

After the briefing, we headed back out onto the track. While waiting for my turn, I took some pictures of the cars on the track.

It was my pleasant surprise that I was one of the first to go, probably because of my small size, and because the cars were made to suit the driver based on size. I was given ear plugs, having them taped to my ears, and then put on a protective covering before putting on my helmet, with my ear plugs/phones being plugged into my helmet.

I was brought into the car in the second lane,

where it was pretty hard to get into it,

but even harder to press the pedals, and the instructor had to put 3 seat cushions behind me

before I could finally push the clutch down to the base. The instructor checked for radio communications with me, and after my acknowledgement, they attached an ATV to my back,

which served to give my car the initial push off with my clutch pressed down,

and when I was near the exit to the pit,

I was allowed to accelerate after the ATV detached itself.

Out on the track, I drove the first round within the apron area

before being told to move out beyond the yellow line, and accelerate on the straight portions of the track.

At the turns, I had to remain 5 feet off the apron line, as crossing it would wreck my car as the car cannot handle the differences in slope.

I was slow due to a fear of getting hit, so I kept getting overtaken by faster cars.

As soon as I was getting comfortable in my car, my time was up, and I had to get back to pit row, going between the cones and depressing my clutch

to let my car cruise within the apron

and into the pit with my gear pushed down into neutral

before breaking to come to a stop before my instructor.

With that, my ride came to an end. I got a plaque, a certificate and other stuff to commemorate my experience. I don't know why, but I did not feel any exhilaration from doing this. It was like riding a go-kart, just faster, but it wasn't fast enough as the straight stretches here were pretty short. Oh well, at least I have the pictures.

After my racing experience, I had to head to Chelmsford and Lowell for a scuba diving refresher as I was having trouble floating the last time. This time around, I was better weighted, and I had no trouble floating at all.

After my scuba diving session, I decided to head to the town of Andover to do some hiking for the rest of the day. My first destination was Pole Hill, located at the end of Marland Street. The path I took here is shown below in pink.

Other than the stone arch bridge,

there weren't any other good views of the Shawsheen River, even from the canoe launch area, and I could not even find the path on the map leading to the shore of the river as it was so overgrown.

From here, it was on to the Burns Reservation, located on Clark Street near Chester Street. I did not need to hike here, as Clark's Pond was right next to the road.

Next, Pomps Pond, the entrance to which is at ~170 Abbot Street. The path I took here after parking beside the field is shown below in pink.

I took a short detour to the right from the parking area, where there was a decent view westward.

Pomps Pond was pretty scenic,

as was the beach here.

Next, it was on to Sunset Rock at the end of Hammond Way. The rough path I took to find the rock is shown below in pink.

This place is so overgrown that I could not even find the trailhead, trespassing into private property and thrashing about in the woods before finding semblances of the trail, but still got lost several times. The rock itself wasn't much to look at, and it was only after finding the real trailhead when I finally exited the area that I realized my trespassing activity.

Definitely not coming back here again.

The Amy Gordon Taft Reservation was much easier to navigate, the path I took being shown below in pink.

The water bodies here were nothing to look at though.

The Mary French Reservation was next, where the path I took is shown below in pink.

This place is pretty much a long boardwalk leading all the way through a marshland,

leading to a memorial bench at the end.

I was a little worried about falling over the side of the boardwalk into the swampy water at times, but I was fine both ways. I also ventured a little into the Hammond Reservation on its earthen dam, but there wasn't much else to see here.

I decided to call it a day for hiking at this point, deciding to head to the city of Lawrence to sightsee until the last light of day instead, passing through North Andover

Jefferson Office Park

along the way.

Veterans Memorial Stadium

South Lawrence East Elementary School

Shawsheen Park

After walking around Shawsheen Park, it was too dark to continue sightseeing, so I headed into town to have dinner at Bali's Tropical Cafe at 59 Essex Street, where I had a deal to use.

This place is located in a pretty seedy area of town, and the crowd inside the place were all treating it like a bar, with loud music and other noise. I headed into the back where the restaurant section was to be seated.

I decided to go with the Seafood Stew (Asopados de Marisco),

which was really rich and full of all sorts of fresh seafood. Delicious, but the bowl was so big I hardly made a dent in it before I had to pack it to go.

Even so, I decided I had to try their Leche Cortada, which is a Columbian dessert made of sweetened curdled milk with cinnamon.

It was interesting to say the least, although it had way too much cinnamon for my liking.

Overall, a really good stew, but I wouldn't bring my friends to this shady place ever.