Joining the Races

It was entirely by coincidence.  During my diner's debut party in April, GoSpeed Racer detected & called out to RacerX Gullwing.  He was in the neighorhood because that following Saturday was a crosscountry snail race for Relay For Life, and the route passed the northern portion of my land in Hydrangea.

I made a viewing platform, complete with refreshments, deck chairs, a donation kiosk from The American Cancer Society, and a Treet TV video screen.

The stand populated quickly, as it was located close to the starting line.  There was a certain thrill about the event, and the vibes rose when the first eyestalks could be seen around a bend.  The snails passed us - huge things - their shells rezzing into a variety of colors and all wearing the RFL logo.

Some flew on to the next viewing area on the list while several stayed.  We continued to watch live coverage of the race from the web and comment inworld.  It turned out that many people I knew were in the race, including that day's winner.  It also looked like a lot of fun, and I decided that Snurky would test the waters for me in the May crosscountry race for Relay For Life.

The May RFL race was a mess for me.  While trying to reposition an onscreen camera HUD the low view became disoriented (actually I saw inside of the snail's neck) and opted for eyestalks view.  I also made a point to bring the draw distance down, which prevented a cannon from rezzing to be shot out of.  Still I ended in 13th and smack in the middle of the standings.  Not bad for total greenness.  Their struggling with Snurky's name made me reconsider that - while she doesn't get out much - this pursuit wouldn't be for her.

Because I would pursue it either way.

Even as a loser - and were there really any losers in a fundraiser? - it was great fun.

Many were very eager to give me pointers on catapult jumps and other treacherous obstacles on their track ;)

After making what they thought was an impressive debut despite technical issues (I had set my network numbers low instead of high; the scoreboard took half an hour to rez for me to click and join the race), and 4th place in a repeat of April's RFL route, I'm definitely going to continue as Holocluck.

Yes, even though they can't pronounce my name either.

Then again, they can't pronounce about half the names in the lineup, so I shouldn't take it personally ;)

This continues to be great fun. And they're very nice people.  All the more reason!