If you've never been involved in karting, it's difficult to explain.
You tell someone you're going racing at the weekend and they imagine turning up on Sunday morning, doing a few laps and going home.
Karting families know the reality is slightly different.
Very early mornings. Very late nights. Vans packed to the roof. Tyres everywhere. Weather apps permanently open.
And somehow, despite promising yourself you definitely don't need anything else for the kart, another parcel arrives during the week.
Here are a few things that probably sound very familiar if your weekends are spent at a kart circuit.
"What Time Are We Leaving?"
There's rarely a nice answer.
When someone says:
"We need to be at the track for 7am."
You already know what comes next.
Working backwards from signing-on, unloading, setting up the awning and getting the kart ready usually results in an alarm time that shouldn't legally exist on a weekend.
And somehow the kids still have more energy than the adults.
The Weather App Becomes Your Best Friend
Normal people check the weather to decide whether they need a coat.
Karting families check:
Rain probability.
Temperature.
Wind direction.
Rain radar.
Another weather app because the first one said something we didn't like.
Then somebody in the paddock announces:
"It's definitely raining at two."
Suddenly everyone is looking at the sky.
There Are Never Enough Tyres
Slicks.
Wets.
Practice tyres.
Race tyres.
Old tyres that are apparently still useful.
That one set we're keeping "just in case".
Before long, half the van appears to be made entirely from rubber.
Everything Becomes About Weight
A normal person looks at a bolt and sees a bolt.
A karting parent eventually looks at it and wonders:
"Can we get a lighter one?"
Suddenly you're weighing everything.
Seats.
Floor trays.
Bodywork.
Bolts.
Clothing.
Probably the driver's breakfast if things are getting particularly serious.
In karting, a kilogram suddenly feels enormous.
The Van Becomes Your Second Home
At some point the race van stops being a vehicle.
It becomes:
A workshop.
A changing room.
A kitchen.
A storage unit.
Occasionally somewhere to sleep.
And somewhere inside it is the 10mm socket you've been looking for since Friday.
Probably.
"Just One More Thing"
There is always one more thing to buy.
A sprocket.
A chain.
Another set of wheels.
A different seat.
A new pressure gauge because apparently this one is more accurate.
Motorsport has an incredible ability to turn something costing £20 into something costing £200 remarkably quickly.
Everyone Becomes A Mechanic
Most karting parents didn't begin the journey knowing how to change axles, adjust geometry or diagnose why an engine suddenly doesn't sound quite right.
You learn.
Usually because you have to.
Before long you're having conversations about gearing, tyre pressures and chassis setup that would have made absolutely no sense a few years earlier.
And the young drivers are learning too.
That's one of our favourite parts of the sport.
The Journey Home Can Be Very Different
Win a race and the journey home feels about twenty minutes long.
Have a terrible weekend and somehow the exact same journey takes approximately nine hours.
There will be analysing.
There will be:
"If we'd just..."
There will almost certainly be discussion about what we're changing before the next meeting.
Then Monday arrives.
And somehow you're already looking forward to doing it all again.
You Make Friends Everywhere
This might be the best part.
The people you're desperately trying to beat on Sunday can be the same people lending you a tool, helping repair your kart or sharing a cup of tea with you ten minutes later.
You travel around the country together.
The kids grow up racing each other.
Families become friends.
Teams become extended families.
There aren't many sports quite like it.
And Somehow, We Love It
Karting can be expensive.
Exhausting.
Frustrating.
Unpredictable.
It takes over weekends, garages, vans, conversations and probably considerably more of the family budget than anyone originally planned.
But then your driver pulls off an incredible overtake.
Or finally nails the corner they've been struggling with.
Or stands on a podium with a massive smile.
And suddenly every early morning, wet race weekend and late night in the garage feels completely worth it.
If you know, you know.
And if you've read this nodding along...
You're definitely a karting family.
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