Francisco Escario once said, "There is a fine line between bravery and stupidity. If you get away with it, you are brave. If you don't, you are stupid." And, while I have no idea who Escario is (although research shows he may design golf courses), his quote rings true.
There are people who decide that it would be a good way to exercise to get on a sled and go down curvaceous country roads at more than 70 mph.
The street luge is an all-year version of the Winter Olympics sport where Carmen Boyle, the gold medal winner for the luge in 1996, candidly stated, "Luge strategy? Lie flat and try not to die."
Yes, the street luge is a fun sport if you like going down hills feet first and wearing leather body suits. Otherwise, street luge will seem like a strange sport enjoyed by people who lack sanity.
The basic sled is similar to an elongated skateboard, designed to fit a normal-sized person. Each sled must be custom-made to fit the rider for safety reasons.
Of course, wherever there is an "extreme" sport, there is someone strapping rockets on to the back of it to "take it to the max."
This time it's Fastline, who attached 48 rockets with more than 900 pounds of thrust to a luge sled, which by nature is quite light.
The rocketluge, as it is called, is in the Guinness Book of World Records for fastest street luge run ever. If you need to see it to believe it, check out www.fastlanerocketluge.com, which shows pictures of various rocket sleds.
If driving a rocket-powered sled inches from the ground does not prove that bravery and stupidity are linked, what will?
If you would like to get involved in the exciting world of street luge, check out Team Element's Web site, www.geocities.com/speedluge/main.html. There you can find directions on how to build your own street luge sled.
If you do decide to take up street luge, please do so with precaution. Do not -- and I cannot emphasize this enough -- try the sport on a road that is currently used for any purpose other than street luge. The results will not be pretty.
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