Everyone thinks that driving a car is easy… and it’s NOT! Sure, if all you do is take little Johnny to school in the morning or go grocery shopping, that’s fine, it’s not that hard. But if you’re pushing a car to its limits, in any situation, it’s one of the most complex, RAM-using, hard drive-taxing, endorphin-creating, adrenaline-pumping activities we humans engage in. It’s physically tough and mentally exhausting…
And the higher level of driver you want to be, the more it will cost you. There’s so much going on that you have to think about…all while literally being directly responsible for your own life and the lives of everyone around you. It is exhausting.
I have done some sports in my life that have been shooting. Like rock climbing, mountain bike racing, martial arts, skiing. But nothing has tired me more than sitting behind the wheel of a car. There have been three days in my life that I can clearly remember when I was completely exhausted… tired more than tired…
One was a 4-hour mountain bike race. The other two were driving.
The first was a one-hour race at Molson Indy Vancouver. I got out of the car and I didn’t know if I was going to throw up or pass out… Next up was a mountain bike race called Test of Metal. 68 kilometers of mostly single track, same in the end as the Molson Indy, but I had been riding hard for FOUR hours, not just driving one. The last one was a day at the driving school I worked for. We had an introduction to the new Porsche 911s. We (four instructors) spent the day letting early dealers and prospective buyers do a couple of laps at Westwood Raceway (an amazing race track that is now a freaking golf course). golf…) and then we’d give them a few laps as fast as we could, to show what the cars could really do. Well, I got home from that day at 6:30 and was sound asleep at 6:35… in a coma until 7 the next morning…
I guess the point I’m trying to make is that driving at a high level, pushing a car to the limit… requires a lot of you. One of the things you need to keep an eye on as a professional stunt driver is how tired you are that day and what shape you are in. One of the best things you can do to become a better driver is to do cardiovascular exercise. Having your heart in good shape gives you two big advantages while driving. First of all, your mental clarity is improved. Your mind thinks faster, more clearly, and it’s easier to focus (especially if your workout needs focus). Second, it gives you stamina to drive faster and longer.
So get out there and get your heart in shape and you’ll drive faster!
Be fast, be safe, be precise….
Brand.