US blokarter fanning the flames of enthusiasm

By KELLY EXELBY
As frustrated competitors left Tauranga with the puff sucked from their sails, Mike Moody headed back to the United States with a whole different set of weather vagaries to deal with.
Moody, a former top yachtie, is one of just three blokarters in his Michigan town and will swap his tyres for blades as the winter freeze takes an icy grip on the state.
He was among 80 blokarters who lined up in the New Zealand Open in Papamoa, although they were becalmed for much of the four days as Mother Nature refused to perform.
Moody led the middleweight performance class after the Open kicked off in light, 6-8 knot winds but racing over the weekend ground to a halt as flukey 4-5 knot sea breezes thwarted the blokarters.
It was Moody's first trip out of the US and the lack of wind brought a frustrating end to his visit Downunder.
"It was a real shame because, with so many of us gathered here from New Zealand and around the world, there was the potential for some really great racing."
Moody was hard to miss at Papamoa's Blokart Heaven, gliding along in his customised blokart complete with orange flames, his face covered by an aerodynamic full-face helmet.
Completing the fiery ensemble, he wore a full-length BMX suit he found by chance when he spotted the figure-hugging lycra get-up on a bike shop shelf.
With temperatures in Michigan about to hit freezing, Moody can't wait to get home and swap his wheels for ice blades.
"It's exhilarating, but so foreign to all the guys here when I was trying to explain it. It's so different to normal blokarting because the friction between the (1cm-thick) blades and the ice is far less than tyres.
"The acceleration is so quick and you can turn on a dime as well but, again, it's so weather dependant and you need the lakes to ice over and not turn to mush."
Back home he uses shopping mall carparks - often attracting the attention of police - and also has hours of fun in Michigan State University's vast carparks.
"Probably the best place I've sailed though is the Floyd Bennett Field on Long Island. It's an old World War 2 airfield that's been made into a national park, with an 800m-long concrete runway right on the Atlantic Ocean."
Moody's mission is to convert others to blokarting in his hometown of Lansing.
"We're a small but crazy bunch and seem to attract a crowd whenever we set up and do our stuff. I always stuff my pockets full of brochures before I go blokarting so I can hand them out to anyone who's interested."
Ash Rawson, who organised the New Zealand Open, said the event would be back next year, although it maybe slightly later. "It was a great event - it's just a pity the key element was missing, even though we'd timed it for the equinox.
"I'm gutted but everyone's really understanding and had a great time off the track regardless. I think, for many of them, it was just a buzz being at the home of blokart and being able to rub shoulders with the guy (Paul Beckett) who invented it."