Derby Days

This is Hank’s first year as a Cub Scout, which means that it is also my first year as a Cub Scout, since I was never a scout as a kid.  Since he is in first grade, he’s in the youngest level of Cub Scout – the Tiger Cubs.  Moreover, because it is his first year as a Scout, it also means that it was the first time that both of us were introduced to that scouting tradition…

The Pinewood Derby.

We were given the car kit back in December, targeting a March date for the race.  Said race was held this past Sunday at the local American Legion Hall, after most of the parents (read: dads) built the cars for their respective sons.

I was not sure how I was going to get through this exercise, since I am not exactly the most mechanically inclined of fathers.  Using a hobby saw, I did manage to saw off the proposed shape Hank wanted for the car, and in a den meeting one Friday night, worked with other dads to sand and build the cars while the boys ran off and played throughout the house of one of their fellow scouts.

A couple of weeks later, however, Hank and I found a hobby and model shop in San Francisco which carried scouting equipment and paraphernalia, including accessories and kits for the Pinewood Derby cars.  We found the proper weights, paint, and decals to use on the car, with the aim of bringing the car’s weight as close as possible to the designated 5 ounces.  I found wiki sites explaining the nuances of Pinewood Derby car design, along with proper sanding techniques of the axles and wheels, the proper placement of weights, and other suggested tips to make the car run faster down the course.

I was hooked.

I purchased the weights, the paint and decals – Hank naturally selected the color and decals.  I purchased the dry lubricant – graphite.  I also picked out single axles for the front and rear wheels, planning to forgo the individual nail axles for each wheel.  To my chagrin, those were not allowed by our pack, as they provide an advantage by bringing all four wheels easily into alignment, unlike the individual axles, which need to be measured properly for alignment.  So I took a different approach, ensuring that the left front wheel was slightly raised, to allow only 3 wheels in contact with the track, therefore minimizing wheel friction on the track.

However at Sunday’s weigh-in, our car was 0.6 ounces light.  It was acceptable for the race, but we still had 30 minutes to add that weight to bring us up to the full 5 ounces.  I opted not to as I didn’t have any weights (although in hindsight, I could have taped some coins to the roof of the car which would have been enough to bring the weight up).   We checked the car in and awaited the start of the race (all the while glancing at the TV behind the Legion Hall’s bar watching Davidson take an early lead on Kansas).

As his was car #14 (second car from the left in the above picture), he didn’t race for awhile once it began, as each car is given 4 runs, one on each lane, of the track.  In his four heats, his car finished 1st twice and 2nd twice – not bad considering it was our first time.  But because the car was 0.6 ounces light, we were not fast enough to be in the top four for the finals among the top 4 finishers.  It is with den pride, however, that the top four finishers were all Tiger cubs – all of Hank’s buddies – and the Tigers cheered each other on, as they beat all the older boys.  Hank ultimately finished 7th overall out of about 30 cars – a highly respectable finish.

We were both hooked, and immediately after the race, we both started talking about what kind of design we wanted for next year’s race, and how we could make the car even faster.  It was father and son bonding at its finest on Sunday afternoon – it was an afternoon of pure joy.  These are the moments I will relish as a Father, and I look forward to more of these every day.