Comments on: Excerpt, Essay 2, Falling In

By: Walter Underwood

Walter Underwood — Tue, 29 Aug 2006 16:54:37 +0000

Cinder tracks are sharp reddish volcanic gravel. Nasty stuff to fall on but pretty grippy for running, in a low-tech sort of way. They make synthetic rubber tracks the same color as cinders. Tradition, I guess.

You can still run safely on a rubber track when it is raining. You won’t see much of that in California, but I bet you did that at Lackland. That blast of cool air in front of a squall line can feel pretty good. Until the rain hits.

By: kgs

kgs — Sun, 27 Aug 2006 11:41:20 +0000

I think you’re right, it was a cinder track–a spongy surface (cinderblock would be extreme even by military standards). Easy enough to check.

BCGs (explained earlier in the essay–the darned problem of excerpting anything) are Birth Control Glasses, so called because they are *that* ugy… heavy black frames.

By: Pete Daniels

Pete Daniels — Fri, 25 Aug 2006 14:13:33 +0000

I wonder about the cinderblock track, could it have been a cinder track (common) without the blocks. Cinderblock being another term for concrete block, commonly used for building walls. A cinderblock track is not impossible but unlikely.

Also, what are bcg’s?

A pleasure to read.