When I raced, and that phrase may give readers the impression I am fast, and I do wish it were true, but other than for a few weeks in the summer of 1989 I was not ... however I did club race in the 1980s and when I did one of the things we were known for, my friends and I, was seriously over-packing.
That sentence over, that we were serious over-packers when we loading the race vans started to become obvious to me when, for one event at Road America or somewhere, we actually brought two sets of acetylene torches with us. Not one set that was low on gas so throw in the other set too, no, just two FULL sets, both full of gas. Because we could. How often did we gas weld things at the track? Well, that I remember, never. In fact I never saw anyone really weld anything at the track after like 1992 until I watched Rich Oliver flame glue some TZ250 pipes at Brainerd in something like 1997.
One thing that still hangs with me is the ability to over-pack, even today.
Over-filling tank bags is now how I do it. Yesterday, a quick run to Target for essentials had my lowly Joe Rocket tank bag bulging. Loaf of bread, gallon of grape juice, donuts and other stuff. Plus a NYTs sunday paper and a huge book on gardening were helping to push the limit. Items were almost falling out on the ride home, and I was cursing myself and my inability to see what will fit in a small canvas carry-case.