We all know about the cone. That solitary orange icon of what we all love to do so much. The cone has become a symbol to us all, not of a warning as it is to others less fortunate, but as an invitation, a guide, and even, yes, a friend.

To a cone, the life on the SOLO circuit is the highest level of achievement. They are not relegated to a life on a school parking lot, or forgotten marking some pothole on a shoulder of an interstate. SOLO is the cone's lifelong dream. Ask any cone, to have a Miata, BMW or Subaru zip by at high speed knowing that it is the cone's accomplishment that the car and driver knew...because of the cone's presence... just how to hit that turn or slalom correctly. Woe be to the driver who attempted such maneuvers without the godly presence of the cone to guide them.

So imagine if you will, the cone that cannot deal with that responsibility. Sure it seems easy to US, but not all cones are cut of the same cloth, forged from the same steel, or gifted with the same grasp of what is truly important in this life. Some never make it. Some are forced to live that life in the bus lane of a middle school, or marking a parallel parking spot on the DMV's test course. But some DO make it to the top and serve well. You and I see those worthy cones every chance we get, and though we may get close, we try to not ever let the cones down by running over them.

...and some let the glory go to their heads. It is not enough that we honor their likeness on our t-shirts and stickers. They aspire to yet more. Some leave the spotlight of our sport for the hopes of even higher glory, not thinking for a second of what they have... or have to lose.

Fellow SOLO drivers, I saw one of these wayward cones this weekend in the city. It had obviously seen days of glory, but needed more. How many of us never knew what we had until it was gone? Such was the fate of this poorly cone, and while I felt bad, and wanted to take it under my wing to help it, I knew that this cone was gone. A mere shell of its former self, but still a cone nonetheless, and I was saddened.

To those of you who grasp the gravity of this lesson, click the link below.

http://www.kingstondigital.com/sadcone.jpg

WARNING! It is not for the faint of heart. The life this cone now leads, if one could even CALL it a life, is a travesty. Shield your children from the photo unless you are ready and able to explain what it is to lead the good and honorable life rather than to chase some shadow of a dream without hope.

If you do chose to view this horrific photo, please remember to thank a cone the next time you walk a course. What they do, they do for the love of our sport as we do.