Ha. And there go my PBs... I was just caught up in the blood pumping pulse and the speed boosts you 'pick up' and hadn't registered the speed gain from the grinding. That is nice!
No worries. It is one of the things we underestimated how counterintuitive it would be for the player. Normally, you are encouraged to stay away from the borders in racing games. Definitely something we could have explained better in the game.