Jake has been looking forward to 'cross (although not training in the way that his Type A father wanted). For a couple of weeks now, he and I will practice the barriers down at the local park and he in the back yard (see training video here http://scottsrightofway.typepad.com/scotts_rightofway/2007/09/practicing.html), but he finds training by himself boring and just likes to race or ride with me, which is understandable I guess.
Last year, the Under 16 races were very sparsely populated (between 2 and 4 kids), but they were 40 minutes long. This year, they've changed to have them only do 2 laps (so maybe 20 minutes or a little less depending on course length). But there were 10 kids at Charm City, most of them older than Jake, which is to be expected given that he just turned 10 in August.
Jake got a very nice start following the biggest boys, but we had talked about not overdoing the opening only to blow up, so he settled into a rhythm. The main boys, who were in the 13-15 age range, quickly were way ahead (the kid who won was taller than me, and for his own sake should also race the Under 18, just to get in the training). Jake ended up ahead of the 10 year old Velo Bella girl and also some bigger kid from DC Velo. By the second lap, he was 100 yards behind a kid from Kelly and another kid on a team I didn't recognize. They were both bigger. Jake was super smooth through the barriers. Where bigger kids would nearly stop, Jake was flowing. I thought he had a chance to catch the two boys ahead of him on the second lap because of his superiority over the barriers, but he fell briefly going into the sand when his foot didn't unclip cleanly. He gutted it out and came across 7th. He was sucking wind pretty good and his stomach was unhappy, so he definitely went hard. With a few more races and maybe some mid-week riding, his fitness will improve.
I forgot the camera, so we'll have to wait for pictures. I asked Kevin Dillard to make sure and catch a shot of Jake, so check www.velophotos.net
As usual he had a great time and loved the race (I was concerned he would be disappointed by not being automatic podium, but he wasn't). I'm sure he'll be super happy when young Nick Battan is there and they can have a "team."
that is awesome!
my kids are significantly younger
they enjoyed their sampler of cyclocross as well
or was it the candy they got after the race?
either way they walked away with a positive feeling about bicycle racing
Posted by: gwadzilla | September 25, 2007 at 01:33 PM