A love of bicycling runs in the family--my Dad rides, my brother rides and races and Rory loves his bike and wants to ride all the time! Rory has a Strider bike--it has no pedals--I get comments on it all the time when we are out. Yes it looks a bit strange but this kid can move--fast--while balancing.
We ventured out to watch Seth compete in a Cyclo Cross event and we had a blast! There was also a kids race and Rory was so happy to get in the action--he kept asking about a trophy. His race was at the very end of the day but when the Juniors group was lining up I had to put my foot on Rory's wheel because he was so anxious to get out there with the big kids. I have no doubt that some day he will.
Due to some crazy traffic we missed seeing Seth start but got there in time to watch him do a few laps. Rory could not stop smiling at all the bikes-and especially Uncle Seth in his bike gear.
This will forever be one of my favorite life moments!
In my unknowing mom brain I thought the kids race would be a quick 50 yard dash down a straight path and that was it--I was quickly schooled--that is not how it is at all. Cyclo Cross is not just bicycling--it's turns, twists, barriers, stairs, hills and climbs. The kids were not exempt. I inwardly panicked--I had already promised Rory he could do the race but we had not practiced for this. Yikes!
Dad took him over to practice--Rory was a champ! The hill the kids went down would have made some adults, including me, nervous. He had one spill at the bottom while practicing but it didn't seem to bother him. They did lots of practicing getting over the barriers.
To put it into perspective here is what the adult race looked like--it is hard to tell in pictures but these Cyclo Crossers were moving fast--like, created their own wind fast.
There was lots of getting on and off the bike to go up stairs or cross barriers. The whole event was very fast paced and it was exhausting just thinking about doing all that! I have to admit I wondered how long it would take me to run a lap--probably as long as it took some of the bikers to do 4 laps!
I know I'm partial since I'm his sister and all--but, basically, Seth rocked it! He's worked very hard to get to this point of racing and I'm pretty proud!
There were all of 10 kids or so in the race and it was so precious to watch. See the little girl in blue to the left of Rory? She reached over and patted him on the back right before they started. You can't script moments like this! Rory was by far the smallest and youngest competitor but he had the heart of a champion and he rocked it too!
Uncle Seth ran along with Rory while he raced and Dad video taped the whole thing. The course for the kids took about 5 minutes and it was such an awesome 5 minutes. I'm learning as a Mom that my child is capable of much more than I can ever dream and I should not hold him back. He can do this and he did a great job!
Rory was able to pick up his own bike during the race and hop the barrier--seriously, I love this kid. Can you tell?
Each kids received a "trophy" which was a treat from the bake sale...now, Rory rode fast in the race but as soon as he crossed the finish line he really kicked it gear and rode even faster to the cookie table. I literally had to run behind him to catch up!
It's not every day that moments like these are born but it's the every day moments like these that I will cherish forever.
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