it was like the Shenandoah Mountain 100 of Kid's Races!yes... it was the SM100 of Kids Races
The Liberty Jamboree hosted THE SM100 of Kids' Races
(please note my grammatical confusion... unsure how to spell a the multiple events with children competing..oh, I am still confused)
at the Liberty Jamboree parents with tired legs chased their kids into the woods to let them taste something that gives them so much pleasureit was not just riding in the woods
it was racing your bike in the woods
it was racing and riding in the woods with friends
okay... with kids this age it was parallel play.
I was at THE START so I have no pictures
but I heard that they had tape at THE FINISH
everyone got to experience the sensation of breaking the tape
everyone loves the feeling of finishing first
everybody won
no sandbaggers!
It was like the Shenandoah Mountain 100 of Kid's Races!
it was the SM100 of Kids' Races
after the adults rested, refueled, and grabbed a beer everyone gathered around for the kids' race
the first attempt at a kid's race for the Liberty Jamboree
it was a success
as far as I know they were all on single speeds
as far as I know there were no serious crashes that ended in injury
as of yet no one has of yet tested positive for EPO
my younger son grant had no interest in the kid's race
he told me he was not going to do the kid's race
I respected his words and did not argue with him
I agreed and did not push the issue
I hiked into the woods with his bike and helmet
the kid's lined up
then moments before the start
okay... not moments before the stat because the kids on the line were waiting for a few late arrivals to the line
with an exclamation that he had changed his mind grant jumped off the all-terrain golf cart and told me he wanted to race
no need to pull out the dad card, "I spent a hundred and fifty bucks on this bike and you are going to ride it and you are going to race it NOW!"
(shamefully Grant has a hand me down department store bike while dean has a bicycle from a bike store... ) ((Tiki Tiki Tembo?))
there are times where I do not ask my kids if they are hungry
I just put the food that they like in front of them
they are hungry... they eat
(this sort of parenting occurred later in this night when the kids could not break from the action to eat.. so I zapped some food in the microwave then brought hot dogs and hamburgers out to the kids swarming on the swing and chasing around the driveway on the pedal car and various bikes.... then water melon... I cut watermelon for the kids because I wanted watermelon.... water melon is one of the things that makes summer amazing... even the kids that said no thank you had water melon when the food was presented front and center)
((oh... my kids got into biking because a combination of seeing their dad ride a bike, them having a bicycle, and all the kids on the block having and knowing how to ride a bicycle))
((I was definitely locked and loaded with "I spent a hundred and fifty bucks on this bike and you are going to ride it and you are going to race it NOW!" but I never had to use it.... well... maybe for the 400 dollar Burley trailer ))
grant raced it
grant loved it
I would have been fine if grant had not ridden his bike in the race
but I made it so that he could race if he wanted to
why? because I knew that he would enjoy it if he did it
and because we have been in similar situations with Grant before
Dean also had a blast
Dean took off when they said go and never looked back
Dean moved by so fast that I chopped off his head in the effort to capture an action shot of the moment
without trying to take the pleasure of the moment away from dean I tried to present the perspective of the age of the other riders and the lack of the presence of a faster rider
the kids raced back from the race to the other activities in the yard
swings and swingsets
inflatable mini pools
rolling hills in the background with horses in the foreground
cold beer for the parents and lemonade for the kids
no shortage of hot dogs, hamburgers, or beer!
last year a slightly younger dean hid when he knew that we were looking for him to leave
this year the boys made sure they got a few more swings on the swing
than collapsed exhausted in their booster seats wishing that they could spend the night
thanks to the hosts
jim hosted a great race
amy and her parents hosted a fantastic party
I want them to adopt me... they are a very cool family
not entirely unrelated
a kid's race in Ohio
www.centralohio.com