family road trip to charm city for some cyclocrosssunday morning I was registered to race
since those of us that love cyclocross think everyone should love cyclocross
I brought my family along for the day
we packed the car up with my bike and both of the kid's bikes and drove up together from downtown dc to downtown baltimore
the boys recognize druid hill park as soon as we pulled in
the bikes were in the car
as soon as we arrived there was some objection to the kid's race
I had to focus on my race so I did not get into the discussion
it was a discussion that would only be met with a stronger objection if I responded now
so I figured I would wait until it was closer to game time
and I wanted to focus on registering, suiting up, and trying to pre-ride the course before I took to the line
my race came and went and I was back with my family
the boys were being boys which means that they were fighting
while lisa was still a little frazzled from grant wandering off during my race
and we were all very hungry but the bbq had not started up yet
I mixed my time with chatting with friends and watching the kids
while lisa waiting in a stagnant line for some baltimore bbq I got the boys their bikes and their helmets
the boys got on their bikes and got on the course
they rode the course a number of times
I thought the seed had been planted
it was clear that Dean was not kidding about his arm hurting
it was clear when he was on the swing, it was clear when he was on the bike, it was clear when he got off the bike
I told Dean that it was okay if he did not want to race
Grant chimed in from the course that he was not racing either
descention among the troops
I was too tired and it was too tired to argue
it was still a long while before the kid's race
which had me thinking I may be able to get Grant on the bike come race time
Dean rested in the shade while Grant continued to do some laps and mom waited for in the bbq line
then when the Master's Elite started I wanted to take some photos
the boys were off the bikes and all the food was eating
which means that there was nothing to distract them from fighting
so I separated them by asking Dean to come with me while I took some photographs
Dean and I left off for the set of barriers on the hill past the baseball diamond
there we waited for the racers to make a pass on their first lap
Dean and I walked the course... at some point in the race Lisa and Grant walked the course with us
we all chatted as I took photos
at the various obstacles I ran into all sorts of friends
the race area had an energy and tension that was reflected in all the wide smiles
my energy was dwindling
the boys had eaten all the bbq
lisa only had a twenty and did not feel like marching back to the car
as the Masters Elite crossed the line we found ourselves back by the lil belgian's course
I proposed racing to the boys... even presented their race numbers
no sale
they got no argument
I was ready to go and I felt like the family was ready to go
we loaded the bikes on the car and drove back to DC
once back in DC we gathered ourselves and went for what may well be the last swim of the season