DID THAT REALLY JUST HAPPEN?

Normally I, the editor of this blog, would recap the day of racing in a third person point of view but not today.  I raced CX for my first time and had a blast doing it.  Got to see some good people I haven't seen in a while like Karl Emmerich, John Osgood, Brad Lako, Kurt Potocki, Dave Zatek, a few others and of course the ever awesome Tailwind Crew.  My race went great and I learned a lot in that 33 minutes.  Pulled out the win but more importantly to me I survived my first set of barriers and was told I didn't look that green doing it....sure felt weird though.  Heck, even Gerry came out to race Waterford Hills on his New Felt Carbon CX bike.  He was a little late and made it there just in time to get dressed and head to the starting line.  Was great to have him out there and hopefully there will be no more injuries and surgeries to stop him from getting back into form.

But enough about us, the big story Saturday was Ashton. my 11 yr old son.  After waking up earlier than he does on a school day to get out the door and to my race on time for me to do all I needed pre race, he finally had his turn at 2pm.  He would be racing in the Junior 14 and Under class in Race #4.
It only seemed right to put him in the black METAL for the day and I let him use my XC helmet so his head would be able to breathe better than in his DJ lid.  He had done his own warm ups and when they called the riders up he raced over ready to go...on his 31 pound geared KHS DJ100 dirt jump bike! 

He had a great start and by the time the group had went into the first turn he was sitting 5th place.  the two top riders in his class rode away but Ashton was keeping his eyes on the #4 guy trying to reel him in.  Unfortunately on Lap #2 he had a brake issue early in the lap and pulled into the pit and I did a quick adjustment to his brake that started rubbing.  Then later on that lap he dropped his bike back to the ground after going over the barriers and his chain jumped ship.  By the time I got over to help he had put it back on himself and was off and riding.

So he never caught up with the 4th place guy but did manage to pass a couple adults who were out there in CAT 5.  The head wind was brutal on the long straight to the finish but he hammered it home like a champ and managed to hold onto his 5th place which earned him a podium spot and medal.

Post race comment, "That was awesome!  And I got my first medal in a non kid's race!!  High five!!!"

I couldn't have been more proud or happy for him.  He was awesome lifting that tank of a bike over the barriers and he was able to ride all but one hill on the course.

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=10203957518172751&set=vb.1666322654&type=2&theater

In the end he finished 3 laps in the allowed time for a total time of 31:56.

And to finish the day properly, I took off my Twin Six METAL Podium Shirt and let him wear it for his pictures and also for the rest of the day.  He earned it!

Special thanks to the peanut gallery under the KLM tent for the encouraging words (sarcasm), the water bottle bath to start lap 5 and for helping me look the part before my start.