Brooks Hare Scramble

Here we go again…

Bill and Ben took off this past Sunday for yet another race. This time it was in Brooks, IA (somewhere southwest IA). The rest of us weren’t able to make it because of other commitments.

I gave Bill the small camera to take pictures of Ben’s race and Ben to take pictures of Bill’s race.

When they got home, I looked at the pics and videos and…

they got nothin’!!!

Zip. Zero. No pictures or videos!!

I did get one text message during the day from Bill with a picture attached.

Did you know the Iowa Enduro Riding Association has a Facebook page? Oh yeah! And there’s one wife/mom who takes a lot of pictures so after sorting through bunches of pictures, I finally spotted my two riders.

Ben is much easier to spot because 1. there aren’t that many riders in the 50’s class and 2. he’s the only one with a blue helmet.

Bill is harder to spot because 1. there are a lot of orange bikes 2. there are quite a few riders in orange clothing 3. there are a lot of riders, 114 in this race. BUT I’ve become an expert at picking out my orange bike, orange clad guy because he does have orange and WHITE clothing and an entirely black helmet and his Camelbak is also black. (He’s very coordinated, which I love, of course. Ben’s clothing right now is not coordinated and Audrey in particular, is having a hard time with his outfit.)

Ben is the front racer in this picture. Notice what he is doing? A WHEELIE!!

I guess this part was actually a little steep and there was this extra little ridge so Ben gave it some more power and it pulled the front wheel up. Ben also told me it wasn’t his first wheelie (with a big smile on his face). There were nine riders in his race and their course was 2 miles long and quite a bit more difficult than past courses.

Here is a nice sequence of Bill. Riding standing up is normal. It allows you to handle the bike more securely and with more control. Bill’s course was 8 miles long. The day was pretty warm.

I couldn’t wait to hear how the races went. But I didn’t know when they might be able to text or call and I was also in the middle of teaching Sunday School so I couldn’t exactly get to my phone. (“Kids, Joshua circled around Jericho seven times really fast on his motorcycle.” Not!) And when I did have a chance to check my phone, all I got was this picture.

What does this picture say to you?

To me it says, “Look, Mom, I got a medal because I participated in the race and in this race all riders got a medal. I also have a new shirt and cool hat somehow because you were just saying how I didn’t have any motorcycle hats and other clothing and for some reason this race had them available. I’m holding up 1 finger because I’m learning how to be awesome in front of the camera and I’m smiling because I LOVE RIDING MOTORCYCLES!!!”

What it really meant was “Mom, I got this medal, t-shirt and hat because I got FIRST PLACE!!!!!!!!!”

Yippeee!!!

The longer, more technical track suits Ben’s riding better. That and also the fact that Ben is absolutely determined to try to place in the top 3 spots.

Bill finished 8th in his class. He finished. He raced harder. He got a better start. He had fun. And he doesn’t care about placing.

What we didn’t expect to get out of this race was a boy who couldn’t walk on his left leg. Ben somehow strained his hamstring and that ligament on the outside back of the knee. We’ve had it checked out and it’s already on the mend, thankfully.

There aren’t any more races coming up until September August (Bill corrected me) when things cool down again. That certainly doesn’t mean we are done with riding bikes though. Audrey got new boots, Ben’s new bike is barely broke in, Luke got to get that stopping without falling over thing down… we’ve just begun!