Atalissa Harescramble

That’s right, folks, another race. This one was near Atalissa, IA, which is just east of Iowa City. Since it was close enough, we got up early, 5:00 early to get there. *yawn*

Let me show you a little of what prepping for a race looks like.

Pack the coolers as much as possible: lot’s of water, Gatorade, pop, chips, granola/protein bars, chips, cookies

The rest goes in the fridge: breakfast burritos(to be heated up in the morn), sandwiches, cheese sticks, yogurt, veggies, fruit, hard-boiled eggs, cold Mt. Dew (Bill’s “coffee”)

Load the trailer: two motorcycles, tools to fix bikes, gas, riding clothes, change of clothes, folding chairs, folding canopy, bicycles for the boys to ride afterwards. Yep- it’s dark out. Our neighbors are used to being lulled to sleep by the sound of Brrraaaapppppppp on Saturday nights now as Bill tweaks the bikes just before race day.

The kids lay out clothes to quick change in the morning. Everything else is lined up by the door reading to grab and go. Man, leaving at 6 a.m. is early! You don’t want to be hunting down something as you’re half awake when you’re trying to leave!

Once at the race, everything comes out of the trailer and set up. Audrey is my canopy wing-man. She and I set it up and make everything settled.

The laundry baskets are our solution to riding gear and change of clothes for Bill and Ben. My laundry gets dumped out every Saturday before a race. Bill is sneaky about it. I never see him do it until I look in the closet and see the pile of clothes. I’m all “What?!” and then I remember where the baskets have gone to. (No, I’m not buying another set because then we would just have to store those until the next race and have you seen my garage? I’ve got 6 motorcycles 6 bicycles, a tool bench, a weight bench, a treadmill, various other sports gear, a wagon, scooters, motorcycle paraphernalia galore and more! Where would I store them?)

Notice also, that it is light out. When we loaded up the night before, it was not. When we left, it was not. When we got there, it was. Can you hear it ? “La da da dee da da, La da da dee da da”  Brrrraaaaapppppppp!!!!! *sigh* It was lovely while it lasted.

If you forget food, extra clothes, the camera, chairs, etc. you’ll be fine. You’ll survive. They usually have a concessions type place there, hosted by the race sponsors. But the one bag, the two things you must never, ever forget is this!

What is in it? Look up at the unloading trailer picture again. Where are the races held? In a field! There is no running water in a field (besides a creek). There are no facilities. Well, I guess there are plenty of trees but that’s only going to serve guys to a limited extent. So this bag besides containing sunscreen, bug spray, paper towels, and other stuff, has toilet paper and hand sanitizing wipes. Three “portable toilets”, as Luke calls them, with two rolls of T.P. each is not going to last long for full day of racing. It’s always BYOTP! Now, do I need to explain the hand wipes? I didn’t think so.

Okay, Okay. On to the actual races!! Ben is definitely gunning for finishing well and he and his two buds duke it out on the course. He was second into the hole shot (which was his best start yet!), got passed, but then passed him back with some smart, aggressive riding and was closing in on the leader when time ended, so he finished 2nd!

Bill’s race was going to be dusty because it has been so dry and truthfully, I was a little worried. It gets dangerous when you can’t see. But, it turned out ok. Bill had his best start but got caught by a branch and then sandwiched later on which then put him behind where he wanted to be. He didn’t let that stop him, though and decided to just go after it, and fought his way back to 3rd!

Proud of my boys!