Council Bluffs Hare Scramble

We, meaning Bill and Ben, just finished the last hare scramble of the year. It was in Council Bluffs, a new course for us. It was another early morning, even the sun was still in bed.

This course was set against the MO river and we had a little hike to get to it. Ben's track ran through a section of woods and over a kid's motocross section.

 He's just a couple lengths behind the kid in first and race him hard. Both Ben and Max had to ride perfect- Ben to keep up and take advantage of any mistakes Max might make and Max to keep Ben just out of reach. 

My favorite action shot- the guy is serious!

In the end, Max kept the lead over Ben and they finished 1st and 2nd.
Love this shot here- Max and his dad, in the blue coat. Ben and Bill. Ben is worn out!!

 Ben, did you have a good time? The answer is yes. His smile is a worn out from racing smile.

 Also notice the little collar around his neck. That is a Leatt brace. It keeps riders' head from snapping too far forward or back in a collision. Expensive, but worth it. And believe me, we saw one 85 rider hit a hidden stump as he was in a flat out race with two other riders. He went AIRBORNE!! The kid's bike stopped dead, he was hurtled through the air in a cartwheel manner before landing. An instant exclamation of shock rifled through the crowd, half of us rushed forward a couple of steps and then most of the mama's pulled the rest of their babies close. The kid popped right back up, got on his bike and rode through the check point to have his lap count before calling it quits.

Bill's race got to run through some very sandy sections. It was tricky for most of the riders. Here's a sequence of pics I took during one of Bill's laps.

He made it through each time okay, going down only a few times. 
Also, notice new clothes for him. More importantly, not white pants for him! I kissed him for that!!
Bill had a great raced and finished 6th, just shy of an award, but we don't really care about that. We're more excited because Bill's now hanging at the top of his division. Next year- podiums, baby!! (Ok, I sort of care. I'm competitive. But now that the season is over, I've worked through it. :) )

We are definitely supporting Bill's work with all the Command Adhesive strips we are buying for this kid's walls. 

While watching Bill's race, this little flying contraption was set up next to us. It has a camera attached to the bottom of it!

I asked the guys what it was called and they said it didn't have a name. I was shocked. I told them, you always start with a name! Ok, well, maybe you don't always start with a name... It was run by two different remotes, handled by two guys. Haven't seen any pictures they took with it, but it was definitely cool. 

Even though the race season is over, the boys will still be riding as long as they can. And we already know the race schedule for next year. And we have to get Luke on his 50...