Bike Race

The USA Pro Cycling Challenge is a week long bike race every summer around Colorado.  Last year we went to the finish in Denver, and discovered a Strider bike course for kids.  That's where Logan first tried a Strider bike, and since then he's become quite the rider. He speeds around our little house taking tight turns around the kitchen island, and he bikes the dirt trails that we hike.  Compared to the other 2 year olds we know, he's pretty impressive.

So, when the bike race came around again this year, and we learned that Strider would be there again with races starting at age 2, we decided we had to go.  We were pretty sure Logan would kill the competition.  It was our first chance to bask in the public spotlight as everyone else saw how awesome our kid was.  We didn't really want to see the pro bike race, and we certainly didn't want to go down to the city on a really hot summer day, but we did... all for the glory that awaited our 2 year old.

We got there and got Logan suited up with a bike, helmet, and race number.  He took some practice laps around the course.  We quickly realized this might not be the easy win we thought it would be.  There was another 2 year old, even smaller than Logan, decked out in a full face helmet and Strider jersey.  His dad had lots of tattoos.  He would be tough competition.

Logan was riding around the course pre-race, and a kid fell over in front of him.  Logan stopped and waited until the kid got up and kept going.  Logan clearly did not have the killer instinct required to win.  Mark had a little talk with him about how the point was to get to the finish as fast as he could, and that he could pass the slower kids.  I was kind of proud of him for waiting for the other kid... it was nice and considerate.  But then I never won too many sports competitions.

It was finally time for the race.  The kids all lined up for one practice lap, before the two actual race laps.   The video is below.  Logan came in 4th out of 9 kids.  He would have been 5th, but one kid got confused and started heading back towards the starting line. He cleanly beat the kid who got distracted by the helicopter. And then he decided he was done-- he didn't ride in the actual race.  He had spotted a bouncy castle, and was over the biking.

It was a respectable performance, but not quite the glorious victory we had imagined.  It was a good lesson for us. First, that our kid is not always going to be the best at everything, even if we see him that way.  And second, that we need to start training for next year!