All of these hurdles were battled. Sometimes they lost, and nervousness and uncertainty won the day. Eventually, they became more DETERMINED and took off like a rocket, placing in the top three for a trophy. Pedal bikes quickly followed for the fun of going faster, farther, and breaking earth’s gravity if only for a little distance.
Since that time, we have cruised across neighboring states racing BMX first as novices, then as intermediates, and finally as experts. I don’t think any of us could have guessed how fun it could be to race at all of the different tracks and visit all of the various cities. After watching my sons at a national race a couple of years back, a realization came to me. What other sport do kids as young as three-years-old compete on the same day, on the same track as the paid professionals and Olympic medalists? How cool is that?!
But why stop there? We live in a mountain bike mecca! We, of course, needed more bikes. We got more mountain bikes to add to our collection of two wheels that already filled the garage. Mountain biking provided more opportunities to race but also provided adventures in the beautiful outdoors where we live and in other states where mountain biking and mecca are synonymous. Since my wife and I were already mountain bikers, we could now ride as a family, although she and I are much less likely to huck it off of something big like the boys are. Gravity is less kind to us.
Not all, but most of this lifestyle could be blamed on falling in love with riding on two wheels, and my boys becoming ever more DETERMINED to grow, overcome hurdles, and test their limits. I’m quite certain of that.