I am running way behind on keeping the blog updated, Sorry. Anyway, better late than never
This race had a much different feel than the previous ones this season. I think it was partly due to the fact that I view the Maplelag race weekend as the end of the racing season. We all had such a great time up there and had a chance to get to know each other better. After the weekend, however, the kids go back to school and the summer seams to abruptly end. The main reason was probably because I was not racing. Although the pneumonia was gone I still was not feeling 100% and racing would have made no sense at all
I was excited about watching the rest of the family race and being able to go out and take some pictures of the event. Earlier in the week we convinced Jordan to give the sport class a try considering it would be one of the shorter sport races of the year. Either way she had nothing to lose, because she had 1st place in her age group wrapped up in the citizen class. Taylor agreed to the kids comp race for a change and I talked Devon into racing kids comp as well.
We invited Ray and the Hendricks to stay at our place on Friday night so they wouldn't have to get up quite so early on Saturday. After getting stuck in rush hour traffic in the cities they finally made it to our house around 7:00 PM and we sat down to a huge spaghetti dinner. The kids played outside until 10 and we were fortunate enough that there were no broken bones from the trampoline. Surprisingly the kids fell asleep with no issues, they must have been really tired. Saturday morning we had a nice buffet style breakfast and were out of the house a little after 7 AM. It was a little cool, but there was almost no wind and you could already feel the sun starting to warm things up.
We arrived a little before 8:30 AM and quickly got all the bikes down and our camp set up next to the start/finish area
Andrea and Jordan's Race
Andrea and Jordan lined up side by side at the start and they would be going out as the 4th wave in the sport class. At the start there was a slight delay in the countdown causing a start/stop/start situation causing Andrea to get "pinched" between Jordan on her left and another lady on her right. Andreas handlebar started to get wrapped up in Jordan's jersey and she had to unclip so as to not take Jordan down. Jordan hesitated to make sure mom was OK, worrying that she was mad at her. Andrea was able to get clipped in and up to speed quickly, but was left at the back of the pack. I didn't know how Andrea was going to handle the situation and I feared that she would get frustrated and let up. As the group of ladies made their way around the field at the start, I could see Andrea pushing hard to catch up to the leaders and by the time they entered the ski trail she had already passed Jordan.
I grabbed the camera and waited at the exit of the single track leading out to the field for the start of their first full lap. Not surprisingly Becca Heath was the first to come through followed by another female rider then Andrea came flying through. She later told me that after the bobble at the start she put it in the big ring and hammered all the way to the single track entering in third. A minute or so later Michole came by with Jordan just behind her. They were both riding really strong, but Jordan didn't have that fire in her eyes like she normally does.
At the beginning of the first lap Andrea made her move into second place and was only about 1 minute out of first. I could see she was having a really good race and was making quick work out of the tight single track. At the end of the 1st full lap Michole came through, but Jordan was not following. A few minutes later Jordan came through and I could tell she was having a rough race. I shouted a few words of encouragement, but I think her mind was on the fact that she still had over a full lap remaining. She really wanted to hang with Michole for the race and try to beat her.
After getting a few kids fed Taylor and I went out to try to get a few more pictures of the sport race especially Jordan and Andrea before the end of the race. Near the backside of the course we found Jordan and I could see she was slowing way down. I told her to conserve her energy as much as possible and that she was about halfway done with the final lap. This time the encouragement and/or thought of being almost done cheered her up and she started to push a little harder. We caught up to Andrea as she neared the end of her second lap and she was having a blast railing through the trail. She was concerned how Jordan was doing and I told her that she was having an off day, but the encouragement I gave her made things better. I was not able to make it back in time for the finish of Andreas race, but she finished in a solid second place about 5 minutes behind Becca Heath with a time of 1:13:36. Jordan pushed hard the remainder of the race and finished in 5th place for her age group (Actually she was placed in the 12-18 group because they don't have an age group for her) with a time of 1:24:29.
Andrea did an awesome job this year and finished with a very strong race. I was also extremely proud of Jordan for pushing hard for the whole race and doing great job for a 10 year old in a fairly long sport race.
This race had a much different feel than the previous ones this season. I think it was partly due to the fact that I view the Maplelag race weekend as the end of the racing season. We all had such a great time up there and had a chance to get to know each other better. After the weekend, however, the kids go back to school and the summer seams to abruptly end. The main reason was probably because I was not racing. Although the pneumonia was gone I still was not feeling 100% and racing would have made no sense at all
I was excited about watching the rest of the family race and being able to go out and take some pictures of the event. Earlier in the week we convinced Jordan to give the sport class a try considering it would be one of the shorter sport races of the year. Either way she had nothing to lose, because she had 1st place in her age group wrapped up in the citizen class. Taylor agreed to the kids comp race for a change and I talked Devon into racing kids comp as well.
We invited Ray and the Hendricks to stay at our place on Friday night so they wouldn't have to get up quite so early on Saturday. After getting stuck in rush hour traffic in the cities they finally made it to our house around 7:00 PM and we sat down to a huge spaghetti dinner. The kids played outside until 10 and we were fortunate enough that there were no broken bones from the trampoline. Surprisingly the kids fell asleep with no issues, they must have been really tired. Saturday morning we had a nice buffet style breakfast and were out of the house a little after 7 AM. It was a little cool, but there was almost no wind and you could already feel the sun starting to warm things up.
We arrived a little before 8:30 AM and quickly got all the bikes down and our camp set up next to the start/finish area
Andrea and Jordan's Race
Andrea and Jordan lined up side by side at the start and they would be going out as the 4th wave in the sport class. At the start there was a slight delay in the countdown causing a start/stop/start situation causing Andrea to get "pinched" between Jordan on her left and another lady on her right. Andreas handlebar started to get wrapped up in Jordan's jersey and she had to unclip so as to not take Jordan down. Jordan hesitated to make sure mom was OK, worrying that she was mad at her. Andrea was able to get clipped in and up to speed quickly, but was left at the back of the pack. I didn't know how Andrea was going to handle the situation and I feared that she would get frustrated and let up. As the group of ladies made their way around the field at the start, I could see Andrea pushing hard to catch up to the leaders and by the time they entered the ski trail she had already passed Jordan.
I grabbed the camera and waited at the exit of the single track leading out to the field for the start of their first full lap. Not surprisingly Becca Heath was the first to come through followed by another female rider then Andrea came flying through. She later told me that after the bobble at the start she put it in the big ring and hammered all the way to the single track entering in third. A minute or so later Michole came by with Jordan just behind her. They were both riding really strong, but Jordan didn't have that fire in her eyes like she normally does.
At the beginning of the first lap Andrea made her move into second place and was only about 1 minute out of first. I could see she was having a really good race and was making quick work out of the tight single track. At the end of the 1st full lap Michole came through, but Jordan was not following. A few minutes later Jordan came through and I could tell she was having a rough race. I shouted a few words of encouragement, but I think her mind was on the fact that she still had over a full lap remaining. She really wanted to hang with Michole for the race and try to beat her.
After getting a few kids fed Taylor and I went out to try to get a few more pictures of the sport race especially Jordan and Andrea before the end of the race. Near the backside of the course we found Jordan and I could see she was slowing way down. I told her to conserve her energy as much as possible and that she was about halfway done with the final lap. This time the encouragement and/or thought of being almost done cheered her up and she started to push a little harder. We caught up to Andrea as she neared the end of her second lap and she was having a blast railing through the trail. She was concerned how Jordan was doing and I told her that she was having an off day, but the encouragement I gave her made things better. I was not able to make it back in time for the finish of Andreas race, but she finished in a solid second place about 5 minutes behind Becca Heath with a time of 1:13:36. Jordan pushed hard the remainder of the race and finished in 5th place for her age group (Actually she was placed in the 12-18 group because they don't have an age group for her) with a time of 1:24:29.
Andrea did an awesome job this year and finished with a very strong race. I was also extremely proud of Jordan for pushing hard for the whole race and doing great job for a 10 year old in a fairly long sport race.
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