Actual third race - improvements and an unconventional reward

Yesterday, Finn spent some time with his cousin doing wheelies and bushwhacking through the woods.


After a brief hiatus of non-racing due to holidays and rain outs, we returned to BMX racing today. Far from “out of the weather,” with more epic spring thunderstorms this morning and storm clouds surrounding the track, we squeaked out a few hours of fair weather riding. 

Enroute to the track, Finn actually said, “I can’t wait to race.” I had him repeat it just to be sure. But I knew the reality of things and enthusiasm to race while in the car seat doesn’t directly translate to the starting gate. We’ll have to see. 

Knowing Finn’s proclivity to wallow in any puddle he can find, the muddier the better, I took a full change of clothes and shoes. The challenge would be to keep him from soiling the outfit he needed for the race- closed-toed shoes, pants, and long sleeves. It was muggy as hell, so his other clothes were short sleeved tee, shorts, and sandals. It was a tough negotiation, but I managed to keep him dry till the racing was done. I said that we could play in the mud as much as he wants after the races. He reluctantly took the deal. 



We did only one practice lap and learned that Finn would be the only balance bike racer today. Attendance overall was thin, likely due to weather uncertainty. But the ever-accommodating crew at SS BMX said they could let some bigger kids ride balance bikes with him just for fun. I said heck yeah. He needs to be in a crowd. 

Between practice and race time was an exercise in patience like usual. Drink some water. Have a snack. Tried to just keep the helmet on and stay in ride mode. But we had to go play with cars in the dirt. Then take the helmet off. With only 8 groups racing today and a stated goal to beat the weather, we didn’t have a lot of time to mess around. Race time came quickly, so we lined up and he didn’t seem too opposed to getting on with it. The extra kids helped a bunch. They were mandated to let Finn win, but their interpretation of that was questionable. It was all fun and he actually had some noted improvements on the 2nd lap, as he coasted and climbed a fair bit on his own. It was great to see. 

We only did two race laps, and Finn was racing solo and isn’t really doing the laps without my assistance. They cut this half-crippled dad some slack, which I appreciated. At the finish, the bigger kids choked up a bit and Finn squeaked out first place with a photo finish. Everyone cheered and he got some deserved applause from the crowd. 
With his new 1st place medal, we did our traditional podium photo and now Finn was free to explore the mud puddles, which he did immediately. First with the bike, and then on foot. Eventually he was rolling in it.  Had to do a full strip down and baby wipe in the parking lot so we could be presentable enough to get ice cream. We also stopped at Cycle Gear and sized up the 12” Stacyc e-bike. Slightly too tall for him still, but it won’t be long. 

When we finally made it home, as I was unloading him from the car seat, I asked him if he had fun racing today. He said no. So the emotional pendulum has made a full swing today. We’ll see what the next week holds for Finn’s BMX career, but we made plans to ride bikes tomorrow, so it sounds promising.








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