First race - diving into the deep end

Better get some things written down before we get too behind here. Finn’s first BMX race Sunday April 27, 2025, was a success. Not knowing how things worked aside from a cursory perusal of the Sand Springs BMX website and track rules, we showed up on a muggy day at about 2pm. Practice and sign ups were supposed to happen from about 2-3 with races after. With the help of a teenage girl named Maddie, cones were placed on the finish straight and the one preceding it such that the balance bikes had a “safe zone” for practice on those two “rhythm” sections. Essentially a coned-off 3’ lane consisting of varying height roller hills with one 180deg turn. It was foreign to both of us, but we took cues from the other racers and parents. 

We put in a bit of sweat (mostly mine) laying down some practice laps and then we found ourselves on the track when the parade lap began during the national anthem. Not knowing protocols, we paused during the anthem and in retrospect, should have just kept on to vacate the track. Oh well. 

Then, practice was over and the racing began with the first moto. Balance bikes would race between motos 1 and 2. So we had an unknown amount of time to wait. That caught up with us. We played on the grass track (essential training) but were mostly distracted by a few mud puddles.  So the closed toed shoes and socks we brought for the race were later swapped for crocs and muddy toes. Maybe not the best for performance. 

Kept waiting forever. Finn was giving mixed signals now. Kept gesturing to the gate. To the car? To home? Not sure. Maybe this was a bad idea. Eventually I discerned that he needed to pee and the porta potties were by the gate. Excellent step in the ongoing potty training. So we experienced another first after waiting in a long line. Perhaps he’s like his father and has the pre-race bathroom jitters. We’ll have to see. 

As we exited the porta potty, it was immediately evident that we needed to run to get the bike and report to the starting line as they were lined up to race. Hope to be better with time management next time. 

Finn isn’t really that experienced on the balance bike yet. We’ve gone to the National BMX track in Tulsa a few times to watch and gage his interest. The second time, we chatted with kids and parents in the balance bike class and that inspired us to dive in. We met a 1yo kid named Leo who could barely walk, but was a prodigy on the bike. His mom suggested we try the Sand Springs track on Sundays, so that’s how we ended up here at our first race. 

The class structure was 1-2yo raced together with 3 and 4 year olds, but in three separate classes. They did four “laps” with a direction reversal and restart after each. Seemed like Finn had the hang of the concept after lap 1, when he self counted the start of lap 2, yelling “on, two, free, gooooooooo!!!!” It was hilarious and I let him go. He jumped out ahead with his false start and suckered a few riders into joining him. But most stayed back. As he was approaching the first hill, the announcer said calmly, “just let him go”. So we led the race for a brief moment. 

Finn’s class consisted of one other racer- Leo. So we had some tough competition. We got a bit cocky though, and started doing wheelies over the bumps to wow the crowd. In the last lap on the back straight, we wiped out hot dogging it. 

In the end, we snatched a 3rd place victory in his class of two (somehow). Triumphant victory for #434. Mom and dad are proud, and Finn had fun.