Bicycle Races

It's not everyday that four large school buses park at the end of our driveway,
so I thought it best to investigate.
It turns out that they were part of an outdoor adventure race and were simply parked to the side knowing that there were four buses worth of cyclists coming down the road.
I went to get Auren.

This neighborhood is a popular destination for all kinds of offroad racing.
There is a very large enduro race every year that travels through our property.
The jeeps used to come en masse, but as a large group, we haven't seen them for awhile.
It's good to see the mountain bikes come through; they may be damaging on some trails,
but mountain bikes won't leave a trace on these trails.

I don't really want the kids to get into competitive sports, but if they have the inclination to do so,
these kinds of races would be my first choice.
The race today included mountain biking on the road and on the nasty trails, but it also included paddling and trekking that involves orienteering.
Success is rated by a points system, and I suspect that many of the riders were looking to achieve personal goals; not actually win the race.
Some were serious looking, but most were as relaxed as they could be,
considering the heat of the day and the challenges that lay in store.

Auren thought it was great and it inspired him to spend extra time on his bicycle today.
I haven't been working on his freeride track, but I'll get to it soon.
In the meantime, he has his own track set up on the lawn.
I'm not much of a bicycling role model,
so it's good for the kids to see first-hand what bicycling looks like.
And it's even better when the pace car is playing AC/DC