Brighton 01-22-10

Friday, January 22, 2010
It was 2:34. My kids were waiting at the door with their backpacks on and ready for the weekend to begin. They never seem to realize that we are ALL waiting for the weekend to begin. The minute passed, the bell rang, and the munchkins were out the door. I promptly shut down my electronics, gathered my things, and hopped into the truck. My afternoon would now be devoted to my final run of the week and preparing the camper for our weekend excursion.
As soon I arrived home, I was doing my best to utilize the time that I had so that I would have Brie’s and my stuff prepared to go when Trey arrived home. I was taking care of Brianna’s and my packing, as well as the food, when I decided to call Trey and see when he would be home. As I asked how he was doing, the pathetic voice on the other end was not a good sign. Soon I discovered that Trey had somehow managed to send his back into spasms and was barely able to move. We worked it out so that he would pick up Brie and I would try to get everything done, except loading the bike. Amazingly, I was just finishing up when Trey and Brie pulled in the driveway. Now for at he important stuff…the bike and its extras. We managed to finish up rather quickly (especially under the circumstances) and were on the road by 8:30. As with the past few races, this one was only about two hours away so we would be there in no time.
With our gas and money stops along the way, we finally arrived in our camping spot (thanks to the Hedin’s to saving it for us) at about 11:00. Of course Brie was sound asleep, and stayed asleep in her booster seat for the next 30 minutes while we unhooked the camper, put down the jacks, and eventually carried her in to her bunk bed. Trey and I then finished unloading and preparing the generators (but we left the bike chained in the truck) and headed in to bed as well. Racing starts tomorrow and we all want to be rested and ready!
 
Saturday, January 23, 2010
As usual, Brianna was the first one up and ready to get out of bed this morning. Although awaking to her adorable voice is one of life’s many pleasures, I really wish that she would let me sleep for just a few more minutes. As I slowly opened my eyes and enjoyed a morning stretch, I realized that Trey had been lying awake in bed for some time. As Brie made her way into our bedroom he decided he would make his way to the kitchen and grab a bite to eat. Yet, thanks to his newly acquired back injury, the process of getting out of bed had become a five minute ordeal. After the moans and groans, he finally grabbed a granola bar and was able to enjoy a nutritious breakfast. Within a few minutes, I too had dragged myself out of bed and was headed to the sink to eliminate my not so pleasant morning breath.
While Trey and I finished up our morning preparations, Brianna enjoyed an episode of Scooby-Doo and began her routine. In no time at all, breakfast was eaten, teeth were clean, hair was brushed, fresh clothes were on, and she was ready to face the day. Much to her delight she was greeted by Karlee, Karson, Kalob, McKenzie, and Michael J. Michael, Michelle, and the kids had just arrived and were only able to stay for the day, as Michael was on call. Brie made a rapid exit from the camper and was off to begin playing. Meanwhile, I finished the camper setup that I neglected last night due to our late arrival.
As we all went about our business we were enjoying the warmer weather and beautiful sunshine that this race weekend was predicted to have in store. Time flew by and both Michael’s began preparing for their morning practice. As soon as his gear was on and the quad was ready, Michael Sr. headed out to see what challenges might lay ahead on his eight-mile Saturday course. Michael Jr. was right behind him waiting for Michelle to hop on the back of his 50 and make their way to the pee-wee track.
Today’s pee-wee practice proved to be an adventure for the riders and spectators alike. The course consisted mostly of single-track with very few passing areas and lots of woods, much like a full size track – just shrunk down to miniature size. We soon found out that kids just aren’t patient enough to wait for the right opportunity to improve their position. Now I understand that these are children and they are riding on a miniature track so that they can learn the proper manner in which to ride and race. But here is the situation. Following a left-hand turn, riders had to maneuver their quads through two trees. It was common and acceptable for a child to misjudge the turn and bump into a tree. An adult would then scurry out to the middle of the track to help the rider. Another adult would usually place his or herself before the adult and the rider to slow down or stop the approaching riders – this is commonplace on a pee-wee track. Normally this procedure is effective in preventing further pile-ups or incidents. But today the kids decided to take matters into their own hands. Instead of following the guidance of the adults, the riders chose to go around them, or force them off of the track. The riders then blocked each other, resulting in a complete traffic jam. Once all of the riders had become a part of the problem, the adults were then able to pull them apart and begin to send riders on their way. Luckily no one was injured, but I am not sure if the riders learned anything from the experience.
After Mikey’s practice, we all headed back to the campers for a snack or lunch. The children gobbled down their food and immediately resumed playtime. The rest of us enjoyed our meal and spent a few minutes relaxing and socializing until it was time to head back out to the pee-wee track for Mikey J.’s race (we can’t forget that Kalob and Karlee race too). Curious to see if the race would present the same challenge as practice, Trey and I took off to the infamous corner where the morning pile-up had occurred. We soon heard the horn sound and the munchkins were off the line. Contrary to practice, the race went extremely smoothly and was uneventful. Kalob pulled of a second place finish, Mikey came in seventh, and Karlee scored . Way to go MTB munchkins!
More relaxing was in store for the MTB Gang for the next little bit. As we sat around discussing life’s many questions we noticed that the warm sun which had greeted us this morning had recently disappeared behind the looming clouds and it seemed that rain may be in our future. As time progressed and Michael’s race was nearing, he spent his time ensuring that his quad and his gear were ready to go. The rest of us dug out our umbrellas and ponchos that we weren’t expecting to need this weekend and prepared our “spectators’ gear”. Eager to see the start, the kids promptly piled on the Hedin’s mule while the rest of us hoofed the half-mile trail to the line.
Before we knew it the first lines were off and it was only seconds until Michael would be racing towards the first corner. The horn sounded and the line was off. They took off around the first few corners and into the straight headed towards the woods Michael had taken the lead. What a start for the MTB Gang and #529!
By this time the rain was coming down fairly intensely, so the MTB Gang made our way directly to a patch of trees to take cover. The munchkins however, had no intentions of staying out of the rain. Having parked ourselves in this patch of woods, the kids saw it as the perfect opportunity to practice hanging from limbs and climbing trees. Being an eight-mile track seemed to work out perfectly for them, as the riders took a while to make it back to our viewing area. The mucnhkins spent the quiet time becoming part of the treesThe climbing consumed the kids’ time until they heard the sound of the quads coming around the corner. At that time they settled down and watched the best riders make their way around the slippery corner. It was then back to climbing.