Our only state race in July will be in Napa at the end of the month. We were thinking of going to Tahoe for their state race 0n the 8th, but as we just returned from So Cal (which was a great trip) on the 3rd, it was just too much to take on.
We went out to Napa on Wednesday and Saturday, the 5th and the 8th, as usual. Anthony was eager to get back on his bike, but was a little bummed that no new tracks were on the schedule. He LOVES going to new tracks. There are apparently over 400 tracks in the country, and he says that he wants to go to every one.
Anyway, it was business as usual back in Napa; he raced 8 Expert on Wednesday and finished 4th (last); and raced 7 Intermediate on Saturday finishing in a close 4th (last) behind Liam and Tate. Tate's dad told me that his lap time in the second moto was around a 1:02, which would be pretty close to his best lap ever. It's nice to see him trying hard, but it's hard to compete against the seven year olds.
I must have gotten Wednesday and Saturday mixed up. Here's a video from the 8 Expert race on Saturday.
Even though Anthony hasn't been winning he has been racking up points. This is a screenshot for North Bay BMX overall points.
Summer Camp with Donny Robinson 7/10- 7/14
Wednesday 7/19- We finally got a 5I race at our home track!
May was busy, and June has gotten off to a busy start too. School is out, and racing is on the little man's mind!
Anthony has clip in pedals almost completely figured out, and he looks like a seasoned pro when he pulls up to the gate, gets his bike straight, and balances himself while clipping into his right pedal. Then he calmly rotates the cranks and clips in the left. I'm not even sure if I can do that (maybe we'll see in July, I might get out on the track and do some laps when he does his summer racing clinic at Napa BMX with Donny).
The first Saturday in June was a full day. We went to the races at Napa BMX, and then headed over to Roseville for a two hour afternoon clinic (about 93 degrees), and night races following the clinic.
Perhaps you could call it an endurance test for my little man, and of course he passed with flying colors!! He didn't score any points that day though, he was eliminated form the 7I main at both events; by Liam at Napa, by less than a bike length, and by Reese at Oak Creek by a similar margin. It's tough for a little five year-old to go up against the bigger kids, but he's getting closer and closer. He's already in the hunt, and he even beats some of the older kids now and then.
Wednesday the 7th was a typical Wednesday night race. A total points with Anthony, Tyler, and whatever older kid that's available to make a race. This week it was Mason Buller, whose an 8I, thus the class was 8I. Tyler actually won the overall, which was great. Mason beat Tyler in the first moto, but Tyler squeezed by him at the line in the second moto. Mason fell down in the gate in the third moto and finished last behind Anthony. Anthony settled for third overall which has become the norm.
Saturday was similar to Wednesday night, but Elena was also on the grid. Anthony eliminated Elena and moved on to the main. I believe Mason took the overall, but Tyler was very close. Anthony had good first and second motos, but he couldn't get clipped into one of his pedals for the main and had a very bad start. He finished pretty far behind Tyler and Mason. He did however have a very good start in the first moto, and didn't finish too far behind.
Donny and Nathan ran a clinic after racing so we were at the track until after 5:00. Another Saturday full of racing and learning!!
On Wednesday night we actually got a 6I race (first one in a while, and only about the third of the year. I don't think there have been any 5I races in Napa this year). It was Brewer McNulty and Tyler and Anthony. Tyler was seeking redemption for the state race at Rusty Bowl where Brewer won. Unfortunately Anthony didn't give his usual strong effort all the way to the end; once he realized that they were pulling away from him into the wind on the second straight he just backed off and cruised to the finish. We had a little talk about that!!
On Friday night, the 16th, we went to Santa Clara BMX to get a little preview of the State race on the 24th. Anthony of course loved riding a new track (even though he'd ridden the second half of it when he was on a Strider), and had a good night. There was a very small turnout that night, most likely due to the state race the next morning, and Anthony had to race 7I- AGAIN. He did great not finishing far behind both riders in the first moto; he finished second in the second moto, and a close third in the final moto to take third overall. He made a very aggressive pass in the second moto to take second which was very cool to watch.
Back at his original home track!
Looking good in the gate!!
On Saturday the 17th we went south to Manzanita BMX in Prunedale. it was probably the coolest track we've been to, as it was very well groomed, and DOWNHILL, which was very fun! And it was literally cooler too, compared to the other new tracks we've been to recently; Oak Creek in Roseville, and Rusty Bowl in Ukiah, where we saw temperatures in the mid 90's. That was especially welcome this weekend as most of the bay area was hitting highs around 100 degrees; we made it through the day with a high of around 83. If it were completely clear you could see the Monterey bay in the backdrop of this picture.
We got to the track early and Anthony and Isaac were among the first to hit the track when it opened right around 10:00 am. Anthony got plenty of practice and was ready to go when we finally got around to racing at around 2:00.
Anthony got a decent start in the first moto, but as I was relocating from the gate to a place where I could watch I missed the action in the first turn. Anthony told me that someone cut him off, but who knows (doesn't really matter- that's racing). He came out of the first turn in 5th or 6th, but was moving up quickly. By the time he got out of the turn shown above he was in fourth (or close to fourth) and gaining on the leaders, but they had pulled open a little gap. He ended up fourth in moto 1, which didn't put him directly in the main, as it was a 3-4 transfer. That meant that the remaining five riders had to do moto 2, and four of them would advance to the main.
Based on his forward progression in the first moto I told Anthony that he should win this second moto. I just told him to get a good start, get in the lead, and just never look back.
Our friend Steve got this great video of moto 2. He shared it with me on Google Photos, which I don't use, but I was able to easily post it to Facebook so you can view it from your FB account here:
If you weren't able to see the video Anthony did exactly what I told him to do and dominated moto 2. I was very proud!!
We finally got around to the main at about 5:00. We were in the staging area for quite a while, and just before I thought Anthony was gonna be up he said "I gotta go pee". Damn, are you kidding me!?! (I thought to myself). I looked around and decided that there just wasn't enough time, and told him to just hold it and get to the finish line as quickly as he could. They then injected the last moto of the Pro/Am right in front of us, which made it worse for the little man!
Anyway, he almost had a carbon copy of moto 2, but this time the three that had advanced to the main in moto 1 were all in the race too. He ended up in a solid second place, and we got him off of his bike and into the toilet ASAP!
I was pretty much just focused on Anthony throughout the race, but I was told that he was actually closing in on Grant (the winner) in the run up to the line. I've talked to Grant and his dad at the last two races. They're from the Manteca area, and according to dad they do a LOT of state races.
Good to see Anthony establishing himself as a front runner so quickly!
We have Wednesday night racing in Napa tonight, and we'll be hitting the state race in Santa Clara on Saturday the 24th. Will update sometime in early July, as we'll be in So Cal through July first or so.
The month ended on a quiet note as most of our attention shifted to getting out of town. Anthony just seemed to be riding at the state race in Santa Clara and not actually racing. He made the main, but finished 5th or 6th. I could tell after the first turn that he just wasn't into it so I didn't even bother to check the results. There will be days like that; especially when you're five.
The state race in Santa Clara was highlighted by seeing Ray.
He's raced a few Napa BMX races since the last post, and I think he's finished third in all of the races that have ranged from 6 Intermediate to 10 Expert last weekend, against Landon and Devin. It's too bad that he doesn't have any competition in his age range in Napa, but having to chase the older and faster kids keeps him hungry!
We've also done two State races in May: one in Roseville, and one at Rusty Bowl BMX in Ukiah (what a cool track!!).
Roseville was Anthony's first race at a different track. Since Alessandra had her last softball game that morning we ended up getting to the track a little late, and with the huge turnout that left Anthony with very little practice at his first race away from home: I don't think he got more than 4 laps of practice. He finished second to last in his first moto, and last in the second. he didn't make the main as there were 12 riders competing for an 8 rider main. Oh, well! I gave him a huge high 5, congratulated him on his first race away from his hoe track, and we headed home.
Despite finishing last our little man had a GREAT TIME! He couldn't stop talking about how much he loved riding on a new track, and started asking when we were going to go to another state race.
Hmmmm....well, since he's so excited, and since daddy was so excited to put the new lightweight wheels and headset on his bike that we picked up in Roseville, I thought that a trip to Rusty Bowl BMX in Ukiah for their state race the following weekend would work out just fine.
I took his bike down the street to Travis on Monday and he told me that by Wednesday he'd have Anthony all ready to go. Wow- what a difference in weight with the new wheels and headset!
When we got to the track for the Wednesday night races the improvements were apparent immediately. Anthony was getting out of the gate like never before, and was just plain FASTER everywhere. The huge gap that Tyler had pulled out on him over the last few months was cut by 2/3 just like that! Being that much closer was a great boost to his confidence.
Anthony raced 7I that night against two 7 year olds and Tyler, and he finished third in all three motos. In the main he was actually within striking distance of Tyler exiting turn 2, but faded a little in the last section. It was such a huge improvement from just the week before; we were very excited.
On Saturday there was a very light turnout at Napa BMX as many were already up in Ukiah for the state race, so Anthony raced 10 Expert against Landon Bousted, and Tyler. It was a total points race, and Anthony finished third.
Anthony was super excited about going to another state race at a new track so a Sunday trip up to Rusty Bowl in Ukiah was the plan, despite temps in the mid 90's (which isn't too bad for up there, but it was a bit of a shock this early in the season. It was a beautiful drive up and we got there before practice started so we had plenty of time to set up and be ready for practice.
Anthony and Tyler buddied up in practice and did almost every lap together. It was great! Anthony was staying very close to Tyler, and even passed him a couple of times. He actually even passed Devin once in one of the sessions. They were all having a lot of fun riding together; they're an awesome little group of nice and talented young men.
The races first two motos of the racing didn't go as smooth as practice, but it still went well. Since Anthony just started in clip in pedals we were having some miscommunications about me helping him in the gate. Normally he doesn't want help, and he did most of practice without much help from me. But he ended up falling in the gate before the races and perhaps got a little rattled. Then when the races started he was asking me to hold him, and I thought he was telling me not to. Anyway, he still got out of the gate in the first two motos okay (i.e. without falling), but the starts were far from pretty and ended up costing him some significant time.
Unlike Roseville (where about 14 5I's showed up to race) the turnout at Rusty Bowl for 5I's was pretty light, only 6. Despite the bad starts Anthony finished 3rd in the 1st moto, and 2nd in the second. The main was much smoother, he got out of the gate pretty well and was in the hunt at the end of the first straightaway. But then there was a crash either right in front of him, or right beside him (I could't tell from the other side of the track). Luckily Anthony didn't get caught up in it, and it probably didn't slow him down. He rode on to finish second not too far behind the leader. Great job Anthony! And the other two riders were just fine, just a little bummed!!
Tyler also finished second in 6I, and we had two pretty happy campers on our hands!
The last race of May was on Wednesday the 31st. I believe that he finished 3rd at Napa BMX in the last two races of the month on Wednesday nights. There were no races at Napa on the last Saturday of May due to the state races in Fresno.
That's it for May, and we've gotten off to a busy start in June. I'll start on that post soon!
I may add a few pics and videos here too if I can find the time.
Ever since Anthony won his first trophy in the Intermediates on April 1st he's become more confident and realizes that he's now a competitor in the class.
We've been out a couple of Wednesdays and a Saturday since the first, and the other races have been rained out or cancelled due to other state races.
This race on Wednesday 4/5 was a total points race between Tyler, Ryan, and Anthony.
This race had 4 riders in the first moto (Ryan, Boden, Anthony, and Elena) and was the first time that Anthony advanced to the main in a 7I race that wasn't total points (only three riders entered).
Ryan qualified out to the main in the first moto so this was just Boden, Anthony, and Elena. Anthony was almost able to take the win in this second moto (he made contact with Boden in the last turn), but Boden held on for the win. Anthony finished third overall in the main right behind Boden, and a significant gap behind Ryan.
Another total points race with Tyler and Ryan on a Wednesday night. As you can see below Anthony is getting quicker. He beat Ryan for second in this first moto, finished third in the second moto right behind Ryan, and then crashed in the third moto as he was trying to pass Ryan.
It's been a slow start to 2017. It's now the first weekend of April and we've only been able to get about five races in, including a Wednesday night right after the time change a couple of weeks ago. We were even planning on going to a State Race in Southern California in late January and that got rained out too!
Anthony took up pretty much where he left off at the end of last year as the youngest Intermediate trying to get on pace with the older and faster boys. We were a little worried that he was starting to get discouraged as he was struggling to even keep in contact with Devin, Tyler, Isaac and others. In the first few races of this year he finished last in every race, and didn't even technically make it to the main (he raced just for the extra start and lap).Donny and I talked about it a little, and we acknowledged that this was a tough, but necessary and inevitable, transition for any rider. Transitioning into new classes and age groups can be really tough, and perhaps especially so when you're beginning a major transition before being even five years old.
But now he's five, he has a few races under his belt in the last couple of months, Donnie is giving him a lot of encouragement, and he's beginning to come alive again! He has been able to mix it up with a few riders in the last few weeks since Devin has moved on to Expert. He came within a wheel's length of beating a 7I rider at the line for third place, and then last time we were out he actually beat Elena in a couple of the motos.
So yesterday was a beautiful spring day and we were really looking forward to going to the races, and we also had Nonno join us, which was of course pretty exciting for Anthony. Practice went well, but when the races were posted Anthony was missing. Ray just forgot to write his name down and based on what we saw posted we just assumed that he'd be added to the 7I grid of about 6. But instead when Anthony was entered it created a three rider 6I class and moved the older riders into the 8-9 classes. So it was a total points race with Boden, Tyler, and Anthony.
Take a look at the two videos below. The first is the first race of 2017 from January 28th. Anthony is racing Boden and Tyler in that race too, but Isaac and McNulty are in the 1 and 2 spots. Then watch the last race from yesterday; you may see a little improvement. Anthony ended up second overall yesterday because Boden crashed out of the first moto, and didn't race the second moto.
Nonno made a good observation that Anthony gets into the ready position much too early before the gate drops and expends way too much precious energy. It's very apparent in the first video. We'll have to work on that.
The last several weeks have flown by and I couldn't find time to keep this thing current, but here's a summary of where things stand at the end of 2016:
It's pretty much been the status quo over the last few outings; Anthony is settling into his role as the youngest Intermediate, and Luca has been riding his pedal bike in the Strider class.
Gianluca may have gone to the track once or twice since the last post, but I don't remember where he's finished. I believe one week I didn't help push him over the tabletop coming off of turn three and he fell, and finished last. For some reason I thought he may be able to make it up himself on his pedal bike, but I guess I was way off. Later after the races Anthony and his friends were riding Luca's bike on the track and they couldn't even make it up there. It's just too steep for such little wheels with the small amount of momentum they carry out of turn three. Oh well, he was fine, and it allowed some of the other new kids to get a first place trophy. I think the other time he finished second or third.
Unfortunately the last race of 2016 that was scheduled for 12/10 was rained out. So that's it for this year. It was a lot of fun!!
We'll see where this takes us in 2017. We've pretty much just taken things week by week up to this point, but we'll probably start doing a little traveling around with Anthony next year as long as he's having fun and improving. Right now we're looking at doing the first state race of 2017 in Camarillo on 1/28.
Here are a few videos:
This video didn't come out too good but it was fun because Donny used Anthony for a demo in the clinic. He actually did very well.
Today was Anthony's first race as an intermediate. There was the seasonal low turnout again so he got bumped up to the 7I class and raced against Devin and Taylor. The results ended up as we all expected: Devin-Taylor-Anthony. But watching Anthony at 4 hold his own against 6 and 7 yr. old inters is fun.
Luca won his third Strider race, but on his pedal bike!
