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.
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