WORS 2010, #1

Let the races begin! 

Another WORS season has begun and my favorite mountain biker is already off to a great start.  The first race this year was in Iola, WI at a ski hill.  It was a beautiful day for a race.  The kids enjoyed being outdoors and we all enjoyed soaking up some Vitamin D after a long winter.  I was nervous about watching two babies this year, especially with V being so active.  Thankfully they were both really good, but there were a few times I had to put V back in the stroller for fear she would get trampled by a biker while I was trying to take care of A.

Ted didn't have a very good start for this race, because we were running a little behind.  We always forget how long it takes to pack up two little ones, so we arrived their a little later than we expected.  Then, he forgot his race number in the van and had to hurry to get it before Don started announcing racers at the start.  Since he finished 7th overall in the series last year, he got to have #7 for his series number this year and was called up for the start.  He almost missed his call up though, because Don started a little ahead of schedule. 

The kids and I found a shady spot where we could see the racers at several points during each lap, but we missed the start and finish.  I had a hard time keeping track of him too, between his new team jersey and keeping an eye on my two little ones.  I warned him that I wouldn't be able to do water bottle hand-ups this year, but he didn't have time to find someone else before the start.  Thankfully, the dad of one of his teammates offered to do water bottle hand-ups, which was a huge relief for me.

We also had to move from our original shady spot, because it was no longer shady after the first lap.  Once we moved, I was able to get some pictures of the racers as they came around a corner and down a hill.  I was pretty excited to use our new camera at a race for the first time.  I was able to get more pictures than I ever could with our old point-and-shoot camera, because I didn't have to wait for the delayed reaction of the camera to actually take a picture and reload for the next picture.  I'm still using the automatic features on our SLR camera, but I can already see a difference in the quality of pictures. (As a side note, I did use Picnik to do a little editing, but most of the straight-out-of-the-camera shots needed very little editing.  I also learned a new editing tool on Picnik that I love - Cross Processing.)

In the end, Ted finished 11th overall. He told me he was hoping for a top ten finish, but I reminded him that he was hit by a car TWICE in the last month ( - yes, I'm serious...I don't remember if I blogged about the second one, but it was the day after my Grandpa's funeral and it was sort of the last straw after a very tough week.  Thankfully, he was okay and only the front wheel of his bike was damaged this time...I, on the other hand, was a mess! - )...so 11th is a GREAT way to start the season! 

V clapped and giggled as the racers passed by during each lap.  I'm trying to teach her to say "Go daddy!"  or at least yell out "Daddy!" and clap when he comes by, but she only likes to say real words when she wants to.  I did, however, make the cutest little #7 shirts for both V and A to cheer on their favorite mountain biker.  I was excited with how well they turned out.  Now I just have to make myself one too!