Blogs are for bragging moms, so I gotta write about this:
I married into a desert dirt bike racing family and I've turned from a racing wife to a racing mom. This year has been really exciting.
In Mesquite, Nevada, early spring James got the hole shot off the start. He ended up taking 2nd overall, but what fun to see a 14-year-old on a brand-new bike he wasn't confident on yet cream the pack! He made a goal that day to get the #1 number plate for the season in his class in the state, which means you commit to going to LOTS of races to earn the highest year-end points total. Jessica and Daniel have done exceptional in their races and have their own hall of fame trophy walls in the garage. Our entire family worked the Sageriders National race, marking course for the mini loop, brainstorming the mass big bike start over the sand dune, keeping the big bikers safe (without getting runover by the pros making their own trail) in the wash of the Little Sahara park, and pulling miles of race ribbon when the race was over. Maren and I are cheerleaders without much glory, as Jessica's comments reflect in the recent DIRT RIDER magazine (her first published writing piece ever).
James and Daniel really love desert races when their uncles and grandparents come. James calls Grandpa and Grandma Simpson his lucky charms because when they come, he holeshots. When Uncle Jason comes, sometimes James wins but when he talks too much smack, Uncle Jason wins. Daniel's race at the Firebirds consisted of one fraction of a loop until he and all his 65 mini buddies sat at the bottom of a giant hill chatting in the shade (Mom waiting in the pits doesn't like this at all). Daniel's take on racing obviously is leisurely riding, enjoying the sights and hanging out with friends. At the Cherry Creek 50th anniversary race Uncle Paul and Michael joined James and Charles (who finished first--the boys or their experienced expert dads? which novice beat the amateur?) in the fun: racing over 100 miles in the blistering heat of the Utah desert. Add "Uncle Dan" Good to the desert race mix and Daniel is in heaven.
The Bull Hollow Raceway will always be a Rhodes favorite because there this summer James got the hole shot AND his first Overall First Place. I can't say sagebrush sneezing in the dusty desert is the first place I'd choose to spend my weekend, but when surrounded by my family and friends and the thrill of watching my racers cross a finish line safe and smiling (and fist-pumping at the checkered flag), I wouldn't trade these memories. Not every race day ends pain-free but it is what we do and we do it together.
And James maintains his points lead . . .
