Tenacious Thompson

When it comes to mountain biking, Thompson continues to showcase his courage, confidence, perserverence and skill.  We are looking forward to his participation in several youth bike races this year.  In an effort to foster his passion for the sport and develop his skill, I took him to Bent Creek for an afternoon ride.  And unbeknownst to him, he chose technical instead of distance...4.83 miles with a 466 ft elevation gain.  We began up Boyd Branch when he noticed a trail to the left and said he wanted to take it.  I had never been on Lower Sidehill and thus couldn't advise, so off we went.  While walking our bikes up a steep hill, we discovered Lower Sidehill is better traversed riding the opposite direction (which we'll do next time).  But aside from the hill, he rode the trail magnificiently!  We then headed to Explorer Loop where he insisted on going to Upper Explorer (note: I've never ridden UE).  We passed Lower and Middle Explorer and he remained resolute in his goal to ride Upper Explorer.  No doubt, it is a techincal ride with the first third quite steep.  But that didn't stop T.  He declined the "outs" and other opporutnities to turn around I offered and ode when and where he could and walked his bike in those super steep areas without once complaining.  Needless to say, dad didn't believe him when he said he roder Upper Explorer...and we're both proud of his determination.