The Jones Family: Biking Galore!

This weekend was one for the record book as we made the trek to Greensboro and Charlotte for two youth mountain bike races. No "soccer mom" or "soccer dad" here...rather "biker mom" and "biker dad".

William and the Zoo
The weekend began early Thursday afternoon as I met Mamere and Papere at the Love's truck stop to "hand off" William for the night. They took him to the "City House" for the evening and went to the NC Zoo Friday for William's 2nd birthday experience. And what a time they had!

Grasshoppers Baseball
Bobby, Thompson and I got away Friday afternoon and arrived in Greensboro in time to unload the car and walk over to the baseball stadium. Heidi (a Salem sister), Conrad and their three children were able to join us for the evening. The kids had a great time watching the game all the while enjoying Chik-fil-a sandwiches, hot dogs, peanuts and ice cream. I was surprised at how intrigued William was with the game. He seemed to stand at the railing the entire game. The kids also enjoyed seeing Babe and Yogi (both black labs) gather the bats and chase baseballs. Too bad Guilford the Grasshopper was off for the evening (rumor has it that his outfit was lost after being sent away for cleaning). Aside from the Hoppers win, the highlight had to have been the fireworks at the end of the game! Albeit he wanted to go home mid-way through the show, in true William style, he said afterwards, "I like those fireworks."

PYMBL

Saturday morning, we headed to Hagan-Stone Park where both boys participated PYMBL's second bike race. The course was a fun, fast and relatively wide course, with Thompson's age group completing two loops. Thompson placed second in the Boys 7-8 Division and third overall in the 7-8 Group. William took third in the Boys Under 6 riding his Strider bike remarkably well and opting to create his own route to the finish line at the end. As a bonus, Sister (the boys' Great Aunt and Annie's sister) was able to join us.

pre-race practice ride with dad

William working on his balance

riders get into position

T coming into the finish area

T takes 2nd!

Under 6 riders take their position

CYCL

We departed early Sunday morning for Fisher Farm Park in Davidson, NC for CYCL's 4th and final race. As you may recall, Thompson participated in their first race in March placing 6th with a time of 26:28.4. This course differed quite a bit from the PYMBL course as this one was longer, more technical {translation: more hills}, and more narrow {translation: single track}. There were also about twice as many competitors as there were at PYMBL. Thompson raced the course well, and while he finished 7th in the Boys 7-8 Group, he was 2:30 faster than he was in March, which we think is something to be proud of. We are thrilled T has found a sport he enjoys. Furthermore, and probably most importantly, we've found avenues that allow him to participate in races that challenge him as a cyclist amidst an atmosphere of fun where he is developing the character trait of good sportsmanship.