Racing at Battle Creek Part 2

By the time Motocross Boy raced  his 2nd moto, it had started to rain.  That didn't stop him from taking the hole shot and an early lead.

And then he got passed.

And lost a little ground on the rough terrain.

But he did get more daring and starting hitting this double which he definitely didn't do in the first moto.

 Alas, it wasn't enough to win it but it was still a great race and he got a 2nd place over-all trophy!!

Racing at Battle Creek

Last weekend I packed up the kids, dog and motocross trailer and we headed out to Battle Creek on Friday night.  It was a beautiful evening and we pulled in with about an hour left before it got dark.  Plenty of time to get the trailer set up in the perfect spot along the track that I had picked out.

All went well except the generator didn't seem to want to give me any electricity.  Ah well.  I couldn't stay away to watch the movie I brought anyway.

Saturday morning was hot and sunny.  Great day for racing!!

Nothing like a neck to neck start to get the old blood pumping!!

The whole group was good - they all started strong and gave Motocross Boy a big push.

He quickly took the lead and kept it.

The previous picture is at the top of the hill.  This one is at the bottom.  It was a huge drop off that you wouldn't have expected.

This was our first time at Battle Creek MotoX and we liked it. The track was a challenging mile and a half long but well groomed.

Motocross Boy rode it well and still kept his lead.

And the other boys just kept on pushing him.

but not so much that he couldn't do some jumping and tricks.

Somehow he went into the last 100 yards in front and came back to the trailer with a 2nd place finish.  Apparently he fell right before the finish line.  It was still a great race.

To be continued.

Homeschooling...

My little homeschoolers have serious spring fever.  Both of them have been having a very rough time getting school work done when the weather has been warming up and the grass is turning green.  But we're winding down and after next week, we'll take a couple of weeks off except for 2 hours of tutoring.  After the 2 weeks, we'll get back to business but on a much reduced scale.

Speaking of tutoring...Hannah has been around our family since she was about 9.  Her older sister was our favorite babysitter for several years and even helped us out after she had started her own family but Motocross Boy and Equestrian Girl weren't quite old enough to stay home alone.  Somewhere in there Hannah started babysitting for us off and on too when she got old enough.  She just finished her freshman year of college and will do some tutoring for us.  She's majoring in Spanish and minoring in Math - two subjects we could use some help with.

It was so nice to see her today and the kids got a lot out of the hour each she spent with them.

My Little Green Alien

Tired of the skyrocketing fuel prices and getting 15 mpg or less on my F350 truck, I went out and leased a Ford Fiesta.

This is the smallest car I've ever owned!  Even smaller than my first Ford Escort back in the mid 80's.

It's a blast to drive - very peppy and a killer turning radius.

But best of all....40 MPG, baby!!!

Equestrian Girl and the Mother's Day Spur Show

The judge loved Equestrian Girl at this show.  While he just couldn't give her a high placing in the halter class, he gave her blue ribbons in just about everything else starting with showmanship and English Pleasure.

I love seeing those big grins!

Classes were big in the 13 and under age group.

Stanley and Slick - horse show buddies that look totally bored walking around the arena together!

Another big class with a crazy pony on the end that was a disaster!

Equestrian Girl changed into a plain white shirt for Horsemanship.  It was a daring move.  It told the judge that she didn't need the bling to show off her talents. And she didn't.  1st place.

Equestrian Girl and I both had a fantabulous day with mother-daughter high point awards!

Mother's Day at the Spur Show

We've spent the last several years at the Spur Show for Mother's Day.  This year my boy and husband joined us there with Motocross Boy helping out big time!  He helped run the office and was in charge of getting the judge's cards up to the announcer after each class.  Everyone told me he was a huge helper.

The day was PERFECT weather-wise.  The first mother's day in a long time that it hasn't been rainy and windy and cold.

I rode Stanley in the adult walk/trot classes again this year wearing the show shirt we won from the Hobby Horse class last year.

Our Stanley Boy just knows what to do.

And the winner of the Pleasure class?  ME and Stanley!

Next was the equitation class.  I don't think I won this class at all last year - always 2nd or 3rd.

But with Equestrian Girl coaching me from the rail (and me mostly not listening)...

Stanley and I won it!

We also won our trail class.  It was a very happy Mother's Day!

Racing at Baja #3

Into the second moto, the sky brightened and the heat turned UP!  Both weather-wise and race-wise.  Motorcross Boy had to burn it up to stay in front of the competition.

This big curve makes and breaks - you pass or get passed here.

Motocross Boy was in the lead going into the curve but barely holding on coming out.

At some points it looked like a scenic trail ride along the lake...

But other places were scary high!

I'd be afraid going up this one - you can't see what's on the other side!

Uh oh, coming out of that big curve again!

And it's done.

Racing at Baja #2

This was a close and exciting race - he's in the lead, he loses the lead, he passes, he gets passed.  

An hour or two of rest and we head into the second moto.

I heard something the other day.  Motocross racers have the highest sustained heart rates of any athletes.  I'm not sure if it's true or not but at Baja each lap takes about 4 minutes and they do 5 laps so that's 20 minutes of extremely intense riding...

Racing at Baja

Racing at Baja in the spring is always an adventure.  This last time was no exception. The day started out cold and cloudy.  By the end of Motocross Boy's second moto (race), it was sunny and hot.

Waiting to line up with his birthday boy buddy.

I've never quite understood why the Dad's push the bikes up to the starting gates.

Equestrian Girl give the birthday boy a pre-race pep talk.  Maybe she promised him a kiss if he won?  He sure did ride hard!

Dad giving the boy the pep talk and charting out the line to take.

And they are off!  Motocross Boy is on the far right side.

They close in on the curve - starting to bunch up.

Motocross Boy is coming in fast around the outside.

Third to the hole shot!