THE SAME RACE?

 
 

Yes these photos are taken at the same race. On the left is Mike Schindler from our Sunnyside Team and on the right is the "kiddie race" Both in Rainier, both photos of kids going hard. That one kid is on a skuut type bike, it has no pedals. He is keeping up with the pedal bike no problem though. I am not sure if anyone keeps track who wins or not, from my perspective I don't think the concept of winning or loosing isn't really on the minds of these kids. They are just going hard, with a lot of adults running around and yelling. Kind of like the adult race really. In the mens "A"race there are maybe 5 guys who start who really have a chance at winning, the rest well they go hard for an hour in order to finish in the top 10, 20 maybe not last. They are all faster than me, but winning isn't really the reason they are there. They are there to do there best.

That brings me to me. I was 7th last week. Not a stellar race for me if you look at the placing. I have done better for sure. However it was a great race for me anyway. I had a slow start. No somebody did not crash me out, no my chain did not come off, no I did not get stuck in traffic. My legs said enough is enough and they went on strike. I must of been close to 15th or 20th when we left the pavement. After one lap I was ready to throw in the towel. I don't through in towels though. Third lap I was back in the top 10 4th lap I was 5th, 5th lap I was catching 4th, I was giving it everything I had,"Gie it lauldie", in Scots. I then got passed by two friends with 100 meters to go, back to 7th it was. I don't like getting passed at the finish, but still I managed to be competitive and almost get to my best finish of the year. Being in the 50+ category brings with it humility and understanding. I think we need to think more like the kids in the kiddie race. Go out there, go hard, have fun and let a bunch of adults run around and yell at us.  Maybe when I get older they will have a new category for us. We would start with the kids. Some of us would be on walkers or skuuts, some would have real bikes, a bunch of adults would still be yelling and we would be tired when we were done. No telling what the future will bring.

Don