Eagle Mountain Race #2

Since the Vernal race was cancelled for mountain biking, they put a second race at Eagle Mountain to make up for it.  It's crazy because we now to have 3 bike races in 3 weeks but it's the end of the season and you get extra points if you finish all 4 races.  Since the team had been on this course earlier in the season, the coaches decided not to pre-ride and encouraged the kids to not miss school on Friday.

We woke up early Saturday morning (since Ethan wasn't riding until the afternoon) and drove up to Eagle Mountain.  Ethan was anxious because he was nervous something would happen and we wouldn't get there but we did just fine.  The road out to the course is HORRIBLE!  It's dirt and huge bolder rocks that you have to make sure you don't high center on.  But we made it!

Courtney and Bryan also had their bikes so while Ethan was getting ready to ride, they went on a bike ride of their own.

You can see them in this drone video of the girls race.  (Fast forward to about 5:30 and on the right you will see 2 riders in the trees.  At about 5:35 they are shown and Courtney is in a bright green-blue helmet.
Drone of Girls Race

Courtney had a lot of fun because we brought her bike.  This has been a learning season for us.  We now know better what we need to bring and what we don't need.

Bryan went down by the staging area to see Ethan and got some pictures of him.  I am so glad he wanted to spray paint his helmet bright green.  It is so much easier to find him in a crowd.

Here is the video Courtney took of his start as he came past us.

This is the video of his first lap passing us.

This is the video of his finish.  He was frustrated because he was going good until his chain skipped when he shifted.  It caused him to almost fall and it slowed him down so he was passed by a few riders.  But he finished well and did a great job on the race.

This is the drone footage of Ethan's race.
Ethan's race
The start of his race is at 2:48.  Look for his bright green helmet with the black racing kit on.  You can see him really well starting at 4:38 coming near the red barrier that says "CLIF" on it on the left hand side of the screen.  The drone flies over him at 5:08 and you don't see him until 8:25 when he is at the bottom of the screen (the kid in front of him gives a thumbs up to the drone).  That's a rough uphill because it is single track and they couldn't pass.  I think that's all the drone footage of Ethan, Bryan and Courtney.

At the end of the season, which was this race, the lowest score was dropped and 25 points were added to the scores of those riders who completed all 4 races.  Going into this race, Ethan was ranked 33rd out of 72 riders in the southern division.  After the lowest races were dropped and the extra 25 points were added, Ethan ended up 44th in his division.  That's awesome!  Last year at this time he was in a cast from his toes to his hip and was using crutches.  I think he should be very happy with how well he has done.

State Championships are in St. George on November 5th and Ethan races at 8:15 or 8:20 a.m.  It will be his final race of the season.  There is a banquet for all the riders and then a "Bike Prom/Stomp" which is a dance at the end.  The Flying Monkey's have their own end of the season banquet in a few weeks.  I am so glad he wanted to do this and he says he wants to continue next year.