Bike Race #1 - Kamas

Ethan had his first mountain bike race of the season in Kamas on August 25th.  We drove up on Friday after his classes so he could pre-ride the course.  It was the same course as last year but he didn't get to race it last year because it snowed!  This year it was perfect weather!

We are in the South Region, which is new this year.  It means that there were a lot less teams that last year and the pit zones weren't as crowded.  Our pit zone was right next to a little pond and was all grassy and shaded with trees.  This is NOT how any other race pit zones are, so we had to try not to be spoiled.  I don't think they wanted anyone swimming in the pond.



We stayed in a hotel in Park City for the night, had our usual dinner of pizza, and watched documentaries about aliens.  Don't knock it, it's tradition for the first race!  We had a little confusion about our hotel but we got it figured out, thanks for Bryan and his patience. 

Saturday morning we woke up and got to Kamas so we could watch the other races and so Bryan could sweep the girls race.

Here is Ethan's race plate for this year!


Bryan had to be there a bit early to check in as a sweep.  That means that he rides behind the very slowest girl in the race to make sure that she is okay and nothing happens.  This race was different because Bryan's tire got a slash in the side.  It was tubeless, but he had tubes, so he hurried and changed his tire.  When he radioed in that he had to change his tire he thought he had lost the girl in front of him.  But after getting on his bike and riding a little way, there she was.  So he didn't really lose her after all.  She was enjoying her day out for a ride, which is awesome!

Ethan was a bit annoyed because his race wasn't until the afternoon so it took forever for it to come time for him to get ready.  But he sat and enjoyed the nice weather before getting his kit on.  I like their new kits, although the kids would have preferred to have them in pink!


When it was finally ready to get "race ready" the JV team was ready to go.  First they have "power pose" where they get a pep talk and say things like "I'm awesome" to themselves.  Then they grab their bikes and go warm up so they are ready to go when their heat is called.


Ethan did great.  He looked strong and was riding well.  The JV were doing three laps but after two laps they pulled a bunch of the riders because they had another heat going and they didn't want too many riders on the trail at once.  Ethan got pulled and I was nervous that he would be upset, but he was fine with doing two laps instead of three.

His legs looked pretty filthy when he finished.  He changed out of his kit and then we sat around and rested until it was time to take down the pit zone and get ready for the podiums.


We take a wagon and a cooler to each race so we can carry out stuff and have lunch to eat.  The boys got everything to the van before podiums were ready to begin.


SCHS has some great riders and we ended up with first place as a team!!  Ethan is on the very top in the middle with his arms up.  He climbed right up on the podum and the team gathered all around.  It was so neat to see them all up there.


Here is the team after podiums.  Not everyone stayed because it didn't start until close to 7 pm and we had a long drive home, but it was fun to be there.  We haven't ever stayed before and I was really glad that we did this time.


Our awesome mountain bike rider!


When we got home, we made sure that everyone knew that SCHS had taken first.  The mountain bike teams really don't get the recognition that the other teams do, but they are the only Fall sport doing well right now.