Bursting with pride

Ok, two posts on the same night...don't worry it won't happen again.

As I said in my last post I've been racing going on eight years now. What I didn't say is that I'm about as competitive as they come. Growing up I had the privledge of playing baseball, basketball, football, track and anything else that required beating someone at something. Then I went to college and played basketball, and then shortly after that semi-pro football for three years until I blew out my knee so bad that I couldn't run anymore. Luckily my youngest brother was involved in cycling at that point and said "if you want to run, here ride this". And...here we are.

Ok, story line two. In 1999 our first son was born, I couldn't have been prouder. I thought OK, here we go a boy!! Well, it became quickly apparent that this kid was not exactly what I had in mind. He was smart (we're talking incredibly smart, which we can all agree didn't come from me) and very musically talented (which I think did come from me, but tends to skip generations or something I guess) but, he was most certainly NOT competitive. He completely gets his lack of competitiveness from his mother, this I'm certain of. Now, don't get me wrong, I love him more than I can say and am proud of everything that he does...but it's just different from what I had in mind, or rather different from me.

Ok, where is this going you're asking. Well, I've been pushing Clayton to get out on his bike more lately, bought him a great second hand road bike from a teammate, set some goals, anything I can think of to get him motivated in bettering himself physically. Hoping that he would at some point actually get the "bug" and want to compete. He has raced a couple of mountain bike races but never very hard, more just to please me I think. Then, last Tuesday and our local club crit he raced, and believe it or not he enjoyed it. Karen and I set an average that we wanted him to hit for the time and if he got it then he got ice cream (no, I'm not above bribery). Then I told him he should enter the junior 12-13 race his weekend...and he shrugged his shoulders and "sure".

Fast forward to last night. Karen and I went to register him and noticed that he was the only Junior to register. Crap, that meant 20 minutes on the course all by himself...I didn't think that would go over very well. So, I went and asked very nicely if Cole Skiba and Buddy Houts (Junior teammates) would be so kind as to at least warm up on the course at the same time as Clayton's race so he'd have someone else on the course with him. Cole and Buddy went above and beyond.

At the line this morning the two guys had worked out a stragey and talked two other Juniors to "race" with them making a five man field. The race started and off they went, I had no idea but the guys had worked it all out. Cole got in front and pulled Clayton the whole race, showing him how to take corners, draft and generally race a crit. And he did so in the nicest and best way possible. Then Buddy, who I can only assume was living up to his end of the bargain "blocked" the other Juniors to give Clayton and Cole plenty of room yet keeping them in sight. Then with 3 laps to go the other three moved up and as the come for the bell lap pushed the pace making Clayton struggle to hold Cole's wheel. As they came up the final stretch Clayton was pedaling for all he was worth, I've never seen the kid put forth the effort that he did in that final stretch...he clearly had that "itch" to beat someone. And he was doing it!!

Now, I know that those Juniors could have lapped him so many times that we couldn't have kept track. And they wouldn't have had to have ridden it at all. But for them to do what they did, for a kid that I can guarantee will never forget it, and for a Dad that couldn't be prouder at that moment...is beyond words. To those four guys that rode, Cole Skiba, Buddy Houts, Patrick Summerall and another Junior that I didn't know...thank you. You have no idea.