Cyclo-Cross Race #2

Today Lou had another one of those gruelling Cyclo-cross races, and this time Jackson got to go too. We also took my sister Brittany along just for fun.


Jackson got a real race bell and rang the heck out of it. He was so cute cheering on his dad. He was yelling the whole time. At one time when he saw Lou out on the course he said, "Come on Dad, show 'em what you got!" I just though it was so cute. Here he is with Brittany...he really wasn't in the mood for pictures today, but he mustered up a smile for this one. Here is Lou out on the course....He wasn't really feeling up to racing today, but we had already told Jackson about the race and he was so excited to go and watch Lou. This morning Lou told Jackson that he wasn't feeling all that well, and Jackson said, "That's okay, it doesn't matter who you cheer on, I can go and cheer other dad's on if you don't feel up to racing dad." I looked at Lou and said, "You got that right? He's going whether you go or not." And so Lou decided he would go. It was hard on him, but he did great. We were so proud of him.

Here he is all finished....
Jackson just idolizes Lou....Checking out all the mud on his bike.

Like father like son....

Thanks Daddy for doing the race even though you weren't feeling so well. It was a lot of fun for us. Thanks for the fun picnic afterwards, the duck feeding, and the baseball. We really crammed a lot of fun into today.

I love my family.

Cyclo-cross - Race #1

Cyclo-cross: (sometimes cyclocross, CX, cyclo-X or 'cross) is a form of bicycle racing. Races take place typically in the autumn and winter (the international or "World Cup" season is September-January), and consists of many laps of a short (2.5–3.5 km or 1.5–2 mile) course featuring pavement, wooded trails, grass, steep hills and obstacles requiring the rider to quickly dismount, carry the bike whilst navigating the obstruction and remount in one motion.[1][2] Races for senior categories are generally between 30 minutes and an hour long, with the distance varying depending on the ground conditions.

My husband LOVES LOVES LOVES bicycles! And he rides his any chance he gets...In fact he's ridden over 2500 miles this year (his goal is 3,000 for the year...and I'm sure he'll do it). Anyway, this last weekend he rode in the 1st Cyclo-cross race of the season. Honestly, it looked like the hardest thing ever...there is NO WAY I could have done that. There were a few girls that entered the race, but not too many. The course consisted of hurdles (I call them hurdles...I don't really know what they called them), hills (steep ones), grass, dirt, mud, and gravel. Lou finished mid pack...8th place out of about 16-20 people.

Getting ready...
Getting his gear on...
Starting line.....
These are the "hurdles"...

Out on the course...Doesn't look so bad.
Coming across the finish line....
All done...and muddy.
After all that...He's not done. He is doing about 4 or 5 more (it's a series of races). The next one is this next weekend...And...It's supposed to rain which means even more mud. I thought they'd just cancel it, but NO they like it better that way.

I'm proud of you honey. Love you.