On Saturday morning, we traveled to Jefferson City for the last mountain bike race in the NICA series. We started the series in the blistering summer heat and humidity, and we ended it with the chilly winds off of Binder Lake. Rain had pelted the area for a few days, so Saturday practice was delayed, which gave the South City Otters plenty of time to decorate the team tents with Halloween stuff.
The Beautiful Mrs. K rode the course with the coaches as they always do the day before the race and yes, it was slimy and slippery and a bit muddy. Eli also rode the course and his bike (actually my bike, which I will now certainly forfeit to him) was muddier. So it appeared the course was deteriorating with all the tires running on it. It was then I knew that my evening would be spent cleaning bikes. But first, we had the tent judging. As the sun started to set, the judges came around and checked out all of the tents and the decorations. There were some super cool tents from the other teams from around the state, but sure enough, the South City Otters won the contest! The theme was movies and tv shows that involved bikes. The older kids all went with the "Stranger Things" costumes, but there was no Mongoose to be found.
This morning at race time, it was cold. 46 degrees. Cloudy and windy, too. At least yesterday there was an abundance of sun. Didn't seem to matter, and Eli certainly didn't care. He was using clipless pedals for the first time off-road, but...he wasn't too uptight about it. I was probably more uptight about that and maybe my bike (sorry, Eli's bike, I guess) getting trashed. They start calling up the different rider groups about 15 minutes before start time. Eli is in the Sophmore "A" field.
When I'm racing, this is the time that I feel like puking. So many jitters. Eli just turns his focus to the task at hand, and if he has jitters, it certainly doesn't show. He got a good start and had some really consistent lap times.
It looks like I'm giving Eli some harsh words here, but I'm not. This was just into his third 4-mile lap, and I'm telling him he's doing great, one lap to go, and to make sure he's drinking water. Thanks to Jim Stratman for this photo.
I ran back to the finish line area, just in time for the sun to come out in full force. I caught Eli coming through the last super slippery turn (The finish line is up to the right about 75 yards). Neither the course nor the pedals gave him much trouble. He finished in 8th place for the entire series. I'm so proud of him as he only started riding mountain bikes late last year!
Of course, the rest of the day was glorious, with perfectly blue, sunny skies. After all of the races were over, it was time for awards. This crowd gathered in front of the podium presentation to grab some free stuff that the race crew was throwing out. See how many people come out to these things?? This photo covers only about 1/2 of the folks that showed up, racers and families alike.
So many of the South City Otters did great! One notable rider was Lauren. Lauren helps out at the shop one day a week, and today not only did she win her class, but she won the entire 2021 NICA series in Missouri!
More good news came when we received the 3rd place team award for the day. On top of that, and perhaps the greatest honor: we were 3rd place for the entire series! Go OTTERS!
The best news for the Hound Dog was that we came to bring him home. He had a sleepover with his favorite friend Vader. He loves Vader. But he loves it when we come home, too. And he doesn't have to clean any bikes!
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