NICA Mountain Bike Race Weekend in Warsaw

 

First off, I was no fan of the NICA race course or the venue last year. We were so pleasantly surprised when we arrived to this years version and saw the beautiful lake, and the great course that the fine people of Warsaw laid out for us.  Wow.  If you pan left on this first photo, you can see just how many tents there were. These races are HUGE!! Reminds me of national BMX races in the 80's.

Eli has had a rough go of it lately.  He had his wisdom teeth pulled in August and quite a few complications have ensued.  Since leaving Texas last weekend, he's been suffering with more tooth pain. We asked many times if he'd like to skip the Warsaw race but he really wanted to do this one. The solid turnout meant he had a lot of fast people to race again. Great weather, great course, it was hard for him to say no.

It is great to have the varsity riders go off as the first race of the day.  For one, there's is the longest race and that means heat is always a factor. And two, who likes to wait around?? He was in great spirits and although I was a nervous wreck, I survived watching them take off.

After a blistering first lap, Eli was second wheel in a 6-man train. I was over the moon with excitement, because that is a pretty elite group. He had two more laps to get the job done. At the end of the second lap, he was holding fourth, battling it out with one of his usual rivals. Still looking strong, too. As I saw him come around the last corner in his finishing lap, I saw that he had given it his all and he finished a very impressive 5th place, again making the podium.

Even though he finished his race around 10am, the award ceremonies don't occur until 4pm. Most riders and families stay, because it's important to be there for the other riders, and even more important to recognize the hard work by cheering the podium finishers. This was just a portion of the people supporting their teams and their riders.

The final Varsity podium.  So proud of Eli, and so happy that he has found joy in something that is so healthy and fulfilling. Two out of three podiums so far, he's hoping to be in the top five points at the end of the season in October.