A Race With No Pedals

Striding to the Finish Line

 

Sometimes, I need to be reminded why I do the things I do.  Thanks to a great guy, Jeremy, I was able to regroup and remember that life is about having fun.  So why not add a little craziness to the mix. 

 

While at the International Mountain Biking Association's World Summit, there was a Strider Race for adults.   Any one who has seen these bikes, know they are about 12 inches tall and not really meant for an adult.  Luckily, we got to see their new line.  Striders for kids 6-10.  It's an 18 inch high (still not meant for adults) bike with NO pedals.

 

Testing out the NEW Strider Junior

Obviously, I needed to race one of these.  Who wouldn't?  OK, a lot of people wouldn't, but in a moment of craziness, I signed up to do it anyways.  I was desparate to get on one ahead of time and make sure I wasn't going to kill myself before the race.  I was able to snag one about 40 minutes before and check out its stability.  BIG MISTAKE!  Now I want one of my very own.  Little kids can wait.  This thing was FUN!

 

I was in the last heat of races and the only female in my heat.  ARGH!  No female finished in front of the guys in any heat to this point.  Being the engineer brained person that I am, I closely observed the other races to see what worked and what didn't.  Some great wipe outs were noted at the first corner.  We had a storm earlier and there was water and leaves all over the road.

 

I'm the one with the white stripes on my sleaves.

Santa Fe shut down its city square for our race and when I finally hit the start line, I was ready to go.  My goal was to get out front for the first turn and then haul booty around that block.  My start was great but so was the guy's next to me.  In an effort to hit that corner hard and fast we banged up against each other.  I could only push with my left foot as my coordination wasn't great but he was on my left and we were leaning on each other trying not to crash.  I was terrified to do anything but lean back and pray for NO WIPE OUT!



 

Luck was on my side for not crashing but it cost us both to be tangled up like that and I hit the first turn in about 4th place out of the six of us in my heat.  I gave it all I had and by the second turn, I was exhausted.  Gasping for air is a nice way of describing how I felt up in that high altitude city and I was passed by the rest of the racers.  DARN IT!  I don't want to finish last.  I need to represent the girls.  I kicked my foot harder and caught up to the guy in front of me.  As we cleared turn three we were neck and neck.

 

Turn 3:  We were going so fast, we appeared like ghosts
in the camera eye - there is actually a guy on a red bike
right next to me (behind me in the shot)

 

Unlucky for him, he went wide and I was able to squeeze ahead by hiting the turn as tighly as I could.  I was wiped out and still had a block and a half to go.  I sat on my seat for a moment and rallied my lungs.  As we hit the last turn we were still neck and neck.  It was gonna be a photo finish if one of us didn't do something.  I decided that muscle failure wasn't an option and started kicking with everything I had left.  YAY, I finished 5th of six strider racers in my heat and I was able to represent the gals by not finishing last. 

 

Perhaps I have a future in racing after all.  I just need the races to be shorter and without pedals.