Bikes for kids May 2015

Elias had his first ever stage bike race a few weeks ago and it was such a fun experience!  His first race was a criterium race that happens on a course and the cyclists race for a designated amount of time.  This race was down in Sandy right next to the South Towne Mall.  It was a crazy fast race! These guys were averaging about 27 miles an hour on a flat course, also a lady pulled her truck onto the course which resulted in about 8 guys crashing their bikes. Soo all in all it was a very interesting race!

The next 2 races were in Herriman which is south west of South Jordan so it is VERY far west basically in the middle of the desert.  We had to be there early in the morning as you can tell by Elsie's expression.

 The first race of the day was the road race.  Once again this was a FAST race! I couldn't believe the tempo these guys were holding! This specific course was awesome because it was a 9 mile loop that they had to do 6 times so I got to see Elias multiple times, it was awesome! Elias held on to the lead group (which was his goal) until about the 4th lap when he fell off the lead group and he passed me totally solo, I was freaking out because I was thinking "there is no way that he can finish this race solo!" so thankfully the next time he came around a few other guys had fallen off of the lead group so he was in a pack and finished 10th out of 60 ish.

 Then the final race of the day was was the TT (time trial) race.   Elias had never done a TT and I had never seen one in person so it was pretty exciting.  Most guys go all out they full on have TT bikes which are extremely aero, they have different handle bars different wheels and look completely different.  Also a lot of guys have aero helmets and kits.  Elias didn't have any of this special gear.  

So the way the race works is they start each guy one by one. They have someone hold your bike up, so that you can clip in and take off right when another guy starts a timer.  And then each cyclist is started 30 seconds after the guy in front of him. 

Elias took off so fast and came into the finish even faster, he passed the guy who started 30 seconds before him (which was his goal) and finished the race 7th overall!!! Elsie and I were so extremely proud of Elias!

We were so extremely proud of you this entire weekend! And we are so proud every time you race!  You are so inspiring with your hard work, dedication, and humble attitude, we love you!!!

-Stef