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| Owen Moore on the start line at the 6 Hours of Warrior Creek |
24x7: 24" wheeled MTB pedaled by a 7 year old.
Owen first started talking about racing the 6WC last year. When it came time to enter, I checked in with race director Jason Bumgarner to make sure that a 7 year old doing the race would be okay. My plan was to ride with Owen for as many laps as he wanted to do of the 14 mile course. With the okay from "Bum", we got on the wait list.
We lined up Saturday morning excited and ready to have fun. I was a little nervous about making sure that we didn't get caught up in opening lap craziness at the start and getting caught in traffic as we got lapped by the leaders. The main goal was to just have fun.
And fun we did have. Owen ripped along, descending and ripping berms like a mad man. He attacked the early climbs with gusto, standing up and muscling the gear with every ounce of his 42 pounds. He talked with me most of the time pointing out stuff on the trail, asking me math questions like "How many inches are in a mile?", and asking "Did I ride that one right?" after almost every berm. There was little crashing and lots of smiles and laughs. All in all a great time!
Owen did one lap with a time of two hours and fifty-nine minutes. Thank you to all of the riders who had patience with us in passing. Owen gained a new skill by learning to yield the trail while continuing to ride. Thank you to to everyone who cheered for him and offered him words of encouragement. I know the pony tail threw some of you and you said things like, "You go girl!", but rest assured he appreciated all of the positive reinforcement and pushed a little harder every time somebody cheered for him. As a dad, I couldn't be prouder.
