Yesterday I had a great time at the Poor Farm Fall Cup that took place near Richmond, Virginia. The trails there are super fun singletrack with whoops and berms, there was music, friends and plenty of post race stories!
I would have to say the highlight of the day was riding with the little kids race and seeing how fired up they were to race and keep going no matter what. The 8 to 12-year-olds started in an all out sprint. Some would lose the pedals or just plane crash. This was a real off road course with trails and I was surprised because most of the time the little ones never leave the grass. One little girl's chain kept falling off and despite my fixing it a couple times it wouldn't stay on. As she cried I told her lets give it one more try. I put the chain on, she pedaled about 20 feet and then POP it was off again. But she didn't put on the brakes, instead she swung her leg over the top tube (quite gracefully) transitioning into a run! Whoa, that was awesome! She ran the rest of the way to the finish with her dad.
That's what I'm talking about: spirit, courage and determination. That's mountain biking!
This young guy is training to "be the next Jeremiah Bishop!" I better watch out.
It's a good reminder that any race you finish is a good one. What is life without a little challenge anyway?
Later I signed some autographs and the little girl came up and thanked me for helping her. I wrote on the poster, "Good Job. Never give up!" If she can do it, so can we.
Have fun and keep going. You are often closer than you think to the finish.
Jeremiah
Labels: Racing
