Bike Racing - Not Always Boring

Somewhere under that pile of coats is a sleeping Julia.

Dad had to officiate bicycle races in Lincoln this weekend so he decided to take the four oldest girls along. The races are cyclocross, where racers ride on the grass and carry their bikes over obstacles.

We parked by a 180-degree turn around some trees, which later became known as the "YD Roundabout" on the course. The girls thought it was hilarious at the start of each race (when the field was together) and laughed at the competitors as they huffed and puffed their way by the van.

They also liked giving nicknames to the riders. There was the "Jelly Bean Guy" (see photo above, right), a guy who looked like Santa Claus, the "Orange Crush" guy and one female rider even had a blue boa on her bike (they were too stunned by that to come up with a nickname).

Julia brought her bike along on the second day, which made for a nice change of pace. Unfortunately, it also wore her out (see photo above). That let Emily and Lauren enjoy some time on it, though. (Olivia stayed home with Grandma YD on Sunday.)

Another fun part of each day was taking a trek over to "Hooligan Hill" to watch the racers run their bikes up a steep hill (see photo below). They also liked when Dad ran over an orange cone that was in the middle of the road. Uncle Neil was also with us (officiating), so they had fun with him, too.


Editor's Note: Special thanks to John Peterson for taking the picture of Julia fast asleep. (Other photos by David Story.)