Bearings installed, gear changed, bags packed, 1/2 day at work, etc.  I'm ready for this.  My stomach has been in knots all week.  James wrecked in practice last night because he's so revved-up.  Crazy stuff.  Tomorrow is the state championship race.  <Big exhale> LET'S GET READY TO PEDAL!!!!  

As we're staring at the end of the SSA season, I'm suddenly confronted with this question.  Last weekend James raced in Sarasota on Friday night (win #17) & St. Cloud on Sunday (win #18).  This coming weekend, he could race in Sarasota on Friday &/or Orlando on Sunday.  Orlando is a SCR race...and triple points.  Next weekend is SSA Championships in St. Cloud (again).  The weekend after that is another SCR race in St. Augustine (double points) and then... Read More

(Sorry, with all the furor over that phrase lately, I couldn't help myself from using it!) James won both days in Tampa.  He wrecked in the first moto on Saturday (not his fault), sat around for an hour stewing about it (check the photo of "Angry James"), & nobody touched him the rest of the weekend.  Everything happens for a reason.  I'm just glad he's OK. So, umpteen times over the weekend, Chad (the announcer) reminds us parents not to run on ... Read More

Tampa Qualifiers are this weekend.  The upshot is that James can gain 2 points toward the SSA championship series on Saturday and another 2 on Sunday.  All he needs to do is win! At last count James was up by about 5 points on the boy in 2nd place.  All I know is "Wins = More Points.  Most points win.  Win and the rest will take care of itself." Too many moving pieces lately with home purchase, etc. The plan is this: Win in Tampa X2. ... Read More

As a follow-up to last week's madness... I finally called a shop that we had gone to way back when.  Not sure why I didn't try them earlier, but I didn't.  They said "bring it on over" and promptly dropped everything and full-on hooked us up.  They told me exactly what I already knew--> his spokes were really loose, rear was out of true, & things had been a mess.  They really did me a solid...and now they've got a customer for life. ... Read More

(Any DK's fans know that song?  Just checking.) Last Friday we had races.  James won.  8^)  In our pre-race ritual, I always pump up his tires.  This time, I noticed a really loose spoke on the front & the back wheel was out of true.  I decided that Saturday morning we'd stop by the shop (lets say "shop #1") where we've had good experiences.  They looked at his wheels, said they wanted to de-tension and re-tension the e... Read More

I'm now checking USABMX and SSA (Florida) sites on a daily basis.  I'm checking other riders.  I'm doing point calculations & computations.  I've gotten the calendar out and checked it (repeatedly!) to make sure of where James stands in relation to races won versus the state championship date.  I'm planning out which races we can attend and which ones we need to skip.  I'm trying to ascertain other children's point totals and win totals... Read More

Another one where Junior won everything!  This time he won his first heat & then the final...both days.  Wow.  Kills me, I tell you.  One thing I will say, every time we line up with other kids that are "his age"?  He dwarfs them.  I never thought of James as really "big", but he sure is when you stand him next to other kids his same age.  To me?  He's just James.  To them?  He's the giant kid that crushes ... Read More

This is our first real "away for the weekend" race.  We've done a few 1-day-drive races, but this is the first where we're renting a hotel room and going for a couple days/nights.  Regional qualifiers, here we come!  Hoping that High Springs is nicer to us than Naples.  I see the hill isn't as big as James is used to, but it looks like big, comfy corners...I'm sure he'll be fine.  Winning at Gator Nationals definitely gave him a boost of ... Read More

Goodness.  That was everything I had hoped and more.  In the end?  James led down the hill, got passed in turn 2, came under the leader (Logan Schultz) in turn 3, and raced side-by-side down the whole last straightaway!  I couldn't tell who won from the top of the hill (literal inches) and ran down to James - "Who won?"  He held up his little paper tag with the 1 on it and proclaimed in his best "proud" voice: "I did".  Trul... Read More