The End of a Season - I Have Mixed Feelings

Sunday was a glorious day in Colorado. It was a tad bit cold. When the kids raced I think it was around 12 degrees, but it was a scene straight out of a movie set. The snow sparkled like it was made of glass glitter. The snowflakes landed softly. On dark surfaces you could make out the unique beauty of each individual one. Midway through the race the sun broke through the clouds creating streaks of bright light that filtered through the bare tree branches, illuminating the fat, downy snowflakes a it floated past.

It was the last race of the season. And a very important one since it was the 2007 Colorado Cyclocross State Championship.

We had to leave our home around 6:30 in the morning to make it to the race in plenty of time. The roads were not as icy as I thought they might be. The snow began falling on Saturday afternoon and had not stopped. Lyons had about 8" of the soft snow. The kids, especially Ellie, were happy to race in the snow. It is a slower race, but it had its own fun. Ethan says your back tire kind of fish-tails around, making it a very different experience from the usual race. (It is really kind of cool, Mom) If you look at the photo of Ellie here you will see her big smile. I love how she loves to race. Ellie came in 5th in her division and Ethan came in 8th. I was please with those results.

I have mixed feelings about the season being over. I will enjoy not getting up before dawn to make sure we are out of the door and on the road in plenty of time to get registered for the race. I will not miss the squabbles they seem to start as we rush out the door. I will not miss having to unpack a car that looks like a "stuff" bomb went off. (You might be amazed how much gear, food, water bottle, tools, etc. you take to a race.) However, I will miss the opportunity to cheer for my kids and their team mates when they whiz past me. I will miss taking photos of them and being thrilled when I get good ones. I will miss being an active part of this activity. It gives us a way to be focused together. Racing picks back up in March, so we will have to find ways to fulfill those need in another way;.