On Saturday Ellie had a good race, but the day itself was very exciting. Kathy, a biking friend of ours, approached me to see if I thought that Ellie might be interested in joining her Colorado High School Mountain Biking League team. They are a brand new team and are in great need of a female member. Having a girl racing on your team improves the team standings greatly. Many other people had suggested to Ellie that she should join a team, but at those times she was not intererested. I told Kathy she could ask, but that she should not hold her breath. I did not think Ellie would even give it a second thought. However, I was very wrong. After finishing her race, Ellie went to find Kathy, talked with her and came bounding back to me. She is over the moon with excitement. Kathy said she would be able to find scholarship money (or even help Ellie on her own) to pay for the league and racing fees. Kathy is even pretty sure that she can get a Specialized mountain bike for Ellie. That is exciting to her; she is equally excited with the idea that she can make a very real and big difference for for the team. Kathy told Ellie that if she had been on the team the week before that the team would have gotten second over all instead of eleventh (which is still pretty good considering that there are 27 teams in our division of the league.) Since then Ellie was been awarded money to cover the costs and Kathy is lending Ellie one of her own mountain bikes. It is a nice, light one. Ellie got a chance to ride it last night. She is nervous about being a newbie in the race on Sunday. I told her that Kathy and I think she will do great. Her strength and skill will transfer nicely to that kind of riding. She simply needs to get used to the bike.
I am thankful for people like Kathy, the coach, and for Kate, the league director who awarded Ellie money for racing. It is one thing to have your parents believe in you. Ellie tells me, "Mom, you have to believe in me. That is your job." Having others show the same support is completely different and affirming. What a lucky girl she is.
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