Monday, March 15, 2010

Bonelli Park Triple Crown

I'm going to try and write a post for every one of Nathan's races this season, for documentation's sake!  Before the race started, Nathan was called up to the box to receive a $25 gift certificate he won in a drawing.  He's a lucky little guy!


I gave Sean the camera, so I didn't get any shots of Nathan starting or finishing, but Sean got some great shots of him on the course.  I think we need to invest in another camera.

Nathan's in second place in this pic.


Still in the 2nd place position.  1st place rider is in 3rd.


Still in 2nd place position right behind this rider.  The 1st place finisher is right behind Nathan in the red.



The breakaway.  I heard talk that this little guy was named last year's "Best Young Rider" and apparently his sister is ranked 17th in the nation.  So, we're thrilled that he only beat Nate Dog by 10 seconds. 








2nd place finish for our boy!  Not bad at all!  We are so proud!


It's on to the Fontana City National Pro XCT, March 27th!

Love, Lisa

Friday, March 5, 2010

US Cup Sagebrush Safari


Our Hickey clan traveled down to San Diego for the first race of Nathan's mountain biking season.


Turns out, it wasn't just the first mountain biking race of Nathan's season, but it was the first mountain biking race of Sean's season too! So of course, Tristan and I were there to cheer Daddy and Nathan on!


We had a really great day just being part of a great event and meeting lots of good people. Finally, it was time for Nate and Dad to make their way to their spots in the line up.



Nathan lined up at the end of the lineup with all the little people in his category;


I guess after awhile he kind of gets sick of me taking his picture.


Daddy lined up somewhere in the middle, with all the bacon eating, couch potato, weekend warriors in his category.




Finally, the race was ready to start. The pros start it off and then it goes down the line, through three different category's of men and woman and all the different age groups. All the way to the little kids categories.  Everyone did 18 miles, however the kids did 2 laps (originally it was supposed to be 3 laps). I'm not really sure how many miles the kids course was, but they did have to cross three streams with about 2 feet of water, with each lap. Momma was a little nervous before the race started.


Daddy's up.


Then it was Nate Dog's turn.




He took the lead pretty early.....and never looked back. I'm a proud Momma!


Tristan and I hiked out onto the course to try and get shots of Nathan crossing one of the streams.



We never did make it.....but we got these great shots:


This girl in the 14 and under category is the only person that beat Nathan, and she did so by only 1 second.


He left everyone else in the dust.




It was so great to be out on the course cheering Nathan on. Tristan and I realized that we needed to hustle back to the finish line before Nathan's last lap, so we RAN all the way back to the finish line. We got some great exercise, but we were disappointed to find that Nathan only had to do 2 laps and not 3, so this is the only picture I have of Nathan on the other side of the finish line after his race.


Then came the award ceremony. Nathan looks so good up on that podium in the first place position. He really has a heart for this sport and seems to be a natural at it. We are very, very proud of him!


It was kind of a long wait after that for Daddy to roll in, but boy was it fun to see him cross that finish line.



Guys and girls were coming off of that course muddy and bloody.  When Daddy came in, the boys and I were there to give him high fives.  He didn't come back bloody, but he did come back muddy with a big 'ole smile on his face and he raved about what a fun time he had for days afterwards.



 

Happy trails to you and yours!

Love, Lisa