Bright and early we were on our way to Bettendorf. Salem was super excited and had lots of energy! Day started out chilly and windy, but the sun was out! We got him all registered and they even got a bag of swag. Swag was 2 way too big shirts, some gu, a pencil and a couple hats. Salem and Keith got ready and pre rode the course and it was time for Salem to go! His race was at 11am and was 30 minutes plus 2 laps. The official started them off with 5 laps, didn't bother counting the time, which was just as easy. Salem was in a group of 14 other racers. We thought he was the only junior, but ends up there was 1 other guy who was 18, so just on the edge on being legally a junior. Salem looked so out of place against the other guys, him being so small. We stuck him at the back for the start so he wouldn't get in their way.
And their off!! I'm really impressed at how well Salem did! He hung in there and didn't give up! Sure he could have raced harder at some points, but that come with learning when and where to put the hammer down. He wasn't lapped until the 3rd lap! And he ended up doing 4 laps all together! Heck Keith did 6! I really thought Salem would have been lapped within 2 laps, but nope, he was awesome! The crowd was awesome too, so many people cheering Salem on! Really rooting the small guy to keep going. There was a ton of cow bells being rang and lots of clapping. Even the official was cheering him on a couple times it seemed. Keith was running around with the video camera, I had the digital and Kaden had a cow bell. Lots of fun! I caught Salem on camera smiling a couple times :) Of course lots of other times he looked really into the racing and hardcore! He needs to work on the barriers and how to cross them a bit better. It's hard since he's so small. The big guys clear them with no probs...usually. But little Salem and big bike over tall barrier doesn't mesh too well. It's an issue of how to hold the bike, but again takes practice. At the end of the race a rider was coming up on him and I was hoping he'd be able to hold him off and he did!!! Salem had a little extra boost of energy and pushed hard to the finish line and the guy didn't pass him!
Salem finished 14th out of 14th and got 2nd place in the Juniors category! He was very excited! His price was a bag of goodies which included some handle bar grips, a patch kit, a 10 piece bike tool set and some tire inflate stuff. Not too shabby!
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