CCC Kids Camp

Despite good reviews in the past, this CCC event was poorly organized and consequently quite a letdown. But, G and his Dad turned this into a very enjoyable weekend, with hours and hours of riding for G.

Thanks to his Dad, G enjoyed some trail time as well as the little track or trail onsite. Under his Dad's supervision, G and several other kids rode together here for hours. It was hard to get him off his bike. A good thing of course, unless it's dusk and he's near to falling off of it from exhaustion.

Meeting the other parents was enjoyable for us and we even connected with a family also running the enduro series.

And let's not forget ice cream at the Whippy Dip.

Enduro Racing in the UP

G's second enduro of the season was held in Marquette, in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. Given the distance, we made it a long weekend, squeezing in touristy stuff alongside the racing. Uncle Brad joined us and we met up with friends Jason and Eve and their two boys.

We crossed the Mackinaw Bridge Friday morning and headed directly for Oswald's Bear Ranch. G and J--his motocross buddy--were allowed to cuddle the bear cubs and spend time with Dean Oswald, former ToughMan Contest promoter. This was yet another experience us parents enjoyed as much as the little ones.

From there, we went to set up camp on the Taquemenon River. For convenience sake, we opted to forego setting our tent up, choosing instead to sleep in the cargo section of Jason's rig. Made sense since we were moving on first thing in the morning to the race site. Unfortunately, we left that cargo area open all day and it was filled with mosquitos. G and I woke with bites to our faces, neck and scalp. I kept trying to keep him totally under the covers, but our sleeping bag was so hot, we were suffocating. Paul escaped to the truck where he argued with the dog about who slept where. And Uncle Brad resorted to removing his pillow case and fashioning it as a malaria net over his face.

Even the dog needed added protection from bugs during the day:

Saturday we exchanged wet, bug-infested Newberry for the hot, dry winds of Marquette. Always fun to reunite with FES friends. G and his Dad rode G's second enduro (on his own bike) without problem and Mom enjoyed working the last checkpoint, seeing G come in from his first 'start to finish' enduro on his KTM.

Here are G and his Dad lining up to wait for their minute:

In addition to the trophy ceremony, we enjoyed watching as the enduro pros arrived for Sunday's National. G and J snagged some autographs and Uncle Brad won a signed Russel Bobbit jersey for display in his 'Gaylord bedroom.' So cool. Watching those pros race Sunday morning was even better. Wow. And funny to also catch a glimpse of friend Josh racing amongst them.

We headed home Sunday at a leisurely pace, stopping for ice cream and fudge of course. Not sure which we all enjoyed most that day--the beautiful drive or finally getting home so we could shower. We were all soooo dirty--absolutely CAKED in bug spray. Love the UP; hate the bugs.

Onaway Motorspeedway

And what naturally follows G's private introduction to motocross? His desire to participate in a real motocross race. All things dirtbiking, he lives for it.

So, at the first opportunity, we took him to Onaway MotorSpeedway. It's a small outlaw (non-AMA) track north of Atlanta. In his first moto, he rode in the top 3 or 4 (of 7 riders). He had no problem pulling away from the pack off the starting gate and spilled only briefly on the sand hill (after which he picked the best line and cruised right up it everytime). Midway through the moto, a little boy fell down in front of him. Not close enough to cause G to crash, but what does G do anyway? He stops. The little boy was crying his eyes out so G stopped his bike and waited with him until an adult reached him. It took me another minute to get to G and tell him to get going again. He placed 6th, all because of that tender little heart he has. He didn't want to leave that little boy, forgetting all about placing or the fact that this was a competition.

He ran the second moto in a downpour. The track was so slick it was greasy and he had trouble getting the feel of the track during the first lap. Aside from getting stuck his first time up the biggest hill, he stayed on it and finished 5th of 9. He was able to pass other riders and be passed without any hesitation or without appearing intimidated by the traffic out there. And he seemed to really enjoy it.

G's First Motocross Track Experience

In May, we enjoyed a mid-week, mini-vacation, taking G downstate to ride on his first motocross track (jumps, whoops, etc. instead of woods trail riding). A friend rented an entire motocross park for the day for his son's fifth birthday. They invited G along and G and J were the only two little ones on the track. Great, great opportunity to see if G likes it without the distraction/threat of dozens of other kids on the track at the same time.

He was nervous, poor guy. But LOVED it, took to it like a duck to water and we couldn't get him off the track. I took nearly an hour video of nothing but him riding out there, copied it to a tape and now he has his own motocross video, starring him.

In addition to riding, he had nothing but time with friends he only gets to see once or twice a year. Non-stop play. First with J, fast friends these two, despite having met only once before. And then with T, coined a 'cousin by choice' and idolized by G since before he could walk. We even took G to T's school at lunchtime and he sat with T (who is 11) and all of his friends in the cafeteria. He loves T like no other and the two and a half days we spent down there were heaven for him. Until allergies hit him like a ton of bricks.

On the way home, we hooked up with Grandma, leaving Dad to work while we rode the rest of the way up with her. We even made it home in time for G to attend his last day of pre-school, an afternoon spent at his teacher's home. I was glad he could attend, but regretted sending him there essentially sick. Poor kid.

In addition to much-needed time with Grandma, G enjoyed time with his "uncles", who joined us Saturday. Given Uncle Brad's penchant for woods riding this year, we are thrilled at the prospect of spending most of the summer with him.