Bikes, bikes, and more bikes ...

I know, I’ve been kind of slack lately with my blog regimen. But I can take a hint. I should warn you though, this is kind of long ...

Bikes have taken over our lives recently. Yes, both rugrats raced BMX last summer too, but it wasn’t this intense. But there is a reason for the insanity. This season we have a goal !!!

The nationals are in Cambridge over Easter next year. That’s still about four hours drive from Whangarei, but it’s on the right island at least. The master plan, so cunning you could pin a tail on it and call it a weasel, is that the rugrats and the MOTH will be fit and healthy and have put in enough training that they will be racing. We’re planning on jumping on a plane with the bikes, flying to Auckland, driving south to Cambridge, racing the nationals, and then driving home to Whangarei to spend four or five days there.

In between now and then, both the rugrats and the MOTH have to earn sufficient “points” from qualifying meetings that they are eligible to race at national level. K is going to find it particularly difficult, as the rules state you must race in the age-group of “the age you turn in the birthday that year” ... so as from 1 January he will be racing nine year olds, although he has only just turned eight ...

Last Wednesday after work we went for a family bike ride. Honestly, it’s a bloody miracle that they didn’t find themselves under the wheels of a car on the way to the park !!! As mentioned previously, S’s bike skills are comparable to mine, which isn’t saying much. And K was repeatedly warned for practicing his jumping ability whilst riding down the middle of the road !!!

However, the really fun part (can you detect the sarcasm in my voice ?) was once we arrived at the park. Keeping in mind the required training, we were all doing quick laps around the bike track. S suddenly decided she wanted to go in the opposite direction, and the end result was the MOTH riding straight over the top of her, executing an extremely graceful somersault for someone of his height, rolling across the ground and coming to a stop lying flat on his back on the ground.

Actually, the end result was a severely damaged wrist (the ligaments or tendons, I forget which, have separated themselves from the end of the ulna), two days off work, and three to four weeks on light duties. It would actually have been preferable for the wrist to be broken, as it would probably have healed more cleanly.

So the MOTH wasn’t able to race at Invercargill last weekend. S came third in her age group and was presented with a medal, which she is extremely proud of. K, however, for some unknown reason, didn’t try at all, cruised lazily around the track, came fifth, and then threw a tantrum because he didn’t win a trophy.

We’ve grounded him from racing for two weeks, which means he will miss two club nights, and the Dunedin Open this weekend.

Honestly, we had no idea what else to do. It’s so heartbreaking and frustrating to see a kid with so much natural ability just not trying at all. The most frustrating thing is that he tried so hard last year, and did so well.

How do you motivate a kid like that ? Any ideas at all would be gratefully accepted ...