MTFGKC at the Spring Fling

We had planned  to go out to the Spring Fling weekend before last, but it was my daughter Kyndra’s birthday party, so we ended up taking 8 kids out to the caves to go paintballing- not my cup of tea, but the kids ate it up. And to see my daughter in her paintball get-up, complete with mask and paintgun, was something I will always remember. She had a great time, with all of the kids who hang out with MTFGKC helping to celebrate her 12th birthday.

This past weekend, we went to Lawrence, Kansas, so that Thomas and Christian could compete in the GP Velotek Spring Fling Crit series, out at Clinton Lake. This is where it all started for us last year, so we were excited about being back, seeing all of the people we got to know and meeting some we did not.

Christian had been sick for 3 days, staying out of school, and while he insisted that he was going to be able to race, I had my doubts. But he did insist, so I consented.

It was a perfect day for racing, sunny, little wind and good company. We got to Lawrence around 8:30am and got the boys registered. I saw a Slimenungrossen teammate, Matt (a Cat 4), and asked if they could warm up with him. So they took off and I just kinda hung out, watched some of the races and talked with a lot of great folks (like John Rhein, Doug Broyer, Bill Anderson, Ron Wade and the Lantern Rouge himself, Roger Harrison) who have been following the progress of MTFGKC and wanted to voice their support. Made me feel pretty good.

First up was a time trial race, and I missed both the boys ride ’cause I left to get some breakfast. Getting ready that morning, the boys had time to eat, cause I spent most of the morning getting stuff prepped.

Coming back from the time trial race, we discovered that Thomas had some mechanical issue with his bike. He was unable to shift to his big ring. When he went to get some help, it was deterimined that he had a faulty index shifter, and if he was going to be allowed to race, it had to be removed. We got rid of it, and I think it is still in the car somewhere. We are gonna have to find another bike for him to ride, I think.

Finally, the boys race, the Juniors race (10-18) came up. 11 laps around the course and a field of around 25 kids representing at least 5 different teams. They had to hold the race up ’cause Christian’s number was pinned on wrong. After that the gun went off and the race was on.

The pack stayed together for the first 3 laps, with Christian actually leading them for one of them, and then a GP Velotek rider, Austin Fick, went off the front. Thomas followed, and the two of them began to pull away. There was a sprint lab, which Austin won and they got farther out. A chase group developed of mostly Velotek riders. By lap 8 it was clear that Thomas and Austin were going to go 1-2, despite the efforts of the chase group. One the bell lap, in the first corner, Austin pulled wide and Thomas took the front. He pulled thru the next corner, down the long straight against the wind and after the third corner, Austin passed Thomas just before the last corner and started to sprint. Thomas had nothing, couldn’t get in the big ring and Austin pulled away, winning by about 25 yds. It was a good race and Thomas made no excuses about losing, ’cause Austin is a great rider, and we have seen that. Personally, I thought Thomas was a monster on the bike. It was amazing to see him do so well on that bike, with the problems it had. We are gonna try and fix that, tho.

Christian obviously did not ride up to his potential, finishing 12th, but he showed me a lot, finishing the race with a pretty good sprint. I was really proud of them both.

We had a great time and plan on being there again next Saturday.