When Thor, although back then he was simply Blake, first began racing he spent many, many races 'off the back.' The same could be said about El Gigante, AWfoSho, Juge, and Davitamon. But, through persistance, all of the above eventually found themselves at the head of most races, including those on a National level.
One of the toughest parts about bringing new kids into this beloved little sport is that they usually get stomped in their first forays into racing. TK is one of the few exceptions to this rule, but the gods of all that is anerobic sent their minions on the day he was concieved to build a one-of-a-kind engine. Give a teenage kidlet a good stomping, and the first thing you are likely to hear is, "I'm never doing that again..." With that, I give you one of my favorite things... not watching kids get stomped, but watching kds get stomped time and time again until they no longer get stomped...
PtotheArker finished the latest version of Snelling with the lead group... a first in several attempts... He's taken his lumps without complaint, learned from them, grew inspite of them, never quit because of them, and now he is finding himself in "The End Game." All of the sudden, bike racing is a whole new game! Nothing is better than watching a kid have success thru perseverance. I am prouder of PtotheArker's result, along with Todd Stone's, than I am of the kiddos that won. Those two are becoming bike racers and learning a lot about life along the way...
To all those kids out there taking their lumps, keep pedalling... pretty soon you'll be the ones dishing the lumps out... and I will again get to see one of my favorite things!
Photo: AWfoSho, Juge, and Ryan Jones circa 2003 when they were still taking their lumps
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4 comments:
ehh, i only spent 2 races off the back...
awwww im gonna cry but i only got lumped in my first few races also and have only came in dead last once!!!
THOR
come on now Thor... that's not what your mom says :)
For the record, I remember when Steve was taking his lumps, too. It's great when that stage is over, but there are always lumps lurking somewhere!
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