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It takes guts to line up next to 18 year olds. Good job Ian.
Yeah, for racing he's a bit in Twilight Zone right now. Actual age 12, racing age 13. Big difference between a 12 and 17 year old racer - can be anyway.Cyclocross season was a bit weird this fall also. Actual age 12, racing age 12 also. But rule changes bumped him into the 13+ age class, due to some UCI deal, if I heard correctly. Basically, all juniors bumped up one racing class. Technically, fair to all. But after racing 'cross for three years now, this would have been Ian's year of being the oldest in his class, with a better chance of doing well. It's all good experience, but could have been a confidence/fun booster year before going 13+. Big speed difference with that age group. First 'cross race of the season, we didn't know about the age rule change, so Ian raced the 9 - 12 class and won the race. Pretty cool. For the remainder of the season, did the 13+ class and did okay, a bit back from the really fast kids.I honestly don't care where he places, as long as he tried and and it was a positive experience. Sure, it's cool to do well. Sometimes doing well is scoring a few places back on a tough course against faster kids. Or hitting all the races of a series to score high up overall. As long as his interest remains, I'll support his racing. It's all good.
It takes guts to line up next to 18 year olds. Good job Ian.
ReplyDeleteYeah, for racing he's a bit in Twilight Zone right now. Actual age 12, racing age 13. Big difference between a 12 and 17 year old racer - can be anyway.
ReplyDeleteCyclocross season was a bit weird this fall also. Actual age 12, racing age 12 also. But rule changes bumped him into the 13+ age class, due to some UCI deal, if I heard correctly. Basically, all juniors bumped up one racing class. Technically, fair to all. But after racing 'cross for three years now, this would have been Ian's year of being the oldest in his class, with a better chance of doing well. It's all good experience, but could have been a confidence/fun booster year before going 13+. Big speed difference with that age group. First 'cross race of the season, we didn't know about the age rule change, so Ian raced the 9 - 12 class and won the race. Pretty cool. For the remainder of the season, did the 13+ class and did okay, a bit back from the really fast kids.
I honestly don't care where he places, as long as he tried and and it was a positive experience. Sure, it's cool to do well. Sometimes doing well is scoring a few places back on a tough course against faster kids. Or hitting all the races of a series to score high up overall. As long as his interest remains, I'll support his racing. It's all good.