Kenzie's Big Weekend (or Dad's...)

Months ago there was crying, negativity, and general disdain for athletics and even the thought of doing anything that was "hard". The process of getting Mackenzie, and subsequently Madeleine, involved in cyclocross started almost as a mandate. It wasn't because I was forcing her to ride because I rode, WE were forcing her to do something athletic for fitness.

Mackenzie wanted to do Cross Country, we both approved. Then she didn't want to run...at all...and while on vacation in Florida there were gigantic dinosaur size tears as mom and dad were "forcing" her to do something on her vacation. She was to have been doing this for a month already, but we both knew if she didn't start then the first week of practice would be awful.

Finally she came clean and said "I was only doing Cross Country because my friend was doing it and I knew I HAD to do something...but I really don't like to run..."

I suggested cyclocross - no pressure. Let's just go to kids on bikes, try it and see what happens. Over the next several months there were moments of elation and moments of emotion - one day she LOVED it, next day she HATED it. But we persevered.

At the Middletown race she made the podium, finishing in 3rd place, and got a trophy. The light bulb started to go on, but there was still a lot of concern and feelings of inadequacy - sure she wasn't really good enough. But, she kept working at it and each week got a little better. This was her first real athletic adventure, so she wasn't used to this progression.

One of the biggest battles was feeling like she had to WIN everything. "What if I don't get on the podium?" Constant reminders that we don't expect wins, only effort, followed by reassurance after the races.

In the last couple weeks everything started to click. I started working with her on flying remounts to speed up her pace over the barriers. After giving some instruction, she finished it all by herself. Over the period of a week she had trained herself to get back on so smoothly that friends who have ridden for several years were jealous of how smoothly she could remount and ride off.

Everything was building nicely into the two day Indianapolis weekend. She is stronger, mentally tougher, and way more confident than she was 3 months ago. This was her weekend to show what progress she had made.

On Saturday there were four girls in the 13-14 girls race - only one of which she had beaten previously. We talked about strategy and what to do - just ride hard and go for the full time period. She got off to a slow start, but by the time she hit the first hill had already passed two of the three girls. After the next segment she was behind the two girls, but it was because she had fallen and had to get back up - but she was right on their wheel. She followed them down the descent and then on the next section put them away - a sizeable gap after the first lap, and a gap that grew.

The result was great, but the difference was in the attitude and the approach. She had learned many things and put them to practice. She didn't panic at any time. She rode hard the entire way. She maintained focus the entire race - no way that happened back in September.

The next day was a different challenge. Rachel, a girl who has been doing this for 6+ years and way ahead of Kenzie mechanically and physically as a result, was not going to be there. Kenzie had gone from a beginner just hoping to finish in September to the favorite. She suddenly realized this and the nerves set in.

I finished my race, which was right before hers, and came back to find her in tears. She didn't feel good and wasn't sure what to do. I worked to calm her and keep her mentally in the game, and then the community of cyclocross happened - Mr Haley from Red Zone overheard and gave her the same advice - "just have fun". Pre-teens tend to listen to people other than their parents and while she wasn't ecstatic, she seemed better. I topped things off with the token "Take Luck!", a quote from Brian Regan that she and I joked about all season long, and finally a smile came to her face.

I left the start/finish to give her some time to calm herself and wait for the start. She was off and got a pretty good start. The first lap she traced the steps of her main competition, but at the end of the first lap she took off. She put some power into it and rode away from her competition. So much so that she had to complete 3 laps for the first time this year. Usually the leader of one of the races had lapped her and she would get pulled a lap earlier.

She finished the 3rd lap and dad was way more excited than she was. I ran from the start finish to where she came to a rest and gave her a big hug. She had just won a race for the first time. Instead of getting engrossed in the win, she stopped to have a nice conversation with Eden Webb, daughter of Morgan Webb and an excellent rider to boot (winner of girls 10-12). Kenzie was excited she won, but was more interested in stopping and talking with a fellow competitor.

Whether it had anything to do with Betsy and I's discussion with her or not Kenzie was displaying what sportsmanship is about. She knew she had won for the first time and chose not to display that emotion immediately, but to save it for when the time was right.

When the call for podiums came, she hitched up her socks (quite the fashion trend in cross these days), was the first one onto the podium, and raised her hands with a smile and excitement I had never seen before. She knew she had accomplished something and knowing that and being able to display it in a simple way with hands raised was enough for her.

Dad was way more emotional.