“The odor is unreal!”

July 7th, 2009 → 4:21 pm @ Tasha

9


“The odor is unreal!”

This past weekend here in Austin was the BMX Race for Life and the BMX Texas State Qualifiers.

launchThe TSQ (Sunday’s event) was the first ever held at the Capital City BMX track, which by the way, is operated by the non-profit Capital City BMX Association. The Race for Life, held on Saturday, donated acquired proceeds to the Leukemia and Lymphoma society. The Race for Life is actually a national series that was created back in 1981 and has been supported by the American Bicycle Association!

Well about two weeks ago, our research master, Hans, found this guy on an Austin based BMX forum who’s kid was an avid BMX rider. And this father was super encouraging about his son’s involvement! I remember once over hearing him tell Hans that there is a correlation between his son’s participation in riding BMX and his academic achievement; that the boy had become a straight A student.

Which tells you, a young child’s involvement in athletic activities, having that outlet available, helps them perform better in school and in their lives through the course of life. It creates a discipline and a self-expressive avenue that gives them identity and confidence, which, in my opinion, is what every kid needs! But I digress…

Due to the dirt track and car tires kicking up dust, we spent most of our day in a cloud of blowing dirt, amid post 4th of July headaches and long-night party people. The morning was cool, but as the sun rolled along the sky, the temperature grew, relentlessly. But we were ready! We had prepped ourselves for the eventual boil in the 103° weather with a last minute purchase of a canopy, ice, and cold water, and we survived! And, to our benefit, our neighboring spectators brought along a giant fan, so when it got bad, we could just stand in front of it and catch a breeze. Hey thanks!

The most memorable quote of the day? “The odor is unreal!”…

As Hans worked his photographic magic, a mother of one of the BMX riders had the unpleasurable duty of holding his equipment. As she held in her hand his helmet she said those words. Now, bear in mind that the temperature was over 100° and he had been practicing all afternoon for his race. And I would venture to say that the helmet hadn’t been super soaked with lysol anytime recently! So the putrid smell of his sweaty head had to have been cookin’ in that helmet for quite some time. Mmmm, you can smell it now! 8-/

kid-raceThe youngest rider, and by far the tiniest, was a four year old boy. He was so tiny that his helmet consumed his head. It was so cute!!!
The oldest rider was a beautiful 50+ year-old woman. How awesome is that??!!

As you would guess, I am a big advocate of women’s involvement in sports and activities, but I must say, there was a good percentage of female riders out, young and older. And they were just as badass as any boy on that track! That’s not to say it was sufficient, so get out there ladies!!!girl_rider

I will state the obvious and say, in any sport, a parent’s enthusiasm is…well…strong! Whether it is soccer or BMX racing, parents get passionate, way passionate, maybe it’s a bit much with the cursing and anger, but then again, I have never really understood the emotional attachment to sports anyway, and I get sad when i witness the murdering of a bug, so who am I to judge?

Here is the cool part of this whole BMX racing in general, its a super cheap deal!

As for here in Austin, all you need is your bike (go cheap, an bike will do for now!), a helmet to protect your noggin, and as far as cost goes: racing at Cap City costs $10 per day, while practice runs $3 on Tuesday and Thursday, and $4 on Saturday. (If you’re outside the Austin, Texas area then find your local track via the handy dandy Google guide.)

It’s a ‘no experience necessary’ track so all levels of riders are welcome, of course! That means you!

In conclusion, I’m excited about our growing involvement in these different sports! Yeah, it’s definitely fun, but as we chip away at the misconceptions surrounding them, these humantitarian acts (such as the Race for Life) support our efforts to expose that these sports/activities benefit our lives, in so many ways! Environmental ways like Parkour, or charitable services like BMX, And they offer a better quality of life for those involved.

Now, how to do we get more people involved? Spread the word! Bring a friend! Get involved!
Hmmm…we should make t-shirts. -t

air

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