The Time Trial

Lots of pictures tonight - there were just so many that I just like.  The morning started very early...a little before 5 for me and not long after for James.  I don't think either of us slept very well.  Both of us were so much more nervous today than the last race.  He was so confident he had a shot of winning.  I think he very well could have if he weighed about 10 more pounds.  But, I'm getting ahead of myself.

Of course, we had the last minute adjustment to his aero bars.  At least this time, we've known for a couple of days that they needed adjusting so I was able to factor that into my schedule.

  

Then it was time for warms ups.  By this point, he seemed to be getting into his groove and I started pacing.

He was chatting it up with a teammate.  Doesn't he look impressive with all the aero gear?

I have no idea what this was about.  When I saw it, I snapped a picture and walked away.  At this point, he was just a few minutes from needing to be at the start line.

While we were waiting to start, they couldn't find the first guy.  I was so relieved that James was right where he was supposed to be.  He was the third 10-12 to start (you may remember that for time trials, they start every 30 seconds) and his goal was to pass the two kids in front of him and keep on trucking.  It was very cool because they had the very professional countdown clock that did the beeping just like in the Tour.  James was so cool when he got to the line, he just took a bit sip of PowerBar drink and sat ready to go.

And before I knew it he was off.  I thought he should be back in roughly 20 minutes.  It was a long 20 minutes.  I paced and paced and paced and paced.  All the girls finished so we knew it shouldn't be long since the guys started just a few minutes behind them.

And then the announcer gave him a total shout out because he was going to be the first guy to cross the line...he did pass the two in front of him.  They even went on to say what a hard time to beat that was going to be.  I was so proud of him.

He was first and would stay in first for a little while.  Then, slowly his time fell and eventually he finished 9th.  I reminded him of his goal when we left Nationals last year.  It was to make the top 10 and he absolutely did that. (I almost forgot to explain the weight comment.  It was a downhill finish so these little guys were at a definite disadvantage to the guys who weigh more.  Maybe by next year, he'll have a bit more muscle mass.)

I was also so proud of him as I watched him seek out the kids he remembered either meeting or seeing their names from last year and the other top  10 finishers to tell them "good job."

We're both pretty tired and looking forward to the last race tomorrow, the crit.  He starts at 11 - I have heard the course is "epic."  I also heard a few parents saying they didn't mind a course being difficult, but dangerous wasn't such a good thing.  For those of you praying, keep praying.