Wednesday April 14th, 2021

Race Recap: Wednesday Night Worlds Kids Race – Seattle, WA

When I first moved to Seattle in 2016, there were a couple of things I wanted to make sure I was a part of. I wanted to join The Mountaineers, I wanted to participate in the Swift Campout, I wanted to make Coffee Outside, and I wanted to race Wednesday Night Worlds.

Wednesday Night Worlds (WNW’s) is a weekday night Cross Country (XC) style mountain bike race series that happens when the sun decides he’s ready to bless us with his presence. The vibe is always pretty chill and the crowd seems to be having much more fun than any of the participants. The races range from Kid’s races, beginner categories, and 3 adult categories. There is always beer, tacos, and a mechanic nearby. I remember the first time I raced the event I couldn’t believe there were so many kids on course and families all over the place. There was no real way to take yourself too seriously, making for a refreshing take on “bike racing”. I was hooked. Corona, along with all the other things it stole from us, took with it WNW’s. The race series came back in 2021.

A lot had changed since quarantine. One of those changes was that Luna was huge and Mari had shown a real interest in mountain biking. For the first week of WNW’s I didn’t line up, but instead was the head crew member for Team Aledriguez. This meant I was responsible for packing the car, making sure the bikes were in racing shape, and to cheer the girls on as they raced in the most fun mountain biking series in Seattle. Mostly I was looking forward to riding with Luna, as she raced her bike for the very first time.

Luna took off hard and won the hole shot! I’ll need her to teach me this trick sometime. I want to make my surprise clear, I was in the completely wrong gear and had to crunch through my cassette just to keep up.

All week Luna seemed at ease with her upcoming race. It was also the week of her birthday. Mari and I didn’t want to talk it up or down too much to not stir up any unnecessary anxiety. Whenever we spoke about it, we made sure to mention how much fun it should be. We did, however, ask her what she wanted to get out of the experience and the answer was always a resounding “to win”. No matter how we asked, or when we asked, all she cared about was winning. This is a tough situation for any parent. For those of you that know me, you know that this is even harder for a parent that has never won anything in his life, especially not a bike race. The closest I’ve ever been to a podium was that one time I tripped over it on the way to the car near a church in Naples, Fl. I think I came in 18th that day.

We arrived at North SeaTac Park with an hour to spare. We had registered them both the week before at the Open House Event. The idea was to slowly and calmly get the bikes set up and allow for some riding around the course before the race. Just our luck, the taping of the kid’s course wasn’t done until the race was about to take off. It was ok though, none of the other 4 kids knew the course either. The kids lined up at the start line and the moms and dads were about a bike length behind them. The kids were briefed on the course markings and even though none of them knew how to read, they all agreed that they knew where to go. The siren went off and so did we.

Luna took off hard and won the hole shot! I’ll need her to teach me this trick sometime. I want to make my surprise clear, I was in the completely wrong gear and had to crunch through my cassette just to keep up. The first turn of the course was a sharp left into the single track, this was the easy part. Quickly after there was a tight right hand turn into a 3 foot drop. Luna was first into the single track but closely behind her was another little girl. The little girl’s dad and I were right behind them. Behind us were two little boys. The two girls were battling for position for about a quarter of the first lap. The little girl understood her gears much better than luna did and would pass her on the flat and long swooping sections. Luna seemed a bit more fearless and would put time into the entire group on anything technical. This would be the theme of the afternoon.

After a couple of technical features, Luna had gotten herself a sizable lead and would hold onto it for the rest of the first lap. The distance was really evident on the long hill going up to the beginning of the course. After the hill, we all had to cross the gravel road to get to the finishing straight. Luna took a spill on the gravel and the rest of the kids made up some time. When she realized this, she really laid into the pedals. At this time, I, myself, was having trouble keeping up. When she crashed and the rest of the group caught us, we learned that the order had changed bit. The little girl was now behind a little boy and that boy was moving well.

We went into the second lap in the lead but he was gaining on us. With her knowledge of the first few turns we were able to stay in the lead. The boy’s dad and I even enjoyed exchanging a few looks. I’ll admit, I took a lot of pride in Luna’s competitive spirit. It fueled my own feelings and I found myself peacocking a bit around the other parents. In the middle of the second lap, Luna and the boy were swapping between 1st and 2nd place. He would out-pedal her and she would ride him. There was one instance where I would signal the boy’s dad to go ahead behind Luna because It seemed that the boy would be passing soon and he reassured me that it wasn’t all that certain by allowing me to stay behind them. “If he is able to pass, Ill move up” he said. The little boy would not pass for another quarter lap.

When he did finally pass her, with about half a lap to go, emotions were running pretty high. I was able to live through all of the feelings she was experiencing. She was feeling the same feeling we all feel when we lose hope. When the burning in our legs and lungs finally shows itself only after the the Novocain of success has worn off. I remember feeling like she was learning all of the lessons life would teach her in the time it was taking her to pedal around a shitty park in Burien. I was there for it. I was broken by it. I too wanted to stop and cry. If I could, I would have pedaled for her. I allowed her to feel it but not to quit. I reminded her that giving up would take away from her own experience and that she hadn’t lost till she had finally passed the finishing line. Sobbing and frustrated she kept moving the pedals over like a real champion would. When we arrived at the foot of the hill she had used earlier to crush the spirits of her competition, she was able to catch a glimpse of his scuffed green helmet. She seemed to smell the blood in the water.

The second wind kicked in and the chase had begun. I had to shift twice to keep up. She stayed low as if she had absorbed all of the podcasts I had listened to about aerodynamics and efficiency. She was dropping her heels as if every time I had coached myself on an impossible interval in the basement she had been listening in on my thoughts. With every pedal stroke we got closer and closer. At one point both Luna and I had caught the dad looking back. They were close enough that Luna and I easily made out how surprised he was that we had moved up so easily. There was nothing easy about it. I recall looking back and not seeing anyone else. It was the win or second place.

We arrived at the finishing straight and she arrived at the realization that her chances of winning were gone. With crushed legs, a beet-red face, and destroyed spirits she went through the banner in second place. I congratulated her and reminded her of how hard it was to do what she had done. I cheered but she didn’t care. I allowed her some space. When she had cooled down I reminded her that she needed to congratulate that boy, and the rest of the field. She asked me for a quesadilla first. We changed and we ordered that quesadilla. She took her quesadilla up the hill and before sitting down to eat she walked up to that boy and his dad and congratulated them. Like a champion.