Zack The Mountain Biker

 I decided Zack's mountain bike season needed a post of it's own.  He had such a great season that I'd better document it.  First, I want to acknowledge what a miracle it is that he was able to race all five races even with Covid happenings.  At the beginning of the season I thought we would be lucky to get in one or two races before we were shut down.  To be able to do all five was a huge blessing!  And then, when I think of how far Zack has come on his bike, I'm amazed.  I remember when he started riding in 9th grade I was nervous to have him ride on the team because he wasn't great.  Jake and I would ride with him, and we had to go slow.  Turns out he just needed to ride with his peers to motivate him to up his game.  So he did well in 9th grade, but nothing fabulous.  Which was fine.  Last year, right before his first race, he wrecked and injured his eye pretty badly.  He had to miss the first race and then it really took him the whole season before he finally was back to normal.  He had a great race at state last year.

Then we hit his junior year.  Zack and Jake rode a lot in the spring and Zack worked hard to be ready to race this season.  Jake kept telling me that Zack was a lot faster and was going to have a good season, but I kind of thought it was just Jake having high hopes.  But nope, Zack got really fast.  Like really fast.  Like he frequently leaves Jake in the dust now, and Jake isn't slow.  They went for a ride the other day and Jake told me he really pushed himself to go fast through this downhill section and got to the bottom and waited a bit for Zack.  When Zack came Jake said, "I smoked you!"  Zack smiled and said, "I pulled over and waited so I wouldn't get stuck going slow behind you."  That pretty much sums up the beast Zack has become on his bike.  He was on the podium 3 out of 5 races.  He had to start in the back and make his way to the front for a couple of races.  He raced with bad asthma and bad allergies, and still finished strong.  He ended up finishing 5th overall in our region, which is amazing.  Especially when it seems like he came out of nowhere.  We did team awards yesterday and Zack was one of 3 kids nominated for rider of the year.  He didn't win, but just getting nominated was awesome, and shows that his teammates noticed how hard he worked.  

Zack is quiet and doesn't do a lot to attract attention.  So I had to brag on here because I know he won't.  I'm jealous of his biking skills and can't believe how far he's come.  Way to go Zack!!

Zack has loved mountain biking since he was a kid.  So cute!

Zack at State last year.  

Zack as a freshman.  Holy cow he's grown a lot!

Zack at Cedar

At State.  This was a hill right after the start we called chaos hill because the kids were still so bunched up that they ended up getting stuck and having to get off their bikes and run up the hill.  Unless you were one of the first kids on the hill.  So Zack beat every other kid in his group to the hill so he'd have good position.  That kid is strong!

He looks tired here.  They push hard during these races.  I don't know how they do it.