Happy Birthday Lunchbox!

Happy Birthday, now bow to me!



Today is the day that we celebrate the anniversary of the birth of Isaiah, a.k.a Lunchbox. Way back in 1996, I became a dad, and it was the greatest day of my life. I now have a teenager, and it seems weird (and I feel old.) He’s great kid, so I’m not that worried about the typical teenager headaches and such. After I get home tonight, Little Miss Sunshine and I are taking him out to his favorite dinner location, Kabuto. It has become a birthday tradition since we moved to Charlotte. Mmmmmm, I can’t wait for dinner and a show.




Well done, okay?


In other news, Saturday was a long day. I mentioned before that we were headed to the Rivers Edge Mountain Bike Marathon at the U.S. National Whitewater Center. Little Miss Sunshine, Lunchbox, and I got up before dark and loaded up the truck with bicycles, coolers, clothing, first aid, and the kitchen sink. We arrived at the Whitewater Center just as the sun was coming up, made our way down to the start/finish area, and helped with some of the setup activities.





As you can most likely see in the background, I finally received my National Mountain Bike Patrol banner. I hung it up so everyone could see that we were there and ready to help. Little did I know that it would be a busy day for first aid. The Rivers Edge Mountain Bike Marathon is a 50 mile race through some of the most technical single track in the Charlotte area. I’ve even been told that there is about 800 feet of elevation gain during the course of one lap. I race there during our weekly race series, but I’ve never done 50 miles. Big races like these I usually ride the course and provide assistance (first aid or mechanical), so this would be routine, or so I thought. After the racers were given the start signal (go, I think), The Dirty Party Cycle and I headed out for some course marshalling duty. The plan was to sweep the trail behind the riders, and locate and potentially dangerous areas on the trail. We were about a half-mile into the trail, and I got a call that a rider had gone down at the bottom of Goat Hill, so me and DPC immediately high-tailed it to the other side of the park. It seemed like about 15 forevers before I got to the infamous Goat Hill, but I made it, and I was ready to assist the fallen mountain biker. Goat hill is a tough, make you cry for mommy climb, followed by a very rewarding super-fast descent. However, in race conditions, it’s an accident waiting to happen. I found the downed rider a few feet before the bottom of the trail, and he was conscious and breathing normally. I asked if he was okay, and he said he most likely broke his femur. He told me that he went over the bars, and landed on a rock, right on is hip area. I gave him an ice pack to minimize the swelling, and I (along with several others now on the scene) kept the area clear until the local EMS arrived. After he was taken to the hospital, we remained at the bottom of Goat Hill, just in case. A few minutes later, another rider went down. He crashed pretty hard, but he was able to get back on his bike and keep going. After that close call, we took off and rode the rest of the trail.






The Whitewater Center was in full swing, and it was more crowded that I have ever seen. It was nice to see everyone outside enjoying a nice beautiful day. I hung out by the finish line for the rest of the race, in case I needed to head out to the trail again. While I was out on the trail, Little Miss Sunshine was busy fixing broken people too, including one guy who will need stitches. The race was great, and despite a few injuries, it was a great success. The winner finished in a little over 4 hours, and last place was closer to 8 hours. Thanks to Charlotte Sports Cycling, the U.S. National Whitewater Center, Widmer Brothers, Cane Creek, and all of the other sponsors that made it a success.


Coincidentally, my next summer series race is at this very same venue. Stay tuned…