Proving Grounds

After the day at Field of Dreams on their giant peewee course, I spent some time trying to find a true peewee sized course the girls could try.

Almost immediately I found one at the Breezewood Proving Grounds, and coincidentally they were having a kids weekend that coming weekend.

Browsing the website, the place seemed pretty cool. They had 4 tracks in all (a peewee, kid/beginner, intermediate, advanced), camping, home made water park, cabins and a “dining hall”. For kids weekend, kids rode free all weekend long.

I ran it by the girls, and they loved the idea especially when mom agreed to go too.

We loaded everything up and headed out Friday after work.

Got there just before dark and setup camp.

Bright and early Abigail was dressed and riding the course.

At times the course was busy. At other it was quite clear.

If you look in the picture above, you can almost make out a rift in the turn that was causing the kids a lot of problems as they came through the turn. To help Abigail get through this I started to stand off to the side about where she is in the picture, and have her first look at me then look through the turn effectively ignoring the rift and riding through cleanly.

Needless to say Abigail was having a good time, which finally convinced Lauren to get out and try it.

And then it was time for lunch and playing around on other things at the “dining hall”.

Then it was back to more riding, but not without first adding a number to Peanut’s bike and the letter A.

And Lauren rode more.

At some point there were a number of bigger kids/bigger bikes riding the peewee track and we took a break. In some cases I would tell them to go away, but when the numbers got to be too many it was easier for us to just take a break.

Scenes like this definitely make me pause. So many times I sat like this before a race or between practice sessions in my gear waiting for the next ride. Never in my wildest dreams would I have thought that I’d have a kid doing the same thing and at such a young age. Even just a year ago, this was the farthest thing from my mind.

Here’s an example.

Of course I never imagined having kids so cute either.

Even when they insist on wearing their dirt bike boots everywhere and making funny poses. At least I know the boots still fit.

Pasghetti!

Then it was off to ride some more after dinner.

But…

It was end of day and really dusty, and…

Abigail wanted the performance restriction in her bike upgraded for more power/speed, so on a hot engine, I took out the exhaust port restriction and moved up a few 32’s in size for more flow.

She handled it flawlessly. Despite the dust.

Despite the dust, both girls rode until almost dark.

Dusty, dusty, dusty.

And Lauren got a number 1, though it looks like i which is really cute.

Impromptu pose. Totally unsolicited.

Final shot of the day.

Another post track time shot. I do love these. There were kid races under the lights that night on the kid/beginner track. We stayed and watched most, then went to bed.

Stay tuned for day two coming soon.

– b