Okay, many of you will argue that all moms are super. I know mine is, and Chenoa is, but as a mountain biker, last weekend, I saw something I’d never seen before.
My mom was as supportive as it gets with sports and was always keen to watch, or at least she made it look that way. Unfortunately for my mom, when it came to racing, she was bad luck. The few times I invited her I ended up with a DNF or a trip to the hospital. After that, she stayed at home.
With all other sports though, she was right there in the stands, wincing as I crashed and banged toward the goal. She was there to cheer for the wins, console the losses, and a drive to the hospital sometimes.
Chenoa is also keen to hang out at the rink, the lacrosse box, or the baseball field for hours upon hours throughout the year, watching our kids play. She is also lucky our kids love mountain biking, which she is quite proficient at. So doing it together is pretty easy for her... and me.
Last weekend, I took my daughter to Forbidden Plateau to pre-ride the enduro course. It was brutal, dusty, and really hot that day, so our resident Super Mom shuttled us to the top and then killed three hours while we rode the course.
We cruised to the first stage and practiced a bunch of sections to help with line choice and confidence. There were definitely some really gnarly sections on this course, and with the added dust, it quickly ramped up the risk of failure.
We managed to get through everything and entered the second stage for my daughter’s category. It was steeper, and the rock slabs were coated in fine dust, so what would normally be lots of fun was a bit daunting. I was loving it. She was a little more tentative, but with some coaching and a quick comment of, “It’s easier to ride than walk," she tackled it all.
Just as we were exiting and headed for the last stage of the day, I came upon another kid. Probably 12 or 13 years old, also headed for the last stage. Instead of his parent riding along like this was second nature, his mom was running/walking with him.
At first, I thought, that’s cool, his mom didn’t want to say no and gave up her afternoon to help him out.
Side note: The traverse between these two stages was apparently designed by someone who wants kids to quit mountain biking. There was a major hike-a-bike, one descent that I can only describe as a dried-up waterfall, a section along a dried-up creek bed, and then another big hike-a-bike to the top.
It took my daughter and I an hour just for this one traverse, and we rode as much of it as possible.
Near the top of the first hike-a-bike, as I looked up, I noticed this mom was covered in dirt and thought again about how dusty it was in the previous stages. Then I noticed her elbow cut open and filled with more dirt and blood. She had apparently wiped out trying to walk down one of the dusty chutes.
At the end of our second stage, it was quite easy to skip the last stage and shortcut out to easier trails, but apparently, this mom was dedicated to the cause and followed her kid up and down, and up and down, and up again to find the last stage.
The last time we saw them was at the top of the hill as we dropped into the last stage. She made it, only slightly behind her son.
So much is made possible for kids only because their parents are willing to make it happen... and it takes so much more than money.
So, if you’re a Super Mom, thank you. You’re doing great things, and if you’re a kid, hug your mom. She deserves it.
