One Mule’s Dream

Back in the late 1980’s and the earlier days of my youth, I had a passion and a yearning for bicycle motocross. Back in those days BMX was not something that was main stream or something that just anyone did. I spent a few years pestering my parents for a bike and a constant chauffer service to the local track. They finally gave in to my whining and found a suitable bike that would be good for the track and also the neighborhood. That was the same year that the local track closed. So I missed out on the first round of shiny trophies, countless ribbons and learning a vocabulary that centered on flying around a dirt track.

Fast forward a few years (20 or so) and I find myself with two Mini-mules ages 5 and 3 who love bikes. So it is only natural that we stop by the local track to see about the action and how we can get involved in some of the races. As it turns out, there is a fantastic bunch of people that enjoy putting on races three nights a week and they all love watching and teaching the little racers about the sport and the sportsmanship that goes along with it. The side-bar to this is that most of the dads and moms also get to race; it is truly a family sport. Which, on the outside I am thinking this whole thing is pretty cool. On the inside, I am jumping up and down with excitement that I get to go back and race in a sport that I missed out on in my youth.

So far in our first season both of the Mini-mules and I are racing in the Novice division as beginners. Which doesn’t always mean that you race with others of your same experience, often times we are put in higher classes which is the best so we can learn by pushing ourselves out of our comfort zone. We have all placed in a few races and sometimes not at all. Last week we had the privilege of participating in Super Camp put on by Burlin Harris, father of world champion Bubba Harris, at our local track. He brought a couple of professional riders to our track for three days to teach us everything they could in such a short amount of time. By the end of the camp, all of us were riding at a much higher level and we even got Mom to go to the ladies night of camp to hit the track with the pros. So hopefully next year, Mom will be on the track too.

One of the races that we participated in this year was the state qualifier. Both the older Mini-Mule and I qualified to race in the State Championship. This year the State Championship will be held here in Bozeman at our local track (N. 5th avenue between Tamarack and Peach). Registration is from 9-10 am with racing to follow on Sunday the 28th of August. So come on down and watch one Mule’s dreams come true as he and his boy race for the state title.