VERY Proud Dad.... :)

[beard1973]

August 31st - COPPULL - Round 1 - Northern Regional Winter Series.

Early start for me and Beth leaving Barnsley at 6.30am, we wanted to get there to allow her a bit of track time time before the crowds appeared.

Beth has never raced before and this was gonna be either a big day... or a bad day....



Coppull here we come... :cool:



We arrived at the track just before 9am, there were 3 of the race organisers there brushing the track and setting up a gazebo, so it was ideal for Beth to have a wonder round.

I could see the fear in her eyes when she saw the START hill, which is probably the biggest of the tracks that make up the Northern Series.



We walked the track from Start Gate to Finish line and talked about when to get pedals in and when NOT to... :lol:

And then she got her bike out and got geared up ready for some practice, I promised her FULL NEW race gear for the next round at Preston if she completed Coppull and enjoyed it... She did.... :cool:

So she used one of my Raleigh Burner Race Shirts and a Helmet we picked up at MK'07 for £2....  :?  but she was happy to be representing the good name of BURNERS... 



The bike is the PROTO-TYPE Burner Race that I was given by Raleigh in 2007, its a rare thing as this has no serial no. and came with different bars to the production model. I fitted her a Redline Chainring the night before and made her up some numbers for the No. Plate.





She took a tumble during gate practice and I thought that may have put an end to wanting to race, but she was determined to give it a go... and in all honesty the fall was my fault..  :?  :oops:  I was watching her do the gate practice and the majority of riders 'really' burst out the gate and pedal like mad all the way down the start hill.

Well Beth was rolling... so I told her to 'go for it' and pedal like anything!! so she did...  :shock:  so much so that when she hit the first jump which is a rather large step-up she simply.... TOOK OFF.....  :shock:  :shock:  :?  :?

But she dust herself down... we had a few tears but she soon got back on...  :wink:

When the moto sheets went up and she met the 3 other girls in her group she was very daunted... Beth is 11 years old, two of the girls were 13 and the other 17!!!

"Dad I don't stand a chance...!!"

"I know sweetheart... so you just do your best! stay on your bike and ride as good as you can, and when you come over that finish line I will be waiting for you!!"

I could have sobbed my socks off there and then...  :oops:  :oops:

So she lined up with the other girls in her stall...



Then the big climb to the start gate when they were called...



As she lined up at the gate I was so proud... my little girl the BMX racer!!   



"Random Start - Riders Ready, Watch The Gate"



She did me proud... she was always trailing the girls but not by a massive amount and during her 3rd moto she was closing down on the girl in 3rd..







Over the finish line into the arms of a VERY chuffed Dad...  :wink:



A fantastic day for me and Beth....



Not too fussed how I went on to be honest...    today was all about Beth for me. I got three 4th's in my moto's and made it to the 'A' Final...

Coming out of Gate 7 I got a decent start and finished 5th in a VERY close final...





Just a few shots of some of the Old Skool Northern Monkeys...





As I posted on another thread, thanks to all the Northern Lads who spurred Beth on and gave her support... SHE LOVED IT. 

A bit of personal racing tuition from Bof and I might just have the next Shanaze Reade on my hands.. 

See you at Preston.... Beard (and Beth) 

[tobybrown35]

    sounds like a good day was had by one and all     cant wait 2 take my billy racin 18months old and already takin spanners 2 my bikes [should see the dents ]

[jazzyje]

good to see san marco racing again.lost a few pounds since we see him at hersden as well.also brendan(?),one of the originals.great little tale of your daughters first race.the burner looks half decent with the different chainring and bars.scary place to have your first race though.broke a toe there a few years ago.

[dialledbikes]

We all gotta start somewhere.  Hope your daughter sticks with it.

[beard1973]

good to see san marco racing again.lost a few pounds since we see him at hersden as well.also brendan(?),one of the originals.great little tale of your daughters first race.the burner looks half decent with the different chainring and bars.scary place to have your first race though.broke a toe there a few years ago.

It wasn't the best choice of track to introduce her racing on... 

San Marco... was FLYING yesterday.... snapping out the gate like a rocket...!!

Bren is a top fella... always enjoying a laugh and bring proper Old Skool spirit to the track... 

[Twinkle]

Well Done Beth 

Sharon xx

[moomin]

Well Done Beth 

Keep it up, we need more BMX chicks 

[RATTY]

Well done Beth

Oh and regarding the bike, im sure childline will put a stop to your dad forcing you to race on a burner

[OrgasmDonor]

 

very well done beth, great first race stick with it and enjoy it it takes alot of guts to go down that start hill and you did fantastic for your first time, the points will start to rack up eventually but in the meantime just have fun with it and the rest will follow

[Haro82]

Great race diary there Dave and well done Beth, great racing  

That start hill is really daunting at first, my daughter Imogen who has only raced at Preston(once) and Lytham(once) about 8 months ago got to the top of that start hill on Sunday and said "I'm not going down that !"  She did after eventually after about 10 mins.        

And you did well yesterday Dave considering you had your daughter with you, as it can take your mind of your own racing, I brought Nan and Grandad with me to help out  

Keep it up Beth, I will see you at Preston    

[dan-dare]

Great stuff Dave, and well done Beth!!

[bof]

Well done Beth excellent days racing from you , you need to get your dad to buy you a full set of race pads as well as race gear for the next one  
See you both at preston  

[magna13]

well done beth! liking the burner shirt! 

[southern andy]

Fantastic read with excellent photos.

Well done Beth, stick with it, you'll love it. My son has just finished his first summer series at Bournemouth BMX club, he really enjoyed it and is already talking about next years.

Nice one Mr Beard. 

[bmxmatt1974]

nice 1 dave, good to see you both had a good day 

[proclass35]

I was a bit dismissive about the bike ( in a tongue in cheek way!) on the other thread, but it actually looks pretty good. To be honest with you I thought you'd bought a decent bike (there I go again) and stickered it up as a Raleigh. Beth will love it at Preston, Coppull is a baptism of fire really. My little girl Alice went down the start hill at full rolling speed last week and took off on the step-up, she's only four (Redline Micro), and how she stayed on I'll never know!. Once they get over the first few falls it's no problem, they're tough little buggers...
Anyway, as I said on t'other thread it's great to see another young rider out- the NW girls gates are getting stacked at the moment!
First impressions of Beth on the bike would suggest shorter cranks - 160/ 165's (Sinz do some good affordable stuff), maybe try some 1 3/8" tyres/ wheels, a lighter one piece seat and say 41 or 42/16 gearing? Another good thing to do is avoid the novices, you always get a big spread of age. Stick her in the experts- she'll learn a lot quicker against girls her own age and enjoy the racing more.
We'll be looking out for you next time!

[beard1973]

Some good tips there mate... thats what I love about the BMX race community, everyone is out to enjoy it and to help each other. 

Will deffo look out for some lighter wheels and shorter cranks....

I know the frame is Raleigh but its actually a pretty good frame, its FULL aluminium, so its fairly light... you all know my love of Raleigh so its an sentimental thing for me to see her racing a Burner (albeit New Skool).

Will definitely be looking to upgrade most of the component parts, the Tektro brake seems a little feeble and the stem is ugly and looks weighty as well..

Cheers for the advice and we'll definitely have a chat at Preston.... The HALL's will be ruling the race tracks soon. 

Also... where is the best place for New Skool Race Components? Alans?

[proclass35]

Alans is o.k, Mark at Groove Racing is great to deal with and probably carries the most racing stock, theres also Source and Greenmachine. Google any of them and you'll get a result. If you get a shopping list together at Groove then Mark will no doubt be bringing his truck to the National at Coppull the weekend after this, he'll bring all the parts up and let you see them in the flesh before you splash out....be careful though, it's easy to get carried away! You also usually get a bit of second hand stuff for sale at the nats- I've seen at least two sets of 1 3/8" wheelsets so far for less than fifty quid.
Another word of warning- the most expensive stuff isn't always the lightest; Crupi do some lovely looking parts, but they're heavy as. Good middle range stuff like Sinz or Redline is usually lighter and cheaper, it's just more mass produced. If you want to know about the real light stuff......well, all in good time. If you're struggling for any parts over here then Danscomp and J+R Bikes are where you want to look in the states. Now, you can really get giddy when you see they're bits....

[Mattdub]

Great pics & report Dave    .

You did brilliantly Beth for your first race , keep it up 

[thecrooch]

I love a story like that...   congrats its what BMX is all about.....

if only i could prize my step daughter off the sofa.....

[eloopnai]

gotta agree fantastic read well done beth 

my little girl is 4 and has already said she wants to race too dont think she realises she will have to lose the stabilisers though

[scary_leary]

Lovely tale..
anybody with kids knows that feeling (butterflys + a twist in your gut) when they participate in any sport.

See you both at Preston 

[Dingobmxer]

wicked story Dave 

and massive well done to Beth

  DINGO

[beard1973]

Cheers Guys...

Seeing Beth race has really ignited me for BMX even more!!

I am considering selling some of my Old Skool bikes to fund her some decent gear....

She really reallly enjoyed it and was taken back by the friendliness of the whole bmx community....

A proud day for me and Beth.... first of many I hope...

[Dex Dexter]

Nice one - almost had me crying as well!!

I have a 7 year old boy and twin 5 year old girls and am doing my best to make them as obsessed with BMX as I am.

That way I might just get permission from the wife to go racing.

Alistair