Santa Clara PAL BMX 11/22/13- Hot & Cold

Alessandra is staying true to form- i.e. hot and cold. She was hot on Sunday, and cold tonight. Very cold- she paused off the starting line, and was back to doing what she's done so much in the past that ruins her race, which is just waiting for everyone to go, and then taking off after them. She just can't afford to do that against these kids (Tyler, Andrew, and Gianna tonight)- they're just too fast, and once she's behind it's almost impossible to catch up in such a short race.
And then I remember that she's four years old, and it doesn't really matter too much. She's already ahead of the game. The thing that's the hardest to deal with is that she gets very upset when she doesn't do well. Tonight she didn't even advance to the main, and that really bummed her out. It would be different if she just wasn't fast enough, and it was what it was; but she's very capable of being a top contender every time she goes out, even up against all the fastest kids- as she's proven over the last couple of weeks.
We'll get it all figured out, it's just going to take a little more practice and dedication. She's definitely a champ!

Santa Clara PAL BMX 11/17/13

Daddy doesn't know if he's ever been so proud of Alessandra. She's been practicing her starts, and staying focused, and it payed dividends today. There were 6 riders in the heat with 5 transferring to the main; and again the fast kids were out (except for Cody). Alessandra got the holeshot in the heat race, and kept Tyler behind her all the way to the beginning of the last straightaway where Tyler passed her going up the steep tabletop. She was able to stay in front of Andrew to take 2nd place.

She got another good start in the main, and was right in the thick of it with Tyler and Andrew. Tyler was able to pull away a little, but Andrew and Alessandra were keeping him on his game in pursuit. Alessandra ended up with a solid 3rd place finish as these three clearly separated themselves from the others. 

Alessandra was awesome! And she was pretty happy to get a trophy again (although she preferred Anthony's first place trophy).

Santa Clara PAL BMX 11/15/13

It was a beautiful night under an almost full moon, but it's definitely not summer anymore. It was just the heavy hitters in tonight's lineup: Cody, Tyler, Andrew and Alessandra. Alessandra needs to get better starts to be able to mix it up with these boys. They're all older (except Andrew; he's three), more experienced (especially Andrew; they're racing 3-5 days a week), a maybe just a little bit stronger than Alessandra.

She finished 4th tonight (5 were in the heat race, and 4 transferred to the main), but it was a step in the right direction. She stayed focused for the whole race, and didn't finish too far behind the others. We're  just starting to get out to the track a bit more frequently lately, so I think she'll be getting sharper pretty quickly. 

Santa Clara PAL BMX- 11/1/13

Alessandra was having fun, but definitely not in race mode. The highlight of the night was that she actually finished in the middle (3rd out of 5) instead of finishing last, or close to it, as she has often done when she's in one of her "less competitive" modes. Anyway, she had fun, and actually earned her third place trophy. 

Full Moon Friday with Bachan 10/18/13

Not too many Striders tonight, but it was a beautiful fall night under a full moon. Alessandra was pretty casual in practice on the little track, and the big track. She went fast when she wanted to, and just strolled around, and looked up at the lights at times; sometimes just stopping on top of a whoop and looking around. But when race time came it was serious business. She got off the line well, and controlled both races, eventually taking another pair of wins. It was just her and another 4 yr. old tonight, but Alessandra had everything. under control, and cruised to victory.

Santa Clara PAL BMX 9/13/13

Alessandra surprised us when she woke up from her nap and said that she wanted to go racing. After last week we thought that a break from racing was in store. It was a good night overall. She was having fun in practice, and the kids were all having fun lining up and doing some practice starts.



We thought that they were going to let them all race in one race, but at the last minute they separated out Tyler and Alessandra (the two four year-olds), and had them just race each other. Too bad, a race of six would have been much more fun. Tyler beat Alessandra pretty bad in both races. He's definitely older than Alessandra (he may even be 5), and far more experienced. He actually already races a pedal bike on the full track in the 5 and under class. Alessandra was definitely capable of going faster than she did though; unfortunately once someone gets away from her at the start she just lets them go, and get's into stroll mode- something we have to work on.
A couple of weeks ago she was in a race against Cody ( the boy that swapped wins with Tyler last week), and Alessandra only finished several bike lengths behind him, whereas she finished way, way behind Tyler in this one. Oh well, she still got a second place trophy, and she deserved it! She did well.

Santa Clara PAL BMX 9/6/13

It was a rough night! Alessandra was acting up little before we took off for the track, which is never a good sign, and then she was just not her usual self at the track. She was crying for momma, stopping on the whoops and looking up at the stars (she did comment that it was dark out, which was a new experience for her; the days are definitely getting shorter), and getting stuck up high on the banked turns and whining. We should have just took off because she wasn't even having fun. She ended up taking two third places (out of three), and she was way behind the leaders at the end: Cody and Tyler swapped wins.