Robert Winder

Thanks Hernando for the “Ruth props“.  She’s so excited by the sport that I can’t believe it.

Ruth has been out representing whilst Mex and me are playing Dr’s and cripples and for a 14 year old kid she shows more maturity than many.  Don’t cross her though, she’s not afraid to tell you what she thinks.

She’s on the prowl in two series - NorCal HS MTB and the NCNCA Junior Points - and has been out representing by herself in the womens 4’s races.  She’s doing ok in MTB - not really our scene - but for a first year and on a borrowed 15 year old bike and Mex’s tight fitting shoes,  she’s really excelling.  There are some in the series that are truly gifted, and then there are others that are pushed by parents to excel.  We subscribe to the “if you want to do it…” kind of racing, and Ruth is really enjoying it all.

Her schedule is crazy busy:

• April 13th - Fort Ord - MTB - 6th
• April 26th - Wente RR - won her age group
• April 27th - Wente Crit women 4’s - won a prime (by a country mile)
• May 3rd - Cats Hill - won her age group
• May 4th - Toro Park - MTB - 7th

There is no stopping her.  She’s raced more times than me in 2008 so far.
The dilemma is that the final MTB race of the series clashes with the U-16 NCNCA District RR championships - go figure.  Ruth’s response “will I be racing against 2 others in the RR?  Because, winning a jersey like that isn’t important to me.” - I wish I had her maturity.  Astounding.

Apart from a handful of races at the back-end of 2007 this is her first season.  Not only that, but she’s hardly out training because she doesn’t want to ride by herself.  Having said that, I did get a text from her last week that said “I’m going on the trainer”.  Oh.

She’s getting a ton of support from too many to name, it all helps, thank you!

If this is living vicariously then BRING IT ON!