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Gunning for a yellow jersey?


Remember this date: April 27, 2008

Someday, it may be a prominent entry on a timeline in Henry's biography -- the day he competed in his first bike race.

Now, Tim insists he does not want to be "one of those dads." The ones who relentlessly push their boys into their own sports obsessions, reliving glory days or hoping to live out the dream of a lifetime. But hey, if the kid expresses a genuine interest...

Henry was entered in the kids' competition of the Old Capitol Criterium, a series of bike races that draws seriously competitive cyclist-racers from across the country.

In the 3- and 4-year-old division, he was up against a field of at least a dozen other preschooling cyclists, on every type of maneuverable object from a traditional bike with no training wheels to a pimped-out Big Wheel.

He started a bit slowly but poured it on at the end, pulling out a fantastic second-place finish in the one-and-a-half-block race. I'm mixing up my sports references here, but H had the whole Michael Jordan-sticking-out-the-tongue-in-extreme-concentration going on like a pro. He won a slick event T-shirt and two stickers. Perhaps the best part for H was getting to wear his race number pinned to his sweater for the rest of the day. I think he might have worn it to bed if he could have convinced us to attach it to his pajamas.

The best part for me turned out to be the photos Tim took, since I had to work on a pro-bono freelance project and missed out on the fun.

Both my guys are already talking about NEXT YEAR's Criterium. The 5-year-olds race ALL THE WAY AROUND THE BLOCK. Imagine in a Henry-voice: "Can you BELIEVE it?!"

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