Maddie's first Mountain Bike race!

..no, she wasn't actually competing. In fact, neither was I - just spectating this week.
I took Maddie along to the weekly Thursday night race (which I do sporadically) as I needed to register for this Sunday's 6-hour race.

So she got a taste of MTB racing, and I have to report with no small amount of pleasure that she loved it! It's difficult to convey what the race is like, as they start at 6:30pm so this time of year, it's all in the dark:

(not me)

Maddie was very interested in all the bikes whipping around all over the place, and even got into cheering on the racers: "Go!" at quite a good volume!

All I need to teach her now is how to hold water bottles & energy bars, and count the people in front of me so I know my race position, and she'll be a very useful race assistant!