When you hear "rodeo" in this part of the world, you think bulls and cowboys and bucking horses and lots of ropin'. So when I heard so much about the bike rodeo these past few years, I was envisioning some crazy kids ropin something or other while trying to stay upright on their fancy BMX bikes. Which of course is exactly what Nate-Dawg does on a regular basis around the farm, except he has a Wally World version of the BMX bike... and an ice-cream bell attached. So.... when 4-H enrollment time came around last spring and the kids just had to do the bike rodeo we had all heard about, I figured why not. How bad could it be?
Turns out it had nothing to do with ropin and wranglin stuff. They just had to ride patterns around cones and do straight lines as fast as they could and as slow as they could without breaking pattern or falling off. Come to think of it, it was a lot like the horse show!
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| Ally on her hand-me-down recycled bike. Complete with ice cream bell to warn the dogs to get out of her way!!! |
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| Why do those helmets make them look like little aliens?! |
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| If you look close you can see the little wood boards they have to ride between and go as slow as possible without falling over! |
Turns out country kids seem to be better than city kids at riding bikes in funny patterns. Must be all the dodging pot holes and rocks and dogs in the driveway. Paved sidewalks and streets are BORING. Give 'em a hay bale and a board and they turn it into a jumping ramp. Creativity and athletic ability all wrapped into one! Anyway, both kids participated and had a great time with their friends. They also walked away with more ribbons. What do you do with all those ribbons anyway???
