09/21/2021
Why I love nature, MTBing, photography, kids and especially kids on bikes plus their smiles. It all comes together at the race events. I see so much even if I haven’t moved in hours. I see smiles, laughter, tears, scrapes, bruises and blood. I see team work, camaraderie, kids helping or cheering on other teams. Lending hands to do the hard work of setting up and tearing down. I see new faces that decided this was the week they were going to start racing. I see siblings giving all they can cheering on their brothers or sisters even though they aren’t old enough to race yet. I am met with 100s of smiling faces from the singing of the national anthem til podiums are complete and tear down has almost finished. The folks from the MICL league from the core staff down to the team coaches to the parents and especially the riders are what makes it all worth my while. I spend hour after hour shooting in the woods and at the end of the day, I am exhausted but never ready to stop. Waiting for the last Marshal to bring me in and chat a bit about how amazing the day was. Or what amazing thing so and so did like one kid stopping mid race to save a crossing turtle, or another kid stopping to tell me he is worried about his friend who had a small accident behind him. Or another kid laughing while passing by me because the kids cheering them on were actually funny. I also appreciate the serious and the focused racers and the kids who dismount to walk their bikes past a certain hard section or the kids who crash and get up and go. No dusting themselves off, dirt on their faces! I see the kids beautiful smiles or focus and at the same time I see their bloodied elbows or knees. They all march to the beat of their own drum. They are all welcome under the same umbrella of MICL. It’s truly amazing to be part of it. I am especially proud that Aidan and Bill have also taken up coaching this year. 🚵🏻♀️
There is so much more, it is so hard to say it all. Here is a quick link to a hundred or so photos to see a small snippet of what I get to see.
kerriannphotography