GamJams.net: Where Mid-Atlantic bike racers roll: The Race Calendar for Little Kids with Big Hearts, and Lungs

C'mon, you know you're guilty. You buy your kids a little racing bike, little jersey, little gloves, even little sunglasses because you want them to be a bike racer, just like Mom and/or Dad.

So to add to their collection of diminutive racing paraphernalia I give you the GamJams 2007 Kids Racing Calendar. Now I can't guarantee all the events listed here will have kids' races in 2007, but they're in the list because of my strong suspiscions that they might. As I can confirm or deny their appropriateness for this list, I'll update accordingly. And if you know of any others who should be here, let me know and I'm happy to add them.

(I'm Linking to this page in 'RACER RESOURCES' to the left so it's easy access all season long.)

5/13/07: City Center at Oyster Point Criterium
The flyer bills this as a "Kids Rodeo" but race promoter Charlie Peterson assures me it's an actual kids' race, not the skills and safety course that "rodeo" usually connotes. The event has its own website here (why doesn't every race do that, instead of just a PDF flyer?), and the kids' races go off at 3:30, just before the Mother's Day Cruise, as 5/13 is not just a race day - it's Mother's Day.

5/19/07: Mayor's Main Street Classic (Note - race will be rescheduled due to a conflict. Not sure whose - maybe the Mayor's?)
I didn't do this race last year so can't comment personally on the kids events. But this photo album by Dennis Smith, linked to by the folks at Evolution Cycling, gives strong credence to my theory that there were kids races last year, and may be this year as well. (Someone get that kid in the Snow Valley jacket a new kit.)

5/20/07: Leonardtown Criterium
This one is official. The 2007 info is up and kids races go off at noon. Thanks to Chris Wiles of Evolution Cycling for pointing this out.

5/27/07: Crystal City Classic
OK, this is a guess flavored with hope as it's the first ever Crystal City Classic this year. But it's put on by Arlington Sports, who also host the CSC Invitational. And CSC has kids races. Maybe Crystal City will also.

6/2/07: CSC Invitational
The CSC race drew hundreds of kids last year, and I'm glad they had a kids' event. But there were no trophies or medals for top finishers, not even participant ribbons. Instead, they gave every kid across the line a postcard promoting the event and listing the sponsors. I was able to convince my 4-year-old (who won his category) that it was a great prize at the time, but it's not. Arlington Sports, don't make me lie to my children again. It's reprehensible of you. If you're hurting for prizes let me know - I'll personally provide participant ribbons and GamJams Cup trophies for podium finishers in the kids categories.

7/22/07: Grand Prix of Silver Spring
The folks at DC Velo really put on the best kids race in the area. Trophies, a podium and awards ceremony, tons of hands on deck and as much organization as you can hope for around hundreds of kids, and still make it fun. Helmet tip to everyone over there, in particular Becky Spada.

Alas, that's all I can find for 2007 so far. Last year the kids races (and whole family atmosphere) at the Hampstead Crit were excellent - they even had the little ones climb the hill and track through the sweeper leading to the loooooong finishing straight. My little guy actually came across the line winded, like his old man. But that race fell off the calendar. BikeJam, Wilmington, Reston - you're all great candidates for kids races. What will it take to persuade you?

In the meantime, let me throw out another suggestion - BMX.
Never mind that BMX is an Olympic sport in Beijing in 2008, and probably the most legitimate cycling-related hope you can cling to as a means of defraying your little ones' college tuition expenses one day. BMX is probably the best introduction to bike racing in any discipline. Spend a few of your formative years elbow-to-elbow in loose banked corners and 3' off the ground, and I guarantee you'll never be squirrelly in a peloton later in life. Spun out at 125 RPMs in that downhill sprint? Not if you came from BMX, where you learned to do 150 RPMs standing up every single moto. And don't even get me started on how BMX as a kid can make you a better MTB rider as you're older.

I did some research for my little guys and there are actually more tracks in the area than I thought. Check these out, take your kids to watch sometime, and let us know what you and they think. There's even cruiser classes at all of these, giving you an excuse to add to your stable as well.

MARYLAND:

Chesapeake BMX
Severn, MD
http://www.chesapeakebmx.com/

Southern Maryland BMX
Chaptico, MD
http://www.somdbmx.com/

Hagerstown BMX
Hagerstown, MD
http://www.hagerstownbmx.com/

Riverside BMX
Cumberland, MD
http://www.riversidebmx.org/