Super Supercross!

November 27th found us with Nate, David's birthdad, and Grandpa Mike at the Swiftel Center in Brookings for Nate's debut in the Supercross race! Nate came to Brookings earlier in the day to try to qualify for the main event later in the evening. He won his heat, which was really great for his first try.

Allen, David, and I had supper with Grandpa Mike (Grandma Pam's soft heart had her working an extra shift--we really missed her!) at Pizza Ranch and then headed to the Swiftel Center. Nate sat with us a bit and explained how each rider gets to the main event. He chased David up and down the bleachers for a while too. The first couple of races held David's interest but after that it was more fun to run up and down the isle seats, which I'm sure the other fans appreciated. Allen took David for a potty break and just before Nate's race came back to the stands. I don't think David understood that the #12 bike rider was Nate, but he was there for the special race. Nate did really great until somewhere around lap 4 when his bike stalled. He had been riding in 2nd place and if he hadn't stalled, probably would have beat the guy in 1st. I was so busy watching Nate try to get his bike re-started that I didn't pay attention to the rider that shot off the track and hit the block wall. That poor guy was Nate's friend, Lee. He ended up having surgery on his ankle last week. He's going to remember that race for a long time--so will the Swiftel Center--there's a hole in the wall where Lee's foot peg hit! Anyway, we're glad that Lee will be okay and are waiting to hear if Nate will ride again in January.