CHAPTER 7
Jason trained nonstop for the next two weeks. He and Stephen spent every spare moment they had at the park. Jason practiced hopping over the tops of hills and controlling his speed around the corners.
“Always keep pedaling,” Stephen read from the BMX book. “Never coast.”
“What if I get tired?” Jason asked.
“You can coast after the race is over,” Stephen said.
“Does it say that? For real?” Jason asked. He hoped Stephen was kidding.
Stephen leaned over to show him the entry. “It does say you could try braking a little around the corners,” Stephen said. “It’ll help give you some control.”
“I’ll try it,” Jason said. He was suddenly anxious to get moving. “Let’s ride.”
The two friends took off down the trail again. Jason hit a rise in the path, and his bike was launched high off the ground.
“Did you see that, Stephen?” Jason shouted. “I caught some major air!”
Stephen nodded. “Yeah,” he said. “But the book says that jumps might look cool, but you’re slowing yourself down by jumping too high. Stay low on jumps. You’re faster on the ground.”
“Huh,” Jason said. “I wonder if Paul and his BMX big shots know that.”
“I guess we’ll find out,” Stephen said, closing the BMX notebook.
* * *
On the last day of training, Stephen was far behind Jason on the path.
“Wait up,” Stephen called. “Are you trying to lose me?”
Jason shrugged and slowed down. “Isn’t that the idea?” he asked.
“I think you’re getting the hang of it,” Stephen said, smiling. “You might finish the race tomorrow after all.”
“I hope so,” Jason said.
“It’ll be different with other riders on the track,” Stephen told him. “It won’t be easy.”
“I just don’t want to look stupid out there,” Jason said. “It’ll be cool to show Paul how far I’ve come.”
As they rode back toward the main park area, Jason realized something. I’m actually excited for the race, he thought. Maybe after the Dirt Cross, I’ll tell Paul he was right.
“One last thing,” Stephen said. He turned and rode toward a group of picnic tables. “And it’s pretty important.”
Stephen stopped near a bench and pulled out the BMX book. He flipped to the page he was looking for and nodded.
“What?” Jason asked. He felt like he’d already learned everything he could.
“You have to learn how to balance at the start gate and how to get the hole-shot,” Stephen said.
“The what-shot?” Jason asked. He didn’t like the sound of that.
Stephen laughed. “The hole-shot is what they call it when you’re the first one out of the gate,” he explained. “Great BMX riders can tell when the gate is going to drop. They’re pedaling before it hits the ground.”
Jason sighed. “Isn’t it enough to just pedal really fast?” he asked.
“There’s a little more to it than that,” Stephen said. “Ride over to that wall.”
Jason rode over to the brick wall along the side of the park with Stephen.
“Okay, now get as close to the wall as you can with your front tire,” Stephen said, reading from a page in the book. “Get close enough that the tire is touching the wall. You’ll want to do that at the starting gate.”
Jason did as he was told, but he still didn’t understand.
“Use the wall to keep your balance,” Stephen continued reading. “If you get tight enough up against the wall, you can keep both feet on the pedals. That way, you’ll have the strength of both legs right away when the gate drops.”
Jason nodded. “And that’s how I’ll get this holy-shot,” he said.
“Hole-shot,” Stephen corrected him.
“Whatever,” Jason muttered, trying to balance.
It was tricky at first, but after a few tries, he mastered it. He knew it’d be different with other riders around, but at least he’d sort of look like he knew what to do.
Sort of.