photo by Mary Rinell // mjsmotophotos
HOW WERE YOU ABLE TO GET COMFORTABLE WITH YOUR CHILD / CHILDREN RIDING AT SUCH A YOUNG AGE ? IS IT EASIER NOW THAT THEY ’ RE OLDER ?
RENEE : At first , it was ok until they started hitting the big jumps ; that ’ s when I got nervous . You just have to trust that they know what they ' re doing , that ' s the biggest thing .. Motocross still scares me . Shelby comes back every year and does the Western Canadian Motocross Nationals ; I shake , I walk around , and I ' m just a nervous wreck . I can watch EnduroCross , off-road , I can watch her do Six Days , no problem .
Motocross just brings another level of anxiety . The weird thing is her first accident she had , she was 14 , and she got hurt in an offroad race . I wanted to quit right then . But it ' s pretty hard to say to your daughter " well we ' re quitting " when the rest of us are still racing . We went and researched a whole bunch of different gear for her to wear . When they love it , what do you do ? You can ' t say no . Then when they turn 18 , they can do what they want to do , so you either support them , or you don ' t . I think it ’ s a little bit easier now that she ’ s older ; I love watching her ride , especially EnduroCross . She ' s just so good at it , and just watching her ride is like poetry in a way .
VOL . 6 ISSUE 5 - MAY 2021 // PAGE 37