This 8-year-old girl crashed, but will race again

On May 31, Lily Gordon, an 8-year-old rider from Calgary, crashed on her bike. She was participating in a Trailblazers event put on by Cyclemeisters/Bowcycle in Shaganappi Park. Her parents were organizers of the race that featured kids on mountain and cyclocross bikes, and even some on balance bikes.

“Our six-year-old son loves racing, but Lily is struggling with it a bit,” said Shannon Gordon, Lily’s mother. “Last year, she tried riding her new Red Line ‘cross bike and it was a bit big and she crashed. She was very unhappy about it and we were not sure she would race again.” Lily’s 2016 crash happened at the Dark Knight cyclocross race held at Canada Olympic Park. She did not finish.

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“This year, she decided to race again,” Shannon said. “She crashed again and it was pretty bad. Lily hit her face on a tree. Because my husband and I were organizers, we did not see it happen. Someone found her, helped her up and asked if she was done. She said, ‘No, I want to finish the race.’ She was in shock when she got to me and her face was all banged up.

“That night, her dad was putting her to bed and they had a little chat. I guess he couldn’t believe what she was saying and tried to record some of it.”

“So, why did you get up after you crashed?” Lily’s father, Cody, asked in the video.

“Because I didn’t want to be DNF’ed,” replied Lily. “And I wanted to finish. I didn’t want it to be my last experience on a bike before my next race. I need to race again because I’m not hurt on my legs. I can still ride. And I can do a lot of stuff.”

Cody then asked Lily if she wanted to participate in the next Trailblazers event on June 8. He wondered if she wanted to take a break from competition.

“I’m going to race the next Trailblazers one,” she said.

“We are proud of our children and I wish I was more like Lily at her age,” her mom later reflected.