For the last 6 years, I’ve been cheering on the Park City High School Mountain bike team through my lens. What started as a way to pass a very long day, waiting for 2 of my kids to race, turned into one of the greatest adventures of my life. I could not have predicted the impact being a part of this team would have on my personal growth and my photographic skills.
Being a winning team requires all different kinds of people, giving their all, to win. It requires parents, who move heaven and earth to support their kids interests. It requires coaches to teach these riders how to push through the pain and finish. It requires people willing to stand in the hot sun and pass water bottles to thirsty riders with hopes of a successful hand off. It requires volunteers who prep food all week and then spend race day cooking for an entire team and the families. The amount of set up and take down for races is a ginormous undertaking, yet people show up early and stay late, every single time. A successful team requires so many different kinds of sacrifices to run smoothly. I had the honor and privilege to be the witness to all that sacrifice and hard work for 6 years.
As I watched through my camera lens, I learned valuable life lessons that I will get to carry forward in my life and I want to remember them all.
Lesson #1 Show Up
Mountain biking is hard. No one can pedal for you. Be proud of all your attempts, even when they fail. You are 100% faster than everyone who didn’t show up. Whether you are first or last crossing the finish line, you did something to be proud of.
Lesson #2 Give yourself Grace
Some days everything goes wrong, learn from it and start new tomorrow. Flat tire, dropped bottle dumps, your chain breaking, going head over handlebars, anxiety…. The list is endless of problems that could occur. Sometimes, we just can’t get it to go the way we want. Give yourself grace, don’t judge yourself, breath. Try again next time.
Lesson #3 Be gracious when you win and even MORE when you lose
There is only one thing more unattractive than a winner who stands on the podium acting better than everyone around them and that is someone who lashes out when things don't go their way. When you win, be appreciative of the people who sacrificed to get you there, I promise you didn't get on the podium without support. When you had the worst race ever, with 3 flats and DNF'ed, still cheer your guts out for everyone that did make it up on the podium.
Lesson #4 Joy is Contagious
In a photograph, everyone looks like a winner if they celebrate crossing the finish line. I have witness riders win, but their faces look like they lost. I have also seen the last rider cross the line with a smile big enough to see from space. Joy is contagious and adds just as much energy to the team as points for first place.
Lesson #5 Give more than you take
Give to your team more than you take. Unfortunately, every team has takers. They show up, race their own race, and leave. They cheer for no one. They stay clueless to the hundreds of people, working tirelessly for a safe and fun bike race. They add no joy points and no podium points to their team. Find a way to give back to all those sacrificing time and energy to make things happen. It can be as simple as bringing face paint, making a sign that makes riders laugh while they pedal up a hill, or cheering every last rider across they finish line. Be a contributor, not just a consumer.
Lesson #6 Teams that win, take care of each other
A team that wins, wins together. A team that loses didn't take care of each other. A team shouldn't be judged on how they treat their podium finishers, but how they encourage and cheer for their last rider to cross the finish line. I could always tell if our team was going to win by how they showed up for the last riders and also helped clean up the course. More cheering and more helping was always a sign of a strong team that also found themselves on the podium.
Lesson #7 Building courage requires doing scary things
As the saying goes, "feel the fear and do it anyway." If we want our kids to learn to be courageous, we must give them opportunities to get outside their comfort zone and face fear head on. I will never forget the smiles of confidence riders would have when they exceeded their own expectations and finished hard races. Growth does not come through comfort.
Lesson #8 Battle Scars are Inevitable
Falling is part of the process. We become stronger when we pick ourselves up and keep going. No one races mountain biking and doesn’t have a scar to show for it. Living your life to the max will result in some battle scars, but those are really badges of honor.
Lesson #9 The real race is the one against yourself
Although there are other racers on the course, the YOU from last race is your real competitor. It's easy to get sucked into the mindset that racing is about beating other people. I've watched that toxic mindset melt the mental game of every kind of racer. It blocks them from seeing the valuable lessons available during every race. There are valuable lessons no matter what the outcome at the finish line says. When you focus on improving yourself, you always win something.
Lesson #10 Don't forget to have fun
Don’t take the race so serious that you forget to have fun. As our OG head coach used to say, “It’s a party with a bike race somewhere in the middle.” I used to tell my kids when they were feeling anxious, “just be a kid, on a bike, riding on a trail with a lot of other people.” Do your best and that’s all your can do.
Lesson #11 When you aren't riding, you are cheering
When you aren’t riding, you are out cheering for others. Your cheers might be the one voice a rider hears that helps them wipe the tears away and finish. Words of encouragement are free, and limitless, use them to fuel the tanks of your team mates. Take your cheering as serious as you take your racing.
Lesson #12 Team spirit matters
My last kid is about to graduate high school, her time on this team is over. She was never the fastest rider on the team and she knows it. But she taught me more about being a good teammate than all the winners that stood on the podium. The reason she won the Joe-i spirit award 4 years in a row was because she gave more than she took. She cheered, loudly, for others and gave more high-fives than she took. I was lucky to witness her smiles, her tutu, her sharpie and glitter covered body through this mountain biking journey and know she learned important life lessons that will manifest in her life forever.
2 Comments
Mar 18, 2025, 9:40:33 AM
Devrin Carlson-Smith - This is beautiful Allison. The joy of being part of the team is captured perfectly in your 12 incredible lessons. This should be shared and read by every student athlete, coach, parent and volunteer - every year! We will miss your smiling face and long lens
Mar 18, 2025, 8:44:18 AM
John English - Beautiful piece. In a dog-eat-dog world, your words and pictures remind us why, win or lose, life is still worth living.