At an age where training wheels are still bolted on bicycles for many children, two young - and I mean young - Kanawha Valley motocross racers will line up at the starting gate next week with some of the nation's best.
There are three West Virginians competing in the 51cc (4-6) limited event at the Loretta Lynn AMA Amateur National Motocross Championships at the Loretta Lynn Ranch in Hurricane Mills, Tennessee. Gavin Abboud, 5, of Winfield and Ryder Andruzis, 7, of Charleston join Huntington's Brody Atkins and 39 other racers from around America in that field, which races at noon Wednesday. Both Abboud and Andruzis have been racing competitively for about a year, so even at such a young age, they're experienced. And for them to reach a national level so soon impresses and amazes both racers' families.
"Right around August of last year, he told me he wanted to take the training wheels off," Gavin's father Brandon said. "I was like, 'Well, I don't know if you're ready, but there's only one way to find out.' So we did."
He was ready.
"It was the following weekend after the training wheels came off that he did his first race," Brandon Abboud said.
Ryder's story is pretty similar, said his father Matt Andruzis. It wasn't very long after he started the sport that it was plain to see he had a knack for it.
"He picked it up right away," Matt Andruzis said. "His younger brother races and he's 4. They were both riding bicycles at 3 without training wheels. He got a dirt bike for his birthday. I had one when I was his age. He just picked it up really quick and raced a few local races."
The process to reach the Loretta Lynn Championships is no cake walk. Racers first compete in area qualifiers. There are 16 of those around the country and racers usually enter in one or two of those qualifiers. Finish in the top eight of a category in areas, and that punches the ticket to one of eight regionals around the country. There, racers must finish in the top six to qualify for nationals, which take place at the former ranch home of country music legend Loretta Lynn.
Motocross.com has called the event the "Holy Grail of sorts" for motocross racing. Gavin and Ryder get to grasp for that grail while still in elementary school.
Reaching that level of racing is an eye-opener for parents and children. After all, how many elementary school kids do you know that have sponsorships? (Gavin counts El Pollo Rico among his. Ryder counts Mr Holeshot's among his.) A successful race down south for Ryder caught the attention of Cobra, the manufacturer of the competition bikes for racers of that age.
"Their PR guy came up to us and said, 'What's his Instagram?' " Matt Andruzis said. "And we were like, 'He doesn't have one. He's 6.' "
Ryder has an Instagram account now, but both Gavin and Ryder's parents say the bright lights of big competition don't blind the young racers. They still just love the feeling of darting over the dirt as fast as they can.
"I don't think he understands how big this is for him," Matt Andruzis said of Ryder. "He just likes to race. He likes to ride and practice."
The parents are careful not to let high stakes affect their kids' love of the sport. Ryder and Gavin want to win, but their parents want them to keep enjoying the sport long after their fledgling years.
"We don't put any pressure on him," Brandon Abboud said of Gavin. "That kind of takes the fun out if it, and at that age, that's all that it's really about."
Ask both racers, and they'll tell you it's really, really fun.
"It's fun just riding," Ryder said. "I'm just excited to go do it."
"[I like] the jumps," Gavin said. "I like getting to go in the air."
It'll be even more fun for Gavin and Ryder if they can make it to the winners' podium at the end of Wednesday's race. Yet, win or not, the memories of the experience will fuel them to try and make a return trip to the championships.
They'll have plenty of time. They're both starting early.
Contact Derek Redd at 304-348-1712 or derek.redd@wvgazettemail.com. Follow him on Twitter @derekredd.