Level Three. Eagerly Keen.

By Michelle Lloyd.

The bike memories had filled Little Herbert with many mixed emotions before.

Little Herbert loved his grandpa and that particular race had taught him a lot about how much that emotion meant.

Sadness had threatened to overwhelm him that day. He hid it well because he did not want to disappoint grandpa. He had put a lot of work into building the bike for him and Little Herbert was not about to be ungracious about it. In his heart though, he knew that he would just be going through the motions and he would not really be able to enjoy participating in the TT Races.

When he thought about what he could have had…visions of sleek, contemporary vehicles shot through his mind and then quite literally he watched them flash past him, as many duplicate types of entry had been designed by other entrants.

Little Herbert could hardly hide his sigh of disappointment as he took to his deliberately shortened saddle and off he set about it. Off he went at first, behind many of his dream vehicles and slowly one by one they all started to lag in front of him. Different reasons prevailed but the same result was had for each of them as sides started to slip and noisy vehicles juddered to a halt. Little Herbert continued on and even over the rougher terrain could stand his ground, as his bike offered him more stability and competence to tackle that part of the course.

Champion Little Herbert could hardly believe it as he took the trophy with pride and won first place. Grandpa’s knowing smile had signified more experience of practically acting on inventive designs and he knew that a style over substance philosophy would not be best suited to a grandchild of his, instead he emphasised the points that he knew would help him and ensure that any weakness would be a thing of the past. Having learnt from history, grandpa knew that a practical approach to his grandson’s objective would earn him the most reward.