Eight of Aaron’s co-workers surprised him by coming to his race on Sunday to cheer him on.

Plus his mom and stepdad.

Plus me.

We made a big, awesome, very-conspicuous cheer group that practically outnumbered the total number of spectators cheering for every other rider. Aaron felt very loved, but also a bit pressured to put on a good show.

Of course, this would be the race in which he lost a contact lens after the first lap… with three more laps to go. Dude is nearly BLIND without contacts or glasses, and I imagine only being able to see with one eye on a very technical trail was insanely difficult and frustrating.

He did fall at one point due to a collision with another rider, but otherwise he finished unscathed for second place in his age group for the race and FIRST PLACE in his age group for the race series!

You know you’re good when you make the podium. You know you’re f*cking amazing when you do it with half your eyesight.

And you know you have good friends when they use their own shirts to wipe sweat off your head.

Fun times. SO proud.

This is how it’s done, folks.