Pint sized peddler: Toddler becomes bike racing champion of new US craze

By
Phil Vinter

PUBLISHED:

12:39 EST, 4 July 2012

|

UPDATED:

12:59 EST, 4 July 2012

He may barely be bigger than the tool of his trade but two-year-old Ashton Heron is already gearing up for big things in the world of biking.

The youngster from Bilsthorpe in Nottingham is off to Florida after scooping first place for his age group on Saturday at the UK’s first World Cup in the new cycling sport called Strider racing.

Instead of pedals young competitors use their feet to push themselves around a course and Ashton was the first to cross the finish line on the 125-metre stretch of track which is usually used to train Olympic athletes at Manchester’s National Cycling Centre .

Easy rider: Ashton Heron, in the black helmet, leads the way in the UK’s first Strider World Cup on Saturday – competitors use their feet to propel themselves along

The sport of Strider bike riding is already a huge hit in the U.S. where those taking part regularly finish the bumpy course in under a minute.

And despite his tender years bike-mad Ashton has already seen off the competition from riders older than him to win a brand new bike.

Having raced around his garden in his family home since the age of 12 months, Ashton was a natural talent in his first race.

Mum Tina Heron, 29, said the win for her son came as no surprise given his obsession with bikes over the past year.

She said: ‘He knows what winning is, he’s quite competitive. People can’t believe he’s only two but he is, he doesn’t turn three until September.

‘He is on his bike 24/7, as soon as he was old enough to sit on a bike about the age of one, that was it.’

Winner: The youngster is off to Florida after scooping first place for his age group at the UK’s first World Cup for a new cycling sport on Saturday in Manchester

To read the whole story, visit here: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2168827/Pint-sized-peddler-Toddler-bike-racing-champion-new-US-craze.html

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