You Yangs National Round 3

Another National Round done and dusted. After driving all day from Bredbo to Geelong with a minor mishap about 10 minutes from home (thanks Pop for helping us out, yet again. I keep telling Ian I need a new car) Our second stop, after filling up with petrol in Cooma, was to pick up Brock and the van in Berridale.

We arrived at camp and just happened to be camping next to some other mountain biking mates. We set up camp for the next 4 days with Glen and Phil Piazza and Genaro and Danielle Acunzo. We really couldn't have asked for better camping mates, we all got on like a house on fire (only there was no fire because it rained for 3 days!) Phil races U17's and Danielle races U17 women. Also camping in our park were Peter and Mitch Kristiansen and Anna and Jesse Went. Mitch and Jesse are both from Canberra and race the CORC rounds. Mitch is racing the National series U15's also and Jesse is racing in the U19's.

We arrive at the track on Friday morning to get in a good day's practice. Everything went well apart from the fact that the boys decided that the track was way too peddaly and should really be classed as an XC track, not a downhill track! Anyway, after realising it's the same for everyone and there's no use whingeing about it, it's what they've got to work with, practice went along great. Andrew said the track was fun, Thomas just did run after run. Shuttles were really fast and turn around saw them doing a run about every 15 minutes.
Friday night back at camp, after a bbq feed, it rained, and rained, and rained. It actually rained all night, I know because I was awake for most of it. Saturday morning, it was still raining. Practice on Saturday started at 12:30pm so we went to the supermarket to get some food, the hardware store to get a rain coat for Mum and silicone spray for the bikes, and headed out to the track. It was still raining. Arrive at the track and the place was like a bog hole. There was that much mud to walk through that your feet would get lost. You had to really try hard to stay on your feet. We decided to pack in practice at about 4pm and headed back to the park to do some washing. Everything was covered in mud. We were lucky enough to have to drive right past a car wash on the way back to our camp so we could stop off there every day and wash off the bikes (and clothes and shoes).

A great dinner cooked by Glen on Saturday night and we sat in our camp kitchen to watch some of the days video footage and photo's taken by Ian. Lots of laughs had by all.

Back to the track early Sunday morning for a few practice runs before race. There was only a few showers last night so we were all hoping the track would have dried out a bit. Lucky for us the weather held out on race day with no rain and the track was drying up nicely. It was actually quite amazing how quickly the track did dry up by the end of the day although us spectators did have to battle through the mud for most of the day.

After much stress and worrying (from us parents), it was race time. Lots of good lucks and stay safes and they all headed up the hill. First to race was Jesse who did his run and qualified for the U19's finals. Next was Danielle in the U17's women. Danielle was looking really good in her race run but had a bit of a mis hap but still managed to secure a podium with 3rd place. You go girl! Then it was the U17's with Phil and Brock. Phil also had a mis hap and finished 13th. Brock had a great run and came in 10th. There were 37 starters in the U17's and competition is pretty stiff.

Next down were the U15's. Standing at the finish line and the lack of commentary saw us still waiting for the last of the U17's to come down but out of the blue, here comes Thomas over the last jump. He was just about to finish his race run and we didn't even know he was on the track! He overtook one of the U17's riders just before the finish line and the timing took ages to put up his time. Eventually his time came up as 2:49.71. Next we saw Mitch come down and he was placed in 2nd for a while. Then here comes Andrew, posts a time of 3:18.17 which at that time saw him in 3rd position. At this stage in the race, Thomas was first, Mitch second and Andrew third although there were still a few riders to come so we weren't getting too excited. As it turned out, the last 2 riders posted times that knocked Mitch back to 4th and Andrew back to 5th. But still, 11 year old Andrew, in his first National event, came 5th out of 15 riders. Pretty bloody good effort.


Wow, we actually have a few weeks off now until the National Champs at Stromlo on the January long weekend. We wish you all a very Merry Christmas and Happy and prosperous New Year. Remember, if you're ever passing through Bredbo, feel free to call in and have a cuppa or a beer, we're always happy to have visitors.
Check out our latest You tube Post of the track.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cGGlTatptdc

Team Crimmins Update

Well, it's been a pretty full on past few weeks, we haven't had time to scratch ourselves (well maybe the boys have but I haven't!!!). Firstly, in November, Thomas applied for and was offered a Scholarship with South East Region Academy of Sport (SERAS) through their Country Energy Program. This will greatly help Thomas with the cost of his racing. I have attached a link to their website on our front page.

Next was the National Round in Geelong on the weekend of 13 & 14 December which we will do another post about but needless to say, Thomas won and Andrew came 5th. Go Team Crimmins.

On the School front, Bredbo Public School had their presentation night on the Thursday night that we arrived in Geelong. Whilst we were setting up camp Andrew received a phone call from one of his school mates. This phone call was to inform Andrew that he had been voted in as School Captain for 2009. Yay Andrew. He was also told that he had received the Sportsmanship Award for 2008. Great effort Andrew!

Monaro High School had their presentation on Tuesday 16th December where Thomas was recognised with an award for both his Interschools Mountain Biking results and also his National results.

On returning home from Geelong last weekend, I had to race to the Servo first thing Tuesday morning and get some milk for the coffee (can't start the day without my coffee) and collected the mail while I was there. There was a large envelope in the mail addressed to Thomas. Upon opening this envelope, it contained a certificate and letter to inform Thomas he had been awarded the "ClubsACT Sportstar Special Achievement Award for the Month of November 2008". This came as a total surprise to us all as we had no idea he had even been nominated. This award now puts Thomas in the running for the ClubsACT Sportstar of the year award which is announced in October/November 2009.

National Series Round 2 Illinbah Queensland

Thomas Takes 1st Place


National Downhill series round 2 Illinbah Queensland
Team Crimmins once again hit the road or as it was the Airways with a huge long weekend up in sunny Queensland. We flew out on Thursday to Brisbane where we were then chauffeur driven back to my mate Mick's house at Ormeau. We quickly settled in to our base camp for 4 days. A Big Thank you Mick, his lovely pregnant partner Renee and his daughter the one and only Shona! We were made to feel at home from start to finish and were also set up with all the accessories like a Van, esky, chairs, tools and maps. Thursday night also saw Thomas initiated into the exciting game of cane toad golf, producing several drives John Daley would be proud of.

Saturday practice













Mick and his mate George help Thomas wash his bike.


Friday we were out early and the trip to the track was a scenic 35min cruise. Rego, then walk the track, looked good till we got to a section about 2/3rds way up and inspected a section called the woods. An 80m section of steep wet rocks, roots and mud. This section was without a doubt the most technical section Thomas has encountered. The rest of the track looked good and was drying up fast after the previous days rain. The track is about 3.7k's long and drops 500m.
Thomas then started practice runs laying down around 6 and also doing some sections, the woods proving to be as difficult as envisaged. I walked up and it was absolute carnage in there but i got some good footage on the camera. Harro's crew turned up from Berridale for a late inspection run. Track closed at 4pm All good..
Back to base camp and we were treated to the freshest king prawns and bugs tasted in a long time deluxe!!
Upper section in the woods


like this all the way only wetter



Saturday, we got to sleep in a bit due to practice not starting until 12pm. All went well and Thomas said he was getting the woods dialed and the rest of the track flowed well. In the arvo we could see this storm approaching and just as Thomas was on his forth run it erupted, smashing the village and blowing tents everywhere, it dumped about 3 inches. Track closed and we escaped just before the river crossing flooded, game over for the day!!
We later went over to catch up with our good friends Steve and Estelle and their kids Evelyn and Sarah.

Log Jump on lower section


Sunday Race Day!
Up and out early. Track was a muddy wet mess after the storm and it was decided to lay down only one practice run. We also changed to new mud tyres, this went extremely well considering the conditions. With a start time of around 2.30pm Thomas got to kick back while dad washed and serviced the bike.



Around lunch time Thomas' cheer squad turned out in force. He would like to thank the following: Mick and Shona, Shona's friend, Spud, Ben and family, Steve, Estelle and family. All making the journey out to the track to cheer him on.
As the anticipation grew we saw Brock scream down in a time that would have put him on the podium only to have a massive stack on the last corner.
With the open sections of the track starting to dry Thomas came down first rider in under 15's past us flat out and finished in a time of 4;48.45 he was then seated in the hot seat next to Nathan Rennie and interviewed. This time was good enough to take out first by 56 seconds and retain the converted 741 series leader plate



From there it was on to the podium and to the after party back at base camp.
Monday we headed down to Surfers Paradise with Harro's crew for a swim at the beach. I can tell you the lads were very impressed that it was schoolies week and the eye candy on offer!! Then it was time to leave sunny old QLD and we were once again chauffeur driven back to the airport for the flight home.
A top weekend was had.
Next Chapter National Series round 3 at You Yangs Gelong Vic. 11-14 December.
Team Crimmins will be taking the whole crew with Andrew Pinner Crimmins taking on his first National race and Kerry joining the support crew. Stay Tuned!!!!!!