National Round 1 - Hobart 13/12/09

After much planning and organising, the day finally arrived for us to head to Hobart for Round 1 of the 2009/10 National Series to be held at Glenorchy MTB Park. Mum & Dad headed off in the car on the Wednesday to drive to Melbourne to catch the Spirit of Tasmania across Bass Strait. We contended with 3.5 mtr swells in our "luxurious" recliner chairs to arrive at Devonport to then drive 4 hrs to Hobart airport to pick the boys up off their 1.5hr flight from Canberra with 15mins to spare. Phewwww!! Thanks to the Smith's for hosting the boys on Wednesday night and ensuring their timely arrival at the airport and onto the flight bound for Hobart. Which as it happened was loaded up with Canberra mountain bikers.

We then headed from the airport straight to the track with the boys keen to walk the course to see what they had to contend with for the weekend. Discussions that night held the track as technical, fast with big jumps, possibly one of the hardest on the circuit this year.

Friday morning arrived with overcast skies and threatening rain. Shuttles were slow with the boys doing a bit of sectioning and M & D walking the track trying to get some shots. Our crew holding their own with Glen & Stu doing shuttles and Ian chief mechanic (as we seemed to have the only toolbox in the car park). Late in practice, Thomas turned up riding one handed and informed us he had stacked and injured his right wrist. Practice over for the day, dropped Mum & Andrew back at base camp and spent the next 5 hours at the hospital waiting for an X-Ray. X-Ray done and no major damage.

Saturday dawned after a night of rain and howling wind. Off to the track again for early practice, shuttles much faster than yesterday. All going well with boys hitting more lines each run. The boys and their mates were all getting more confident after each run and feeling good about their preparation. Andrew hitting all major A lines. Thanks to our new mate Peter for strapping Thomas' wrist pre-practice which kept him going for the day, although still pretty sore.


Sunday race day and another early start with group B having first practice. The boys punched out their usual 3 runs and were feeling as though they had the track pretty dialed even though it was getting pretty blown out. As U17's & U15's were due to race pretty early in the order, both boys headed up in the shuttle buses to wait for their runs. Clouds threatening to open up just before race runs commenced but luckily only a few drops in it.

Thomas, racing his first year in U17's at National level, came down mid field really holding his own against the older top riders, missing out on 2nd position by .24 of a second but holding out 3rd place by 11 seconds in a field of 32 riders. Bloody good effort to get on the podium.


Andrew is racing his first full National Series in U15's and at 12 years of age, is one of the younger riders in this field. Andrew was 4th on the start list and came out of the trees right on another riders tail, who it ends up he followed like that for the whole bottom part of the track. His race time blitzed the U15's field by a massive 13 seconds and secured his first place, and Series leader. Go Andrew!!!


The after party consisted of Pizza and drinks at community house with lots of laughs and chilling after a stressful few days.

Very happy with the weekend's effort, we packed up the ute and headed, no, not to do touristy things, but to Mt Wellington so the boys could do some 15min downhill runs with their mates. Yay.
Had lunch at Hobart wharf with mates and then headed off for the drive to Devonport to get on the boat. Luckily Mum had upgraded to a cabin for the trip home as it was not a pleasant sleep in those recliners. Arrived back at Melbourne at 6:30am all ready for the drive back home. It was a struggle but we made it home safe and a great weekend was had by all. Watch this space for more updates for the rest of the Series and Champs coming up next in mid January.

CORC Round 8 - Thredbo 6/12/09

The whole team went to Thredbo for the weekend for Round 8 of the CORC Series. Practice on Saturday and race day on Sunday. Thank you to the Maggs' for hosting us in their lodge for the Saturday night.

Practice went well on the Saturday, weather was lovely and got in lots of runs. Not so much about practicing as it is about riding with mates. Sunday race day arrived and Mum and Dad headed up the mountain to do some marshaling. Both boys were held up in their first race runs but you expect that in a Clubbie at Thredbo. After first race run, Thomas was comfortably sitting in 2nd position overall.

Final result for the day was Thomas finished 1st overall out of a field of 92 riders and Andrew finished 7th overall (and 1st in U15's). Another great weekend had by all.

CORC Round 7 - Kowen Forest 15/11/09

As Ian was at his annual fishing comp at Tuross, three quarters of Team Crimmins headed to Kowen Forest out the back of Qbn for Round 7 on the weekend of 14/15 Nov. After Lachie arrived at Bredbo, we headed off to pick up Matt and have some practice runs on Saturday morning to try and beat the heat. Practice went well and Andrew's knee held up really well as this was his first go at downhilling since getting his brace off 3 1/2 weeks earlier. Headed home for a swim to cool off.

Sunday morning we left home early to get in some practice runs before it got too hot. The push up at Kowen is up a very steep fire road in the full sun. Those poor kids did it tough all day. Practice done and everyone headed up to the start. Andrew was racing U15's and Thomas U17's. After first race run, Thomas was sitting in first place overall out of 94 riders. Pretty impressive. Andrew was sitting 2 seconds behind first place in U15's. Gotta be happy with that for his comeback race.

Second run saw both boys do a faster time than their first run but Thomas ended up 2nd in U17's and 4th overall. Andrew ended up 1st in U15's by 0.06sec. Well done team. Off to Thredbo next weekend for the opening. Can't wait!

CORC Round 6 - Majura 25/10/09

Another late posting but as they say 'better late than never'. Round 6 of the CORC Series was held on a new track at Majura. Thomas had his mate Cookie stay over for the weekend so he could race on Sunday. Cookie hasn't raced much over winter as he is a pro skier and has been skiing for the winter (snow is melting so it's back on the bike). Thomas and Cookie got picked up by some mates from Cooma on Saturday to head down for a bit of practice. Practice went well and got home after a big day.

Sunday morning up early and Ian cooked everyone brekkie, ready for a big day of racing. Andrew still in the leg brace and on crutches but had to come with us for the day as presso for the 08/09 Series were being held in between runs. Lucky for us, Glen came down with a key to the gate and let us in so Andrew didn't have to walk on crutches all the way to the race.

Another good day of racing with Dad marshaling, Mum helping with the bbq, Andrew's first race watching from the sidelines and Thomas racing. All good and Thomas ended up 1st in U17's, Cookie also did really well placing 5th in U15's. Good work Cookie!

Presentations were also held for the 2008/09 Series with Thomas taking out 1st in U15's and Andrew taking out 1st in U13/s. Well done boys. (Will post photo's up soon).
Edit: Andrew had his last appointment at the fracture clinic the following Thursday. His knee has healed and now he needs to build up his quad muscles and he'll be as good as new in no time. Dr says best thing to build up the muscle is cycling (who would have thought?) no rough stuff just yet though.

SERAS Country Energy Program - Athlete of the Year

The team headed to Batemans Bay on Friday 18 September to attend the SERAS (South East Region Academy of Sport)Annual Presentation at the Catalina Country Club. Thomas has held a Scholarship with SERAS' Country Energy Program for the last year. The annual award ceremony is held to recognise Athletes who have excelled in their chosen sport in each category.

We didn't know whether Thomas was going to receive the award as he was up against 30 other athletes who compete in all different individual sports. Awards were given to athletes in other programs and finally they got to the Country Energy Program and "The Award goes to............ Thomas Crimmins". We were all very happy and excited for Thomas to win this award in his first ever year on Scholarship. Go Son!

While we were at the South Coast, there just happened to be a Downhill race on at Nowra's infamouse Funnelweb track. We departed Aunty Trudy's place on Saturday morning to head to Nowra to meet up with Jenny, Robbie and Nelson, set up camp and put in some practice runs. We had a great camp spot right next to the track.

Kept awake most of Saturday night by the strong winds, Sunday finally arrived and the boys got into practice. Mid morning and Andrew turns up after yet another stack off his new bike (takes some getting used to these new bikes apparently). After inspection of his knee, it was decided that there was no way Andrew would be racing today, it had blown up like a balloon.

Racing over with and Thomas ended 2nd in Elite Men only 3 seconds behind the guy who got first and also set a new course record. Can't ask for much more than that. Well done.

Morewood's on display at World Champs

Team Crimmins attended the 2009 UCI MTB & Trials World Championships over the weekend of 4th to 6th September. Ian and the boys headed down with some friends on Friday while Mum went to work. Then the whole family headed to Stromlo for the rest of the weekend. A fantastic weekend was had by all. The atmosphere was amazing come race time.

The boys were lucky enough to have their bikes on display at Nicho's Morewood tent. Ian just finished building up Andrew's new Zuza on Thursday to take it to the Champs on Friday. Thomas' is the green Izimu and Andrew's new ride is the black Zuza. Will put Andrew's Zuza on Rotorburn's "Post Your Ride" soon.

CRIMMINS BOYS - 2009 STATE CHAMPIONS

Team Crimmins headed to Lithgow for the 2009 DH State Championships on the weekend of 22/23 August. On the road by 6am on Friday morning, we headed to Springwood to pick up young Robbie Trotter whose house we were staying at for the weekend. We arrived at the top of the track at 1pm and the boys kitted up and headed off for practice. Mum & Dad spend the next 4 hours driving up and down the shuttle road.

We headed back to the Trotters house for the night and got stuck in traffic. It ended up taking us 2.5 hours for a trip that should have taken about one hour. Gotta love that city traffic.

Back at the track nice and early on Saturday for a day of practice, buses provided so Mum & Dad could have a look at the track. Nothing too big and scary, very fast and flowy with lots of berms.

Sunday race day arrived and we were at the track early knowing that shuttles would be slow (and we weren't wrong). The boys got in a few runs but shuttles were pretty slow so it was lucky we got in the practice on Friday.

Racing started early at 11:30am which was good so we could get on the road a bit earlier to get home. Thomas' start time was around 12:30 so he headed to the start. They were on track only about 5 minutes late and Thomas was first off as he was the highest ranked rider in U17's. He came across the line in a screaming time of 2:54.52 (U19's had just qualified at 2:58.70) obviously had a very good run. After watching the rest of the 61 riders come over the finish line, it was official, Thomas was U17 State Champion.

Andrew's start time of 1:45pm allowed him to watch most of the U17's race and then head to the top with his mates for their race runs. First U15 down the hill was Brent, who won the Series, in a very good time of 3:08.16. Next thing we know, here comes Andrew out of the scrub and crosses the finish line in an amazing time of 3:02.49. After all 15 riders come over the finish, it turns out Andrew had the fastest time by 6 seconds. Yay Andrew, U15 State Champion.

Final results in and Thomas' time would have seen him also win the U19's (and place 10th in Elite Men) and Andrew's time would have got him 2nd (behind Thomas) in U17's.

Must say a big thanks to Jenny and Simon who made us feel very much at home at their house on the weekend and Congrats to Robbie for his great result in U17's also.

CORC Round 5 - Stromlo World Champs Track

Finally, a Club round that didn't clash with a State Round. We haven't raced the last two Club round as they both clashed with the State Rounds.

Round 5 was held on the newly renovated track that will host the World Champs next month. Both boys reckon the changes have really improved the track and it's now heaps fun, especially the new jumps at the bottom.

As we were heading to Canberra on Saturday to hand over the Norco to some guy from Sydney who bought it, we decided to bring the bikes and do a few shuttles at Stromlo. In the mean time, Thomas had organised to stay at Matt's place so we met them at Stromlo and after Andrew was done, we left Thomas with Matt and headed home.

Sunday morning was an early one as Andrew had to play league in Queanbeyan at 9am. After a hard game, and a good win, we arrived at Stromlo at 10:30. Shuttles were running well so Mum & Dad walked up the hill to watch race run and do a bit of marshaling. Race runs went well for both boys. Thomas took out the U17's and Andrew ended up 2nd in U15's. Thomas finished with 5th fastest time of the day after 4 Elite riders. Great day but bloody freezing. (Oh yeah, Andrew hit up the hip jump for the very first time in practice - Yeah Andrew).

4th State Round - Awaba 5 July 2009

.......Thomas....... Jake....... Jordan (should be Jack)

.... ...... Liam .... Andrew .... Brent
The Fourth and final round of the NSW/ACT State Series was held on the infamous Monkey Track at Awaba on the weekend of the 4th & 5th of July.

After getting up at sparrow's on the Friday of race weekend, we were on the road by 6:30am knowing we had a 6 hour drive ahead of us. After a couple of fuel and food stops, we were at the top of the shuttle road at 1pm. Boys both kitted up and we spend the next few hours doing shuttle runs. All done and we headed to our accommodation at Teralba (or should I say Dodge City!). Had a quiet night and up early on Saturday all ready for a day of practice. Mum and Dad decided to go for a walk up the track and Mum got as far as Battle Drop and was roped into marshalling for the rest of the day so didn't end up getting any further than that. This track is renowned for bad stacks having had to call the helicopter the last 2 years of state rounds. Luckily Mum only had to call the medics once and they ended up having to stretcher the guy out and off to hospital. He Spent the night in hospital but nothing too serious. Lots of broken bones over the weekend though. Practice for Team Crimmins went well and no major incidents.

Sunday race day arrived and having packed up the cabin and bidding farewell to Teralba, we headed to the track for a bit of practice and race run. Practice over and boys headed to the top to wait for race run. Thomas was the first of Team Crimmins to come down for his race run and looked the goods coming past us at Battle drop, over the wombat jump no probs and off to the finish line. Thomas made his way back up the hill to watch and told us he had placed 2nd in a field of 51 riders. Yay for Thomas, great result.

Nearly 2 hours after Thomas came down for race run, it was Andrews turn. Andrew came down 3rd in the U15's as that's where he was placed. He looked really good going past the battle drop and over the wombat jump, hoping for a podium place. As we waited for the Elites to do their race run, Andrew made his way back up the hill to where we were watching to inform us he had won by 9 seconds in a field of 18 riders. Yay Andrew, fantastic result.

With all points added up for the Series, end result was both boys placed 2nd overall in the Series. Considering both boys are racing well above their ages, this result was absolutely fantastic. Bring on the State Champs next Month. Yeeeewwwwww!!!

THOMAS TURNS 14

Happy Birthday to Thomas who turned 14 on 24th June 2009.

3rd State Round - Del Rio 5 June 09

With Dad due to arrive home on the Wednesday before Del Rio, we knew he would be pushing it to actually get home on time, and as expected, he was delayed and did not get home in time for Round 3. Mum took up the challenge again and all went without a hitch. We arrived at out accommodation at Del Rio Riverside Resort, a ski lodge which we were sharing with about 30 other people. This ski lodge was right on the Hawkesbury River and would you believe it, had a boat ramp right through the middle of it. You opened the sliding doors and could drive right through from one side of the lodge and launch your boat out the other side straight into the water. One side of the ramp was the kitchen, the other was the dining/lounge room. Very unique.

We arrived on Friday afternoon and decided to walk the track. OMG, how steep is this track, Mum was horrified. After walking up and back again, a few other people had arrived so we unpacked the car and found our beds and settled in.

Saturday arrived and Mum went and registered the boys and shuttles started. Mum was pretty worried about Andrew on the track as he had never ridden it before and there were some huge items in it. Thomas was pretty familiar with the track having ridden it quite a few times before. With the boys off practicing, Mum and a few other Mum's decided to walk the track and take some photo's. Well, we got about 1/3 of the way up and some kid stacked on the track and who should come flying around the corner just behind him but Thomas going flat out. Thomas couldn't stop in time to avoid the kid on the ground and hit a tree, came off and hit his hip and head really hard on rocks. He just had to do that in front of his Mother!! Not a good idea Son, believe me. I was a bit concerned Thomas might have a bit of concussion so followed him down to go back to the lodge and have a spell and keep an eye on him. He was in a bit of pain with his shoulder and hip injuries and looked very pale.
Meanwhile, Andrew was going great guns with his practice, getting the track dialed in no time.

After a bit of a rest, Thomas decided to suffer the pain and go out and do some more runs. The rest of the afternoon was uneventful thank goodness. I couldn't cope with any more injured children.

Sunday race day and the boys did a couple of practice runs and then headed up to the top to wait for race run. Elites and U19's did their qualifying runs and next it was the U17's. Thomas was due to come down as second rider as that's where he was placed in the rankings but next thing I know, he's coming through the trees, over the final jump and was finished. (Turned out the kid who should have gone first hadn't arrived at the top on time). Thomas came down in a time of 2:12.72, after hitting a tree in his race run. After all 56 riders had finally made it to the bottom, Thomas ended up in 2nd place, behind the kid who got 1st at Ourimbah. Gotta be happy with that as a 13 year old racing U17's.

After waiting for what seemed like an eternity, finally it was the U15's group on track. Andrew was due to some down 2nd as that's where he was ranked. Out of the bushes comes Andrew, looking the total professional over the last jump in a time of 2:26.90. After all 16 riders had finished, Andrew ended up 3rd. Very impressive effort for an 11 year old who has never ridden the track before.

Another successful event for Team Crimmins.

2009 Rivers Athletics Carnival

ANDREW CRIMMINS - SENIOR BOY CHAMPION
(Andrew holding his award and the School's trophy)

The Rivers Primary School's Athletics Carnival was held at Snowy Oval in Cooma on Thursday 21 May 2009. The Rivers Carnival includes Schools from Bredbo, Nimmitabel, Numeralla, Dalgety, Adaminaby, Jerangle. The kids compete at this carnival to see who goes on to the District Carnival against the bigger schools on the Monaro.

During the course of the day Andrew ended up coming 1st in every event he entered. They included: 200m, 100m, 800m, Shot Put, Discus, High Jump, Long Jump and he also brought his team home to a victory in the 4 x 100m relay. This huge effort earned Andrew enough points to take out the Rivers Senior Boys Champion for 2009 and it also helped Bredbo School take out the very coveted Schools champions trophy.

He was pretty pleased with his efforts as it was the last feather in his primary school sporting hat. His previous achievements include Junior Boy Champion for Swimming & Athletics, 11 year Boy Champion for Swimming & Athletics and now Senior Boy Champion for Swimming & Athletics. Next the Olympics!!!

CORC Round 2 - Majura Super D

Thomas Crimmins Fastest time of the Day. Yewwwww!!!

Went to Majura on Mothers Day for Round 2 of the 2009/10 CORC Series. What else would Mum do on Mothers Day? Anyway, all ready for a Super D mass start but as it turns out, the track was only single track with no space for overtaking, so riders started one by one. They did have to run through the start gate, collect their bike, run to the top and start riding. Much to most of their disgust as I don't think downhillers like running much.

After 2 runs each, Thomas finished 1st in the U17's but also took out the fastest time of the day out of about 70 riders. Andrew was going to enter U15's but for some reason was put into U13's, anyway it was probably a good thing as the track wasn't really suited to his new hardtail (wouldn't have been for his dually either). Andrew finished 1st in the U13s so was pretty happy with that. Oh, that's right, after we got home from Ourimbah, we drove to Jindy to pick up Andrew's new STP 0 from Sacred Ride so that's what he rode on Sunday. Great day was had by all.

2nd State Round - Ourimbah 3 May 09

The 2nd round of the State Series was held at Ourimbah, near Gosford on the weekend of 2nd and 3rd of May. As Dad is in PNG working, Mum took on the job of getting the boys there and back in one piece. We all know Mum is up to the challenge and as usual, everything went without a hitch. She didn't even get lost (oh well, maybe once but that wasn't too bad).

On the road by 9am thursday and after one minor detour on our way, to pick up Thomas' mate Kaine Trevor from the Picton turnoff, we arrived at our accommodation with enough time to spare before dark to find out where the track was and walk it. Mum dropped the boys at the top of the track and met them at the bottom. Boys decided the track looked really good except for some really pedally and flat bits.

Friday morning and the boys decided they wanted to get to the track early for some practice. Mum would have to do shuttles. Arrived at track at 9am and no-one else there which was good as we had the trailer on and made it easier to turn around. Having a bit of a spell at around 11am and people started turning up. Did a few more runs and decided to call it a day. Dropped boys at cabin and went to get food for dinner and the next day. Turns out the boys got tuned up (just for something new) for washing their bikes with the fire hose!!! There seems to be too many old people in these caravan parks!

Saturday arrived and at the track early again but today there were shuttles so Mum could finally have a look at the track. Caught the bus to the top and walked down the track, trying to get the elusive photo's. Practice day went well and all geared up for race day tomorrow.

Sunday, race day, again at the track early. Line up for shuttles and off they go for a few practice runs. Mum and Helen (Christie Batt's Mum)decided to walk the track and watch a bit of practice. Lunch break and met the boys back in the village for a bit to eat and a bit of a spell before heading to the top to get ready for race. Race time arrived and surprisingly Mum was feeling pretty good at this stage, not too nervous. Well that was until one of the elite riders came down to the big double just before the finish line and ate it really hard. Mum felt instantly sick in the stomach (thanks Tom) with both the boys yet to race. Thomas came down the hill first in the U17 Div, as he was leading the Series after Thredbo, followed by the 2nd rider. In all there was 52 riders in the U17 Div and it seemed to take for ever to get to the end of them. Finally, they finished and ends up Thomas came 2nd, beaten by the kid who came 2nd at Thredbo. We knew he would give Thomas a run for his money as Ourimbah is his home track. But that's why Thomas is racing 17's for a bit more competition.
What seemed like an eternity, finally the U15's were on track. Andrew came down 2nd as that was his ranking after Thredbo. After the 20 riders in U15's finished, it turned out Andrew came 7th overall, again another great result.

EDIT: Turns out the kid who came 1st at Thredbo and 2nd at Ourimbah should have been racing U17's so as it stands now, Andrew actually won Round 1 and came 6th in Round 2. This now puts him in 2nd position overall at this stage. Yeah Andrew.

1st State Round - Thredbo 5 April 2009

Been a bit slack lately with updating the blog but better late than never I suppose.
The first of the NSW State Rounds was held a Thredbo on the weekend of the 4th & 5th of April 2009. Ian took the boys up on Friday for a bit of practice. After lunch it rained and the track got really muddy which the boys loved! Not so much Mum once they got home and needed all their muddy clothes washed. Ended up getting a lift back up with the Maggs' on their way through from Sydney on the Friday evening, getting back up to Thredbo about 11pm.
Practice on Saturday morning while Mum and Dad leisurely made their way to Thredbo for the weekend.
Thomas decided he would race the U17's division to give himself a bit more competition. Andrew would be racing U15's as that's the youngest division in the State Series. A very cold Sunday morning came around and we got the start lists. There were 52 riders in U17's and 30 in U15's. The boys sure would have their work cut out for them. A few practice runs on Sunday then head up for race run. It was freezing waiting at the top or the mountain and as always they were running late so start times were delayed.

Andrew was seeded 2nd in the U15's so he was the second rider in that division to come down the mountain. He came down in a very respectable time of 7:00.84 which put him in the lead for quite a while, eventually being knocked into 2nd place by an unbelievable point 4 of a second. Can't get much closer than that. Very proud of Andrew's result as he is still only 11 and he was very happy with his podium result.

Seemed like forever before Thomas came down as he was rider number 35 out of the 52 riders in U17's. He came flying out of the trees and crossed the finish in a time of 6:30.27, taking the win by point 3 of a second from the kid who had been in the hot seat for quite a while. Thomas' time would have seen him win the U19's and place in the top 10 in Elites. Pretty impressive.

2009 Oceania Support Race - March 22

As Thomas was too young to enter the Oceania U19's, both the boys decided they would like to enter the Oceania's support race. U17's was the youngest division in the support races but as long as they're racing, the don't really care what division it is. With Thomas moving up to the U17's for the State Series this year, he thought it would be good practice.

Dad and the boys headed to Thredbo on Friday for practice (not like they haven't been there enough this year already!). Arriving in Thredbo the boys found out the U17 National Champ, Connor Fearon, was there also racing the U17 support race along with 2nd place U17 National Champ, David McMillan. Oh well, Thomas was looking forward to seeing how he would go against the boys.

Practice all day Saturday and both the boys had the track pretty well dialed. Just looking forward to race on Sunday. It was pretty good to be able to watch some of the elites and U19's practice also.

Race day Sunday arrived and both the boys were pretty relaxed until Andrew's main pivot bolt snapped on his last practice run, just before having to head to the top for race run!! Oh crap! Andrew headed down to the workshop to get a new one, which was fitted and then had to be cut off as well. The whole time, the dude on the microphone was saying all U17 riders should be on their way to the top. I think Mum was stressing more than anyone though. If something is going to happen, guaranteed it will happen just before race run. Anyway, bike sorted and Andrew was on his way to the top on the chairlift.

Race time came around and first down was Connor in a very fast time, next was David with a time not quite as quick as Connor, then came Thomas out of the trees. Watching his time on the board, we knew it was going to be a really fast time. Three more riders and then Andrew came flying out of the trees, also pinning it. Final result: 1st Connor 6:25.50, 2nd Thomas 6:29.82, 3rd David 6:38.07, 6th Andrew 7:15.81. Thomas was pretty happy to be only 4 seconds behind the U17 National Champ. Look out Connor. Andrew was also very happy with his time and placing 6th out of 11 riders in U17 division!

CORC Round Isaacs - 15 March 2009

The final round of the 2008/09 CORC DH Series was held at Isaacs last Sunday on a brand new track. This is the third time the boys have raced Isaacs and each time has been on a different track. This track was apparently brand new and probably the most technical out of any of the other Isaac tracks. The rocky section was "hectic"!
After attending our next door neighbours wedding on Saturday and Mum and Dad spending the morning in the kitchen cooking heaps of nibblies for the wedding, we couldn't get to Isaacs for any practice on Saturday.

Much to Mum & Dad's disgust, Sunday morning rolled around and we had to get out of bed and ready for the day ahead (not good after attending a wedding). We had a house guest sleep over on Sat night, Thomas' new mate Rob (next door neighbour's nephew) who lives in the Blue Mountains. Rob is also into mtbing and just happened to bring his bike and all his gear just in case he was allowed to race. Just happened he was.

Headed out at about 8:30am, the boys got a few practice runs in but mostly sectioned as the push up was absolute torture. This is when they realised the rock section was bloody tough. You were lucky if you got through the day without going over bars at least once.

Race time came around and after one run each, Thomas was coming 2nd in U15's and Andrew (we thought) was coming 1st in U13's. Thomas had a crap first run and reckoned he could pick up the 4 seconds he needed in his second run. He did that and won the U15's by 2 seconds. This was Thomas' first race on his new machine and still getting used to it, obviously very quickly.

Andrew had a really bad 2nd run, getting held up by 2 kids in the rock section, losing his balance when taking off again and stacking (nearly running over Judy Goggin in the meantime). Anyway, he got to the bottom and couldn't be bothered having a re-run as he didn't want to push up again. Results came in and Andrew had actually came 2nd. He thought the kid who beat him was racing 15's but soon found out he was in 13's. Andrew wasn't really worried as this being the last round, he had already won the Series anyway.

Final result for 2008/09 CORC Downhill Series: Thomas Crimmins 1st U15's, Andrew Crimmins 1st U13's. Go Team Crimmins!!!!

National Series Round 5 Glenorchy Tasmania

Once again Team Crimmins took to the skies. On Thursday Feb 26th Thomas and Dad boarded Qantas at Canberra airport bound for Hobart.
Arriving around 3pm and picking up our wheels, a hiace van, we then headed out to inspect the track. With expectations high due to all the talk amongst the mates and just looking around at the hills as we approached the track, we were certainly not disappointed. The finish stretch alone had massive table tops and step up jumps with huge burms.
It took around 2 hours to walk up and down the track and it revealed one of the most challenging but fun tracks seen yet, these guys have put heaps of work into this event.

We headed out to locate our accommodation only 5 mins down the road. Once again Team Crimmins star secretary (Mum) scored well booking us in at Elwick Cabins where all the Canberra crew and some of the other mountain bikers were staying. All settled in, out of the box comes the bike only to find Dad some how forgot to pack the front axle. Oh no!

Friday morning ring around revealed that "No body runs fox 40's in Tassie".
So for the next 2 hours it was a mad dash to every bike shop in Hobart with things looking very grim. I must commend Thomas for staying positive and not wigging it at dad in this very tense situation. We eventually found this great guy at a bike shop that was prepared to spend some time and he made us one up free of charge, big ups to him.
Back in the good books and back on track Thomas started doing runs, as always shuttles started out slow but picked up later. First impressions were right and the track proved to be very hard in some sections. Mid morning Thomas hit up the road gap and was also doing the big drop up near the top. Thomas managed to get in around 6 runs before closing time.




Back at camp we had a great all in BBQ and the youngsters got into their now regular trouble from the manager for making cuttie ruts around his nicely groomed park! No more riding on park grounds!!
Saturday morning as track was closed to junior riders we went into Hobart to check out the markets, very big but same old markets everywhere.
Back to track, afternoon practice went very well and Thomas was really starting to pick up the pace. He was feeling confident and getting the track dialed. Which was just as well because I had my eye on a couple of local lads in his group and they were flying. He managed to slip in around 7 runs. Only bad news for the day one of his good mates Phil broke his wrist "game over" for the trip.





Sunday; Up early and on track I managed to limit the practice runs to three, then the big wait to race run.
After the elites qualified Thomas led the U15's down in a time of 3:37.55, this proved once again too fast for the other riders with Thomas taking out 1st place by 28 seconds.
At the end of racing the presentations were held. First ones were for the race and then the overall series winners.


Thomas was awarded National U15 Mens Downhill Series Winner also being the only rider in all divisions to make a clean sweep and achieve maximum 400 points.
It was then on to the after party to celebrate, this was fish and chips with his mates down at Constitution Dock and later watching all the video footage with the gang back at camp!
Next morning it was up and pull the bike down and back in the box for the flight home at 10am.
Next on the agenda "Thomas' new ride".

CORC round "Majura" 15th Feb 09'

With the 08/09 CORC downhill series drawing to a close we once again headed out to the pine forest of Majura on Sunday morning for the second last round.



The boys were greeted with the news that this was a totaly new track,and after talking it up with there mates headed off into the scrub to start a couple of hours practice, all push ups as there are no shuttles at Majura



The track turned out to be fairly rocky and steep up top,turning into a series of mad switch backs in the middle section then to a fast single track finish line. As always it is a case of look out for the pine trees!!

With Thomas and Andrew in good form and both boys leading there age groups in the current series they were hoping to do well.There was a fairly good turnout with a total of 91 riders spread across 11 divisions.

After the morning "sectioning" the Race time was near, so a quick snack and the 15min push up. Dad doing his bit on the half way marshell point was very busy with some new riders to the sport

At the end of the day after 2 runs and all was said and done the race results were posted in front of many expectant faces

Andrews 2 runs; very close times 1:20.30 and 1:20.05 1st place by .78 of a second

Thomas 2 runs; Also close times 1:11.35 and 1:10.44 1st place by 6 seconds
Well done Boys!! Thomas's time placed him 13th overall.
Next stop Tassie

Thredbo Interschools 2009

The 2009 NSW Interschools Championships were held at Thredbo on the Weekend of 20-22 February 2009. Interschools is generally for kids from Year 7 up to Year 12 but as Andrew is such a pinner, he decided he'd like to take it up to the big boys so we entered both the boys into Division 3 (Years 7 & 8). Interschools this year was made up of 4X, DH and Cross Country (go the lycra boys).

As Andrew was the only rider from Bredbo PS, they ended up putting him in the Monaro High School team with Thomas, Cookie and Harrison.

The 4X was on Friday evening, and just as last year, it started raining just before start. Thomas got through all his heats and ended up in the final, which was no great shock as he was riding the track like a pro. We didn't hold out much hope of Thomas taking the win because his main competitor in the final races 4X and BMX which was a huge advantage for him as he has had a lot of gate practice. Thomas has only ever raced 4X once before and never raced BMX. Thomas wasn't overly fast out of the gates all night but you should have seen him blast out of the gate in the final. Jared Graves would have been proud of him!!! He took the lead from the start and along with his amazing jumping ability and good pedaling, he took out the Win. It was truly amazing to watch.

Afterwards I asked Thomas how he came out of the gates so fast and he said he looked at the other riders and they were really leaning back on their bikes so he decided to give that a go. Not bad having a go at something new IN THE FINAL???

Andrew got through 2 heats of the 4X and did himself extremely proud especially as he was on his DH bike.

The DH was on Saturday afternoon and Mum decided she would do the right thing and put her hand up to be a marshall on the track for race run. Practice was held in the morning and race started about 1pm. The organisers decided to let the slower riders go first and the fastest rider last. It seemed like a good idea at the time however, it ended up with quite a number of kids getting held up by slower riders. Just happened that Thomas was one of them. Anyway, Thomas still ended up 2nd out of 55 riders. That's Interschools!

As for Andrew Pinner Crimmins, in Year 6, 11 years old, would you believe he came 4th out of those same 55 riders. Yeah Andrew!

Sunday was Cross Country day with Div 3 up first. Thomas ended up 2nd and Andrew came 10th out of 35 riders. Not bad when you think the boys were up against some of those posh private schools from Sydney with all their flash bikes and their lycra. Andrew was on a borrowed bike (thanks Harro).

With the results of the 4 Monaro High riders added together in the teams results, the boys helped the Team take out 1st place 4x, 1st place DH and 2nd place XC. Damn fine effort for all the boys.

National Round 4 - Mt Buller

We've been a bit slack with the blog updates lately but I've finally found some time to do a quick update. The boys headed off to Mt Buller with the Harro's on Thursday after the Champs. Andrew went along for the ride, not sure if he was allowed to race or not but took his bike just in case Dad caved in. Dad was a bit concerned about how hard the track was so wanted to have a look before allowing the younger Crimmins pinner to have a crack.

Well, after having a look at the track, Dad decided that Andrew could race and he was one very happy team member!

Practice all day Friday with nice easy chairlifts to the top for shuttles. Back to the lodge and the boys met a few other riders also staying there so there was lots of hanging out and talking it up.

Saturday practice went well and all was on track for race day on Sunday. Thomas said as parts of the track were getting more blown out, rocks just appeared out of nowhere making the track constantly change.
Race day arrived and after limited practice runs (don't want to wear our before race) it was time to head to the top for start.

As series leader, Thomas came down the hill first in the U15's. He looked to be going well and came in in a time of 4:02.69. After a few more riders, Andrew was on track but as time was passing, Dad knew something was wrong. As it happens, Andrew had a couple of stacks in race run but fortunately did not get hurt (except his pride). Andrew's time ended up at 5:28.76. Thomas' time was good enough to see him place first out of 14 riders in U15's but was only 5 seconds ahead of the second place getter (a local boy). This is the closest anyone has come to Thomas' time in all 4 rounds but a win's a win! Well Done Thomas.

Andrew's ended up 11th and his new sponsor, The Sacred Ride, Jindabyne have told Andrew there won't be any more crashing in race run which Andrew quite happily agreed with.

Australian National Champion 2009 (U15)

What can I say, we have a National Champion in the family. We also have another member ranked number 7. How proud can two parents be?? As you can tell (and you would all know by now anyway because we made sure we rang and messaged everyone we knew), the 2009 Australian National Championships have been run and won for another year. All of Thomas' training and dedication has paid off and he is now No 1.

There were 26 starters in the Under 15 category. Thomas posted a time of 3:12.99 with second place coming in at 3.26.82. As Thomas is the highest ranked U15 rider from last year and also leading the current National Series, he got to start first. This is really handy as he knew he wouldn't get held up by a slower rider. The times showing up on the screen when each rider came past the finish line were only preliminary results and with so many of the lower riders overtaking each other or crashing, we had to wait about an hour before we knew the official results. Man did we sweat it out!! Well, it got the better of Ian and he had to go over and ask the timers, and yes it was official, Thomas had won. Yay! Thomas got heaps of comments about his new kits, especially his very bling race kit which looked even more bling with a gold medal against it. (Oh yeah, just a note the champagne was non-alcoholic).


As for Andrew, what can we say, the kid is a legend. How many
11 year olds would be able to place in the top ten (let alone 7th) in an Under 15 category at a National Championships? Not many I bet. As he just found out, with the guts comes the glory and he's got plenty of guts. Some of his riding mates on the weekend couldn't believe some of the jumps he was doing and most of them are older than him. His race kit also looked very flash on the track.

No rest for the wicked, off to Mt Buller for Round 4 this weekend. Keep an eye out for the next update. Go Team Crimmins!


This is the award Thomas received on Australia Day for "Young Sportsperson of the Year" for the Monaro Region. It was a huge weekend for us and again we are very proud of Thomas for this achievement. He is also very happy to have even been nominated for the award by his mates Blayne and Cameron.

Welcome Smith and Osborne

Team Crimmins would like to welcome Mick Perry and his Company Smith & Osborne as new sponsors of Thomas' downhill racing. Mick lives in Ormeau, Qld with his partner Reene and his daughter Shona and is Managing Director of Smith & Osborne, his Company specialising in all aspects of concrete cutting and drilling.
Thomas met Mick and his family when we stayed at their house for National Rnd 2. Mick is a former Bredbo lad having grown up in the village and sharing many stories of childhood antics with the Crimmins boys.
Mick was impressed with Thomas' attitude and dedication to his sport and as both he and his father have National titles, Mick in Open Bull Riding and continuing on to compete in the US and Canada, and John taking out multiple titles in Sheep dog trials. Mick recognises the effort involved in competing at this level.
Smith & Osborne (Mick) have just purchased for Thomas 2 Brand Spanken New Troy Lee Designs Race suits. Needlees to say Thomas is happy as Pig in Shit!!

Take a look at his new Kit
Race Run with name and sponsors printed on the back


And The Practice Kit

Thomas would also like to thank Marty and Nic at The Sacred Ride in Jindabyne for the great deal they organised on the kit.

Ian Conquers Thredbo!

We spent a few days at Thredbo after New Year so the boys could do some riding with mates from Canberra before returning a week later to ride with The BAD boys from Bemboka. Ian decided to give the downhill a go. After having done the initiation last year on a hardtail, Ian was lucky enough to borrow a dualy from Adrian who works at Harro's shop in Crackenback. It was pure luxury after only ever having ridden Thredders on a hardtail.

Well, I'm pleased to say there were no major mis haps and 7 runs later he was still in one piece (much to the family's delight). Only problem is, he had so much fun I think he's keen to go back for more!