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.