National Series Round 1 - Glenorchy, Tas 12 Dec 2010

After round 1 at Illinbah was cancelled due to flooding, the Tassie round ended up being Round 1 instead of 2. The travel arrangements were the same as last year, Mum & Dad heading out on Wednesday to drive to Melbourne to catch the ferry over and the boys flying over on Thursday. All went to plan and even managed to get the boys a lift from the airport to the cabin with the Piazza's.

After the boys arrived, we all headed to the track for the usual track walk. Not exactly the summer weather we were hoping for but wasn't too bad. After the walk was done, we headed back to the cabin for some dinner and relaxing.

Not a real early start on Friday morning as practice didn't start until 10am. So cruisy morning with brekky and then to the shops for the usual days food supplies. Got to the track and found ourselves a good spot in amongst some bushy trees for a bit of wind protection and set up the Towers' shade tent which came in very handy over the next 3 days as it rained on and off every day. Practice went well so back to base camp, dinner, showers and bed ready for an early start on Saturday.

Saturday practice for Group B (our group) was from 8am till 1pm so we were at the track pretty early so the boys could get in some good practice. Another successful practice session over so we headed up the track to watch the Elite's and U19's seeding runs in the extremely fast roots section. After watching that, there is no way I would be watching my boys from there!

Thomas decided that he wanted some pasta (fuel food) for dinner Saturday night so we headed into Hobart City and found a cool little pizza/pasta shop and got some really good food. Into bed early ready for another early start on race day Sunday. Will be glad when the boys are in Group A as they get all the late practices.

Mum lay awake overnight listening to the wind and the rain praying that it would fine up by daybreak. At one stage, we thought the cabin was going to lift up and blow into the greyhound track. Day came and the weather didn't seem quite so bad. Got to the track and all the boys came down after their first practice run with mud all over them and their bikes. I can't actually remember the last time the boys had a race that it didn't rain.

Anyway, after a couple of time delays due to injuries, race time finally arrived. It wasn't long until Andrew's race as there was only a couple of small categories before him. Watching the timing clock and we saw that Andrew's number was on the screen so he was on track. All we could do was just watch the clock until we thought he would be coming out of the trees. Out he flies in what seemed to be a pretty good time so at least we knew he hadn't had an off and was obviously having a good run. Straight to the "hot seat" and waited for the rest of the U15's to cross the finish line. After all 12 U15 riders had come through, Andrew had taken the win by nearly 10 seconds. Good hustle champ!!!

Next it was up to Thomas to do his thing. As he was ranked #1 he was also first out of the start gate. As with Andrew, we were watching the clock again, next thing Thomas comes flying out of the trees in what also looked like a good time. Good sprint to the finish line over all the jumps and straight into the "hot seat". Thomas knew the next kid to come down was going to give him a run for his money so as he crossed the line over 3 seconds behind Thomas' time, he was very relieved. Although there were still another 17 riders yet to finish. Finally all U17's over the finish line and Thomas had taken the win. Great work mate!

Both boys ended up with the Leaders number plates and Leaders jerseys so they were pretty stoked on that. Next Round Mt Baw Baw 16 January 2011.

*** All in all, it was a great result but our thoughts have to go out to Eugene Smith, a 15 year old Tassie local who has raced against Thomas for the last 3 years who had a severe accident in practice. Eugene is in a pretty bad way and at the end of the day, win or lose, all we can really do is hope that our kids always get to the bottom of the track safely. ***

VIC State Round 1 - 17 Oct 2010

Team Crimmins hadn't had a big race for a while so 3/4 of the team decided to head to Eildon in Victoria for Round 1 of the 2010/11 VIC State Series. Although we were keeping an eye on the weather and it looked like it was going to be pretty damp, that was not enough deterent for the boys. "The more rain the better" was Thomas' response. After heading off early Friday morning to make the long trek to Eildon, it rained all the way with a few landslides and flooded roads along the way. It also took a bit longer as Googlemaps sent us on a bit of a goose chase, but eventually pulling into the motel around 4pm.

Unpacked and the boys went and found the track to do the obligatory track walk then off to the pub for a drink and a feed. Walking into the Pub and the publican said "two beers?" to Ian and Thomas. Haha, I don't think so!! Rego was also open at the Pub so got the boys registered after much perplexing by the lady a rego as to why Thomas was only 15 but entering U19's and also Andrew being 13 entering U17's. Didn't help much when Timmy Eaton walked in and told Thomas he was Sandbagging in U19's lol.

Practice on Saturday went well with Thomas managing to stay on the bike all day and Andrew only having about 4 crashes. One in particular into a massive mud puddle, head first, hmmm, clothes and helmet full of mud. The track was soooo muddy and slippery there was people running off the track everywhere. Including the cars trying to get to the race village on the road.

Sunday race day and luckily it had stopped raining but the track was still really wet and muddy. Couple of practice runs and Andrew headed up for his qualifying run. Yes, they qualify the U17's as well in Vic and only take the top 50% through to their race run. Same as U19's. Andrew was up first for his qualifying run and came down the hill first as he was number 701 cos he was the first to register in U17's. All 44 riders down and turns out Andrew qualified 2nd in a time of 3:41.812. Pretty good effort for his first ever qualifying experience. Next was Thomas' turn and he had a pretty cruisy run and come down in a time of 3:13.627 which was the fastest time out of all 57 riders in U19's.

Bit of a spell and watching some of the other categories race and it was time for Andrew to head up again for his race run. He ended up having a clean race run with no major stacks and posted a time of 3:26.119, 15 seconds better than his qualifying run and ended up in 2nd place. Stoked on that great effort especially in U17's. Only beaten by a 16 year old!!!

Thomas then headed up for his race run. Hoping for a clean run also. As Thomas qualified fastest, he was the last to start his race run. He ended up posting a time of 3:01.338, 12 seconds faster than qualifying which also put him into 1st place. Well done mate, great effort also.

Another successful road trip for Team Crimmins with the boys coming home with cash and a big stash of prizes and trophies. Thanks to the organisers and sponsors for running a great race and handing out excellent prizes. There were over 370 riders at the event, especially considering the weather, it was an unreal turnout and most of them hung around for presso's too which makes for a great atmosphere. Hopefully we'll be back for Round 2 at Barjarg.

2010 NSW/ACT STATE CHAMPS - LITHGOW 12 JULY

After both boys placing first in the State Series, the Team headed off to Lithgow hoping to continue the good form. We arrived at Lithgow just after lunch on the Friday (thanks Glen for the dodgy directions, haha). We headed straight to the bottom to drop off the boys and Mum so they could walk the track and see what changes had been made since last year. Not many according to the boys but they said the track still looks like fun. To the top, kitted up and off to do some runs. After about 7 runs, Mum & Dad had had enough so we all headed to our nice little cottage Mum had rented in Mt Victoria, about 20 mins drive away. No camping for us at Lithgow in the middle of winter!

Saturday saw us all up early and headed to the track to get in some runs. A bit of rain overnight saw the track quite damp and slippery in the middle section but still pretty dry and tacky at the top and bottom. Shuttles as usual were pretty slow with over 200 riders keen to get in as many practice runs as possible so it always pays to do runs on the Friday. Mum & Dad spent most of the day walking up and down the track watching the action, especially in Bumble Bee where it was quite slippery. Practice finished about 4:30 so we headed back 'home' and went to the pub for a nice dinner with the Evans's who were staying with us.

An early start again on race day Sunday. With a bit of rain overnight and clouds threatening in the sky, we were hoping the rain would hold off for the day (well some of us, Thomas loves riding in the rain and mud :\). However, it was not to be, whoever was doing the rain dance, it was working and it started drizzling rain in the morning and continued to do so throughout the day and it was freezing but lucky we had the trusty Morewood tent to hang out in. This made the track even more muddy and slippery in parts. Practice over at 11:30 and Thomas headed to the top for his seeding run. As Thomas was ranked #1 in U19's, he was the first to start for seeding, crossing the line in a 3:03.29 eventually putting him in 4th place for seeding. He didn't push himself in seeding and just wanted to post a reasonable time so was happy with that.

Eventually Andrew's race time came around so he headed to the top to get ready for his race run. Andrew was first off in the U15's and came over the finish line in a very fast time of 3:11.93. After all 16 riders had crossed the finish line, it turned out Andrew had come 2nd by about 2 seconds. Andrew had a good run and managed to stay on track through the very slippery Bumble Bee section so although he wasn't happy not to have won, he did extremely well to finish in the time he did considering that 3rd place was more than 10 seconds behind him. Props to Matt who won the U15's, he's been trying to beat Andrew for ages!!

Back to the top for Thomas to get ready for his race run. After all other divisions had raced on the track, and more rain, we could only imagine what condition it was in for the U19's and Elite's race runs. Thomas came flying out of the scrub and as we looked at the time, we could tell he was going to post a very fast time, which he did finishing in a time of 2:57.82. Sitting in the hot seat after 35 riders and with only 3 riders yet to finish, Thomas had a nervous wait. David came over first, not quite fast enough, Phil next, also not fast enough leaving only Deano to finish, we could see him coming and looking at the time, knew he wouldn't post a faster time. Yes, it was confirmed, just 2 weeks after turning 15 Thomas had become Under 19 NSW/ACT State DH Champion. We were all absolutely Stoked.

All said and done it was a very successful weekend. We have a bit of respite now until the National Series starts in November.

CORC Round 3 - Majura Pines 20th June 2010

With virtually no rest after Del Rio, the wheels rolled on, Dads back home, Andrews still on the lounge with the flu and a bad haircut and Mums caught up washing race kits and undies.

Saturday was bike maintenance which ended up with a trip to Canberra for new BB, and while we were there it was decided that dad and Thomas might as well have a look at the new Majura track. Quick install BB in car park and some push up sectioning. Thomas decided the track was sick, wet and slippery on the higher switch backs and tacky on the tight single track in the lower sections. As it turned out all the dedicated DH lads were out and a great afternoon was had riding with mates.

Sunday; With Andrew unfortunately still crook Dad and Thomas had to go it alone!. We arrived around 10 to a rapidly building field of riders. Dad on barbie then marshaling, Thomas push up sectioning.

After taking out the series in 13's 15's and 17's Thomas decided to skip 19's and challenge the elite boys.15 years old this week!

12.30pm 1st race run. With most of the field finishing around 2mins plus, the elite boys hit the track, Tim Eaton pipped the field in a 1:40.27 and Thomas finishing in 5th in 1:46.84.

2.30pm Second run. Thomas decided to lift the pace. Ben Cory took the honours with a very fast 1:40.08 and Tim Eaton using his first run time Thomas secured 3rd place with a time of 1:42.70. There were 26 riders in elite and his time was 3rd fastest of the 92 riders on the day, Great effort!

The lads are now pumped for The State Champs at Lithgow, coming soon!

NSW/ACT State Rnd 4 - Del Rio 13 June 2010

Another State Series has come to an end. And a very successful one it was for Team Crimmins. The last round was held on one of the boys most favourite 'real' downhill tracks (not Mum's favourite) but they seem to love the tracks with all the big scary items on them of which Del Rio has many.

Poor Dad missed Del Rio again this year due to OS work commitments. So the rest of the team headed off early Friday morning in the huge frost and -8 deg temp to head for what we thought would be the warmth of the North. We were actually very lucky with the weather all weekend but as soon as that sun went behind that hill, it was bloody freezing.

Anyway, after 6 hours on the road, we arrived at our destination to what we though would be a nice little cabin in the "Resort". Well, didn't we have that idea completely wrong, but that's a whole other story. We parked the car and headed up the hill so the boys could walk the track before coming back to get their bikes and a lift to the top for their one practice run for the day. It gets awfully dark on the track when the sun starts to go down.

Saturday morning was relaxed as we didn't have to drive anywhere, the boys just had to ride to the end of our road to catch the shuttle bus. After brekkie, the boys headed off so Mum, Jenny and Eloise decided to walk the track. Practice went really well with the boys all getting in some good runs and happy with the shuttles being so fast but also hating the push from the road to the top of the track. After walking the push bit, I can't really blame them. After dinner we went to the Piazza's camp to hang out around the fire and be entertained by Genaro who was in fine form after a few beers.

Sunday morning was pretty cruisy again with the boys only wanting to do a couple of practice runs before race. The boys went off to practice while Mum & Jenny got the stew ready to put in the crock pot to cook for the day (gotta love those crock pots). The girls eventually headed over to the bottom of the track where they would watch the race from. Thomas and Robbie headed off for their seeding runs which were due to start at 12:30pm.

Mum parked herself right near the finish line so she could enter the results on the Series Points table as soon as they came in. Seeding over with and Thomas ended up seeding 3rd but said he wasn't pushing himself and thought he could make up some time for his race run.

Andrew's turn to head to the top for his race run. Andrew was the first of the U15 riders to come down and as he came over the finish line, we knew he didn't have a good run. His helmet had a fair bit of dirt in it and it turned out that he crashed underneath the safety net at one of the tight corners but still managed to post a 2:20.79 which saw him place 3rd out of 10 riders. Still a very good effort.

Finally it was Thomas' turn for his race run. After waiting for the first 26 riders to come over the finish line, Thomas came flying out of the trees and over the finish jump in a very impressive time of 2:01.38, eight seconds faster than his seeding run. Only two riders left on course in the U19, Dean looked like he was having a really good run until landing all wrong at the bottom jump and hugging a tree. Bad luck Deano. Then Jake came over the finish jump and we could see he wasn't going to beat Thomas' time so all over with and Thomas placed first out of 29 riders in U19's. He said he had a really good run and was stoked with his win.

Both boys managed to place first in 3 out of 4 rounds so therefore had enough points to place first overall for the 2010 NSW/ACT State Downhill Series. Well done Team.

NSW/ACT State Rnd 3 - Stromlo 16 May 2010

Round 3 of the State Series was held on the 2009 World Cup track at Stromlo in Canberra on 15/16 May 2010. Lucky for us it was another one close to home so we just traveled in each day. Thomas got a lift to Stromlo with Dad on Friday and Jenny was kind enough to do shuttles for him and Rob for the afternoon, getting a lift home with Mum after work.

Up early on Saturday morning as Mum had the job of Volunteer Marshal Co-ordinator for the weekend and the boys wanted to get in some good practice. We set up camp in the Morewood tent and headed off to sign in and get practice under way. Practice went well and no major mis-haps which is always a good thing. Off home to clean bikes and get ready for the next day.

Another early start on Sunday as usual, leaving home about 7:30. A few practice runs and Thomas headed to the start for his seeding run. All went well and Thomas Seeded 2nd behind Deano (although the results said he seeded 4th but that was corrected after race) out of 42 Under 19 riders.

After a bit of chilling in the tent, Andrew headed to the top for his race run. Mum was standing near the finish line to watch the race runs and could see Andrew in the distance pinning it down the hill. Holding her breath he would make it down safe as he comes pedalling his heart out over the finish line in a time of 2:56.64. After all 15 riders came through, Andrew had won by nearly 10 seconds and was the only U15 rider to go under 3 mins. Good work Andrew.

Again it was Thomas' turn to head back up this time for his race run. As riders crossed the finish line, we waited until Thomas was on track and watched him make his way down the hill. Thomas' main rival, David had already crossed the finish line so we watched and held our breath as Thomas came over the last jump, landing it nicely and crossing the finish line in a 2:47.82, eventually winning by only about half a second. Pheww, Great riding Thomas. That one XC training ride you did really paid off, lol.

At the end of the day, Thomas would have placed 4th in Elite and Andrew's time would have seen him 4th in U17's and 10th in Elite. Both boys improved their times by 3 seconds from the National Round there in March. Great weekend, great result.

CORC Round 1 - Kowen Forest 18 April 2010

The first round of the 2010/11 CORC Series was held at Kowen Forest near Queanbeyan last Sunday on a roughly 1:30min track. Over the last 3 years, Thomas has won the U13, U15 and U17 divisions so this Series he has decided to skip U19's and race Elite. Andrew decided that he would race the U17's.

We arrived at Kowen at about 9:30am and the boys headed up for a few practice runs. As the push up is really steep, they mostly like to do sections rather than complete runs but still managed to get a few runs in. Racing went well with Dad having his first experience being the starter, which went very well for his first attempt. When all was said and done, Thomas came 3rd in Elites (third overall) and Andrew got 2nd in U17's (16th overall) as there were 84 riders there, it was a great effort.

NSW/ACT State Rnd 2 - Awaba 11 April 2010

Round 2 of the State Series was held at the infamous "Monkey" track in the Awaba State Forest, in the Hunter region between Gosford and Newcastle. It's a pretty gnarly track this one, with the helicopter known to make regular pick ups from the track. Not this weekend though, thank goodness. A few ambulances but no helicopters.

We packed up the car on Thursday ready for a quick getaway early Friday morning. On the road by 7:30am with about 6 hours ahead of us. Quick stop off at Lane Cove to pick up the Morewood tent from Nicho and we headed to the cabin at Mannering Park to check in and drop off some gear. Got to the track by about 2pm and the boys walked the track with Mum tagging along as Mum would be marshaling all weekend and didn't think she would get to see the whole track over the rest of the weekend. Got to the bottom and the boys kitted up and Dad started doing shuttle runs for them. Got in about 4 runs and then back to the cabin.

Saturday morning and we headed out to the track early to get a good parking spot where we could also put up the tent. Mum headed off to Marshal briefing, the boys headed to the shuttle line up and Dad was catching up with friends before heading off to walk the track. Practice was all going well until Thomas goes OTB (Over the Bars) and hurt his chest and hand. Bit of first aid and a spell and he did one more run but realised he couldn't hang on to the bars so decided to call it a day and head back with the Trotter crew. Andrew had a great day of practice.

Sunday race day and Mum got up early (as usual) and headed off to find the supermarket to get supplies for the day. Got back and everyone was ready to go to the track. Quick pack up and on our way. Thomas was still in a fair bit of pain in his hand but just had to tough it out. Few practice runs in and Thomas headed up for his qualifying run. 37 riders in the U19's with only 1/2 of them going through in qualifying, Thomas wasn't pushing too hard and ended up 5th fastest qualifier.

Andrew headed up for race run pretty pumped on having a good race prep and really looking for the win. Andrew was first out of the gate in the U15s and crossed the finish line in a 3:59.09 and all we had to do was wait for the other 9 riders to cross the line. All done and Andrew ended up winning by 11 seconds. Stoked!!!

Thomas headed back up for race run and was 5th last rider to start as they race in reverse order. When Thomas crossed the finish line he was in the hot seat for a very short time until he eventually got knocked into 4th place. After talking to Thomas, it turned out he was having an excellent run in the top 2/3's of the track but after coming over the wombat jump, he saw one of his mates who had come off the track in his race run and took his focus off the track and went over the top of a berm. Struggled to get his bike and himself back on track, he lost quite a bit of time. Anyway, ending up 4th was still a huge effort although he has learnt a very valuable lesson. No rest and off to Clubbie next weekend. Catcha!

Interschools - Thredbo 19-21 March 2010

Friday night both boys raced in the 4X. Andrew placed first in all his heats and also placed first in his Final. He didn't look at all threatened in any of the heats or the final. He was also the only kid (out of all divisions) who was jumping over the whole mogles which everyone thought was pretty amazing. There were 46 kids racing in his division.

There were 76 riders in Thomas' Div for 4X. Thomas managed to win 4 out of his 5 heats to get into the final where he placed 3rd which was pretty impressive as the two kids who beat him placed up in the National Series in U17 and U19. People were talking about how smooth the boys looked on the 4X track.

Saturday was DH. As they didn't want kids killing themselves on the fire road, they
started the race just before the single track. Boys were under quite a bit of pressure as they were both ranked #1 and with racing in reverse order, both were last out of the gate. Danny at SEMTB was talking them up a fair bit also. Andrew's Division was first with 60 riders to go through. Andrew came down right behind 3 other riders who he'd caught up to but ended up still winning by 22 seconds in
a time of 6:08.

Thomas' div was next with 134 riders in total. Thomas didn't have such a great run at the top of the hill but said he had a really good run at the bottom section. The lead changed a few times with the last 10 or so riders but Thomas came down in a 5:58, winning by 5 seconds.

With all the good stuff over, it was only the XC left. Both boys did the short XC on Saturday afternoon after the DH. Funnily enough they both hung on till the last lap and placed 7th in their respective divisions. There were about 50 or 60 riders in each race so not too bad for a couple of Downhillers.

Sunday morning was an early start for Andrew with the XC starting at 8:30am. They rode 3 laps of the 4km track and placed a very respectable 9th out of 46 riders. Thomas, after a late night with his mates and knowing he was out of the running for King of the Mountain, opted out of the XC and went and did some DH runs with Robbie instead. After the SXC on Saturday, I don't blame him.

Preso was after lunch on Sunday in the Keller bar with both boys taking home a swag of trophies with Andrew also collecting the very coveted and much wanted Division 3 King of the Mountain.

Glad Interschools only comes around once a year that's for sure.

National Round 4 - Mt Stromlo 14 March 2010

The National Series is done and dusted, run and won for another year. Yay!

The Final Round saw the Team head to Stromlo Forest Park on the weekend of 12-14 March. Dad and the boys headed to Stromlo on Friday to get in an afternoon of practice while Mum went to work. Mid afternoon Mum gets a phone call to say "Thomas has crashed into a tree and we think he might have broken his finger and we might need you to come and take him for an xray. He's heading down to the medic tent". Just what you want to hear while stuck at work. Anyway, turns out the medics didn't think it was broken, just badly bruised. Bit of taping up and that was Thomas' practice over for the day. Andrew's practice day went without a hitch.

An early start on Saturday with Group B practice starting at 8:30am and Mum due to start her DH marshaling then also. Saturday practice went well with no major incidents in Team Crimmins camp. Saturday arvo saw Group A Seeding runs so we hung around to watch that.

Sunday was another early start with practice starting at 8am and going through until 10am, then Group A from 10am till 12pm and racing due to start at 12:30 for Group B. Couple of practice runs and the boys had a bit of time to chill before heading up to get ready for race run. Thomas due to start at 12:43.30 and Andrew at 13:02.30.

With Mum nervously watching (and marshaling) at the bottom of the rock garden and Dad at the finish line, racing started. A few other divisions came down and then it was time for the U17's. Thomas was second to come down after Connor. He went well through the rock garden and all we could do then was wait till he got to the finish line. Mum could just hear the commentary and was anxiously waiting until all 34 riders finished before we knew that Thomas, in a time of 3:50.04, had placed 3rd after Connor and David.

Next it was the Under 15's and as Andrew was leading the Series, he was first out of the start gate. As with Thomas, Andrew looked really good through the rock garden (Thomas showed him the best line to take). Again, all we could do was wait until all the riders had crossed the finish line and then it was official, Andrew had smashed the U15's by a whopping 17 seconds and did a PB of 2:59.81. He told us later that he was having such a good run that he decided to do a bar hump over the jump at triple treat. Lucky Mum & Dad weren't there to see!!

Now that the Series is over, and with the boys gaining a podium finish in every round, Thomas has earned the title of 2009/10 Under 17 National Downhill Series Runner up and Andrew 2009/10 National Series Champion. Considering both the boys will be in the same age categories next year, it's an amazing effort. Well done Team.

Off to Interschools this weekend. Great.

NSW/ACT State Rnd 1 - Thredbo 28 Feb 2010

Another race and another weekend in Thredbo. After picking up the boys mate Robbie after work on Friday, we headed to Thredbo early on Saturday morning as the boys wanted to get in a good day's practice. We set up the Morewood tent and got organised, then Dad headed back to Jindy to measure up a potential job there.

Practice over and back to the Maggs' Lodge (thanks again for their hospitality) to settle in, do some bike maintenance, have showers and dinner, bit of chilling and off to bed.

Early start Sunday morning with practice open from 9am. The boys headed to the lifts after brekkie while we packed up and loaded the car so we could make a quick get away after race (as we always seem to be the last ones to leave for some reason).

Practice finished at 12pm with Thomas heading to the top not long after as he has decided to race Under 19's for the State Series this year so that he could get two runs, one qualifying and one race run. Plus there's prize money for U19's!! As he headed up for his qualifying run, Mum headed to the timing tent to help out with spotting numbers as riders came over the finish line, Dad was up the hill somewhere and Andrew and some mates also headed up the hill to do some cheering.

Thomas was the third rider out of the start gate for qualifying, after Phil & David. After all 45 riders had finished their quali runs, Thomas had the fastest time of 6:27.23, coming in 1 second ahead of Jake with 2nd fastest time.

Next it was Andrew's turn to head up the chairlift for his race run in Under 15's. Andrew was 2nd off the start, after David Maggs. It seems like an awful long time waiting for that first 7 minutes to tick by on the timing clock, finally David comes out of the trees and crosses the line in a 7:13 and before we knew it, here comes Andrew out of the trees not far behind. Andrew was screaming down towards the finish line and crossed in an extremely fast time of 6:47.89. Obviously he had a very good run as this was a PB for Thredbo for him. All 19 riders finished and Andrew was stoked, he finished in first place by a whopping 21 seconds. It made up for his terrible Nationals race run there 2 weeks before.

Finally it was Thomas' turn to head back up the lift for his race run. As if it's not stressful enough with him having one run but now we have to stress during two runs, very inconsiderate I think :) Anyway, they run the race run in reverse order so the slowest qualifier goes out first, each rider in 30 second gaps until the final 10 which they were leaving a one minute gap. The suspense was killing us as we were watching all the riders coming over the line, some in faster times than qualifying and some slower. Finally Jake came through and was 1 second quicker than quali but next thing, here comes Thomas, you could hear the crowd making shock noises as he headed down home run with us all watching the clock in amazement. Finally he crossed the line in a 6:22.13. WOW, the crowd cheered and applauded, he had won!!! After the whole race was done and dusted, it turned out that Thomas had the second fastest time of the day overall (over 220 riders). Pretty damn fine effort for a 14 year old.

CORC Round 9 - Majura 21 Feb 2010

The second last round of the 2009CORC Series was held at Majura last Sunday in quite warm conditions. We arrived at the track around 10am and the boys only managed to get in a couple of practice runs before heading up to get ready for race. They did a bit of sectioning as it was too hot to push to the top too many times.

Both boys ended up having a bad first run, Thomas stacking and Andrew collecting a few trees along the way. Stop for a quick drink and head back up for second run. Both boys had much better runs second time round. Thomas ended up winning the U17's by only some hundredth of a second and Andrew ended up 2nd in U15's. Pretty happy with results as this keeps Thomas in the lead in U17's with only one round remaining. Last round at Isaacs on 28 March.

National Round 3 - Thredbo 14 Feb 2010

Ian and the boys headed to Thredbo for some practice on Friday while Mum went off to work (lucky Mum). Turns out it wasn't such a bad idea for Mum to go to work as it rained most of the day and the boys got really muddy and Dad had to deal with the clean up in the afternoon. Luckily they were staying in Maggs' lodge and it is well equipped to deal with cleaning of muddy bikes, clothes and kids.

Practice for Group B on Saturday morning till 12pm, again in the rain. Boys finished practice and went back to the lodge for a shower and change of clothes. Luckily Mum arrived about lunch time and spent the next few hours washing dirty clothes while the crew headed back to watch the seeding runs for Group A.

Sunday race day arrived and it had been raining pretty much all night so when the boys got to the lift, they were told they could only do one practice run (just to try and save the track a bit) as by now there were huge ruts in the track and it was really sloppy. After practice both boys went back to the lodge for a shower and to put on a nice clean kit.

Race time approaching and the boys kitted up in their lovely plastic poncho's to ride up the lift in to try and keep a bit dry. Seems we started a trend and most of their mates did the same thing (will have to remember to stock back up on poncho's).

Thomas was first of Team Crimmins to start his race run. Even though he was equal 2nd in U17's and he got a better place at the last race than David, for some reason he was still third off at the start. Not that it made too much difference. Anyway, Connor came down in a time of 7:59.23 which we though was a fairly decent time considering the conditions. Next we were expecting David to come flying out of the trees, but no, it was Thomas next, flying out of the trees into the home run, pedaling as much as he could and still managing to stay on track. Wow, he crosses the finish line in a time of 7:43.88, we knew that would be a hard time to beat. After all 30 riders crossed the line, Thomas had won by 16 seconds. This puts Thomas into outright 2nd in the Series, with one race remaining.

Next was Andrew's turn. He was the first to start in U15's as series leader so we watched most of his time on the timer and it kept going up and up. We started to think something might have happened but next thing he comes out of the trees, still pedaling and with his goggles around his hand. He crossed the line in a time of 9:33.93. We didn't think this would be good enough for the win and as it turns out that time placed him 3rd out of 10 riders. Well done to Maggsie for his first Nationals win. It was still a great effort for Andrew to come 3rd as it turned out he crashed in race run and his front wheel seized up and wouldn't turn properly which made it a real struggle to have any momentum especially in those conditions. We thought he must have got mud in his axle but when we got home Ian pulled the whole bike apart and found that he had creased his front brake casing which would have caused his brake to be on the whole time. Anyway, he still holds the Series lead so is looking forward to doing well at Mt Stromlo in 4 weeks time.

Thanks to Nicho for the use of his (waterproof) Morewood tent for the weekend, it was a real saviour in the rain.

National Round 2 - Shepparton 24 Jan 2010

Finally made it home after our epic road trip which took us to Adelaide and then on to Shepparton for Round 2 of the National Series. After a very successful Champs in Adelaide, Team Crimmins headed to Shepparton with 2 days to fill in before we were due on Thursday before race. We drove to Swan Hill and stayed there overnight and drove the rest of the way on Wednesday which saw us there a day early. As we couldn't book into our cabin until the Thursday, we had to then find a motel for the night. This was harder than expected as not only was the race on, there was an International Dairy Festival on as well. We mananged to find what I think must have been the last motel room in the whole of Shepp.

After departing our Motel, we couldn't book into the cabin until 2pm so we headed to the track to walk it in the morning and then had shuttles in the arvo (in 45deg heat). Having seen footage of the track we weren't expecting much, and we weren't disappointed. But after walking the track, it was actually a lot harder than first thought with most of the track being off camber with a really snotty rock shoot and a few rock drops. Speed was going to be hard to maintain if you wanted to stay on the track. The dirt was red like you would imagine on Mars. You just had to stand on the side of the track and you would go home with what looked like a really bad fake tan.

Friday was a full day of practice. Thomas was getting the hang of the track and actually started to enjoy it. Andrew, not so much. He was struggling with the rock shute (he wasn't the only one, let me tell you) and had numerous offs in that section but luckily none involved injury. Practice over with and back to the cabin to do some washing and get ready for the next day.

Saturday practice for Group B started at 8:30am so we were out and about very early (who said we were on holidays?). Practiced well with Thomas saying that it is like learning a new track every day as it changes so much. The boys hung around for Group A seeding in the afternoon as Mum headed back to get dinner ready and do more washing (gotta love that red dust).

Sunday race day and we were at the track early with Group B practice again at 8:30am till 10:30am then Group A and then racing at 12:30pm. Had a look at the start list and Thomas was 3rd off in U17's and due to start at 12:47pm and Andrew first off in U15's with a start time of 1:07pm (not that it ever starts on time anyway). A few categories came down in their race runs and then it was the U17's. Connor came down first in a very fast time of 1:59.48, next was David who finished in a time of 2:05.26, then we could see Thomas coming down (as the hill was so small and there were no trees, your could see virtually the whole race run except just the first little bit). We were all yelling him over the finish line and he came in at a fantastic time of 2:03.51, provisionally into 2nd position. As there were at least another 40 riders to come, we were still on the edge of our seats to see if he could hold onto it. All riders in U17 over the line and it was official, Thomas was 2nd. Good work Son!!!

Next it was the U15's turn. We watched the whole of Andrew's race run and just held our breath that he would hold it together, especially after Adelaide. Luckily he had a really good practice on Sunday morning with no stacks in the rock shute and he was feeling really good about the track now. As we yelled him over the finish line, he posted an excellent time of 2:13.97 which saw him sitting in the hot seat. As the rest of the field finished, Andrew managed to sit in the hot seat for the whole of the U15's division. It was official, he won, with the closest rider coming over in a 2:21.98. We were all very happy for Andrew with Adelaide now a distant memory. Well done Team.

2010 National Championships - Adelaide 17/1/10

Here we are in sunny Adelaide for the 2010 National Champs. Mum & Dad arrived on Tuesday before race weekend after driving through heat wave conditions all day Monday and staying in Ouyen, some small country town in the middle of nowhere on Monday night. Cooler temps for Tuesday's 4 hour drive with a fair bit of rain along the way. Settled into our nice little cabin in Mitcham and then headed to town to get some supplies before heading to the airport to pick the boys up from their nice, easy 1.5 hour flight.

Headed to the track on Wednesday morning to walk the track and then start practice in the afternoon. Thursday all day practice then Friday and Saturday morning practice with the afternoons free although stayed to watch Group A seeding on Saturday arvo. All practice sessions went without a hitch, only a couple of flat tyres which are easy to fix. The track was pretty short so Mum & Dad walked it quite a few times and got lots of photo's and video's.

Early night on Saturday as we had to be at the track for practice at 7:30am on Sunday. Yuck! Got to the track at 7:30 with a few showers of rain on the way and also when we got to the track. Practice was late starting by nearly an hour, not real happy with that as all the riders were standing in the rain waiting for the track to open. No announcements made as to what was going on either. Not happy.

Finally on track and practiced till 9:30 with racing due to start at 10am. The U17's were the 2nd last division of Group B to come down for their race run with the U15's the last division.

Boys headed to the top of the hill, Mum headed to the bottom near finish line and Dad headed to the race village to watch on the big screen. There were 5 camera's on course so you could watch pretty much the whole race run on the big screen. Just happened that as it was "only Group B" there was no timing or commentary there so Dad decided to head to the bottom section also.

U17's on course. Thomas 3rd rider off as that's where he was ranked after the first National Round in Hobart. First 2 riders came down in really quick times, then we could see Thomas in the distance, coming out of the trees into the bottom open section, watching the time, we knew it would be close. Over the finish line and was in provisional 2nd place but with still another 40 riders to come, still watching the clock. All riders down and it was official, Thomas placed 2nd in U17 National Champs. Final results were Conor: 1:58.12, Thomas: 2:01.95, David: 2:04.66. Would have placed 5th in U19's. Very happy with that.

U15's up next with Andrew off first as he won in Hobart. He comes out of the trees, we look at the time and know he's having a really good run as his time is very fast. Next thing, round the corner, down the drop into the berm and comes off the bike in the berm. Oh no, takes at least 10 seconds to get back on the bike and then has an uphill to pedal before more downhill and into the bottom jumps. Andrew was absolutely devo. Final result: Max: 2:20.66, Joel: 2.21.01, Andrew 2:21.99. There is no doubt that if Andrew didn't crash, he would have posted a bloody fast time but hey, that's racing. Funny thing is, Sam Hill (best rider in OZ) comes down in his race run in the Elite Men doing a screaming time and just metres from the finish line, he loses it in the loose gravel and comes off. Took him from 1st into 5th. As we said to Andrew, see, it can happen to the best of them! Haha.

Looking forward to Shepparton next weekend.