Vic State Round 1 - You Yangs, Geelong 23 Oct 2011

As Ian had completed most of the K9 Agility Course that he was building for the AFP and he had a meeting in Bulla, Victoria, he decided that it would be a good opportunity to take some of the equipment down and also take the boys to the race in Geelong. They set off at 5:30 on Friday morning with their massive load to ensure they would make it to Bulla in time for the meeting. Luckily the courier arrived at 5am with Thomas' helmet and goggles, just in time otherwise he would have to wear his old stuff. The Prado traveled really well considering the load they had on and they made it to Bulla in good time. Meeting done, trailer left behind and off to Geelong to see what sort of accommodation the Manager (Mum) had booked for us this time. Accomm turned out pretty good except the pool had no water in it. Oh well, didn't really have much time to swim anyway. Off to the track Saturday for practice. First run and the boys were taking it easy, just cruising and having a look at the track, when this hero comes flying over a jump and completely takes Thomas out. Thomas ended up down a ditch and the idiot just kept going, didn't even bother to see if Thomas was OK. Nice work mate. Couple of runs later and Andrew's bike fell off the end of the trailer, shit! Turns out it ended up with bent bars and derailler hanger but luckily no scratches on the frame. As the bikes are put on the trailer by the volunteers, You Yangs MTB club were good enough to pay for some new bars and hanger. Not a great start to the weekend but hey, no serious injuries or anything, so all good really. After the thunder and rain on Saturday, the sun was shining as we headed back to the track Sunday for a few hours practice just before qualifying. The weather was warming up as the boys headed up for qualifying so they both decided to take it pretty easy for their runs so they didn't wear out too much for race run. Quali's done and Thomas finished in 9th place and Andrew in 5th so both boys made it through. Andrew headed to the top for race run and gets about halfway down the track when he was red flagged and pulled up because there was a snake on the track. Bugger, not really what you want on a hot day, having to push back to the top again to re-start your race run. He wasn't given much time to recover once back at the top, waiting for just two last riders in U17's and then into the race run again. Anyway, it didn't seem to phase him too much as he still went on to win the race by 0.06sec. He didn't actually realise he had won until presentation time as Ian thought he had come 3rd, so that was a good surprise for him. Thomas' first race back after breaking his collarbone in July was pretty much all about getting his confidence back. He felt comfortable on his new bike and practiced well all weekend, although says he's still feeling like a bit of a gumby. Thomas had a good race run, but felt when he got over the finish line that he didn't feel like he went as hard as he could have (that'll all come back with more time and practice). Anyway, he still ended up finishing in 4th place in U19's and feels pretty happy with where he's at after 12 weeks off the bike. The future's looking bright.