National Round 3 - Mt Stromlo 5 Feb 2012

What would a National Series be without at least some rain?  We've been pretty lucky with the first two rounds, but couldn't drag it out for round three.  Never mind, at least it only rained on Friday and cleared up (and warmed up) for the rest of the weekend.  Practice on Friday was wet and muddy but went without any dramas.  Except when we arrived home on Friday arvo, we had to light the heater so we could dry out shoes, kits, helmets, etc (lucky it hasn't been a very warm summer).

Saturday morning saw Ian and Andrew head down to Stromlo for Group B practice and seeding while Thomas had a bit of a sleep in. Mum and Thomas headed down in time for Mum to start her Marshaling duties and watch Andrew's seeding run.. Andrew's seeding went well and he finished in first place by just over a second from Joel.  Thomas' practice also went well as did his seeding run where he finished in third place, only 0.79 of a second off first place.  Andrew stayed with a mate on Saturday night so he could go to 'Cam's Jam'.  He really enjoyed it.

Back to the track for an early start on Sunday morning for Andrew to start practice and Thomas to walk the track to prepare for race.  Andrew did a couple of practice runs and was ready for race feeling pretty good with his preparation so far.

Race time came and Andrew, being the last rider in U17's, came pedaling hard to the finish line.  His time was looking good and he crossed the finish line in a winning time of 2:28.04, just over 3 seconds from 2nd place.  After he regained his breath after the big pedal, he was really happy with his run, beating his seeding time by 8 seconds.

Thomas' race run came and he felt pretty good, having got some preparation and training tips from Jared Rando over the weekend, Thomas felt he had done everything he could to put in a good run.  Thomas was on course, time ticking over when we realised something must have happened as we couldn't see him yet.  He crossed the finish line in 8th position 2 seconds slower than his seeding run and 6 seconds off Connor who took the win.  Turns out Thomas had an off in the top part of the track, but managed to get back on his bike and didn't give up so overall, he posted a very respectable time considering.  He now sits in 3rd place overall for the Series with one round remaining.

Out of interest, this is the first time Thomas has not been on the podium in the 4 years he has been racing Nationals.

National Round 2 - Mt Buller, Vic 20-22 Jan 2012

As we attended the Vic State Round in Mt Buller, we decided rather than go home for two days that we would stay for the week between races.  Although we thought we might get a bit bored we managed to fill in the time pretty easily.  Some of us had a nice relaxing time whilst others did not stop (Andrew & Angus) making the most of all the riding available.  We had a pretty full house for the week with people coming and going but it all worked really well and everyone had a good time.

Thomas and David were told by Jared Rando not to ride the race track during the week so he and David did a bit of XC and rode some of the other Gravity trails.  Andrew and Angus just smashed runs out all week on anything they felt like, they were in bike heaven.

Friday was Open practice all day for the Gravity Cup so the boys got into it early, punching out runs all day with no major issues which is always a good thing.

Saturday was Open practice in the morning and then Group B seeding runs from 1.30pm.  Andrew's seeding run went really well and he crossed in an amazing 3:25.46, 11 seconds ahead of 2nd place in a field of 21 riders.  He sure did have all the Group A boys in a bit of a sweat "can't let a 14 year old beat us".  Thomas' seeding run went well also, finishing in 4th place with a bit left in the tank. 

Sunday morning was Group B Practice and race.  We arrived at the top of the track and you wouldn't have even known there was a race on, no music, not commentary, no atmosphere. Anyway, Andrew did two practice runs and sat and waited for this race time.  Finally after what seemed like forever, his race time arrived.  As he seeded first, he was the last one to go in reverse order.  Watching the timing on the clock we knew if he did a similar time to yesterday he would have it.  As it turns out, unbelievably, he did a faster time than seeding finishing in a 3.24:25 to put 6.50 seconds on 2nd place.  Amazing!!!  This time would have seen him finish 2nd in U19 and 7th in Elite men :0

The afternoon saw Group A practice and race.  I have to say, I much preferred it when both boys were in Group B and we could stress in the morning and then relax for the afternoon.  Thomas did his usual couple of practice runs, last one just before cut off so he could see how the track had changed.  Bit of food, relax and it was race time.  After a bit of a warm up waiting for the rest of the 54 riders to start, it was Thomas' turn.  As the timing went out on the screen, we didn't really know where it was up to so they finally put on some commentary.  It turned out that when Thomas crossed the finish line in 3.24:59, he went into the hot seat which he said surprised him a bit as there were some fast riders before him.  He managed to sit in the hot seat until the very last rider, Connor Fearon who pipped him by 3.91 secs.  Thomas was still stoked with his podium finish and to also gain enough points to receive the "Series Leader" plate in his very first year of Under 19's.

I have to say there was some bantering going on in the Crimmins household (and still is).  If you have a good look at both boys final times you'll understand why.  We all knew it would happen one day, just not yet.

Will check in after Stromlo National Round in 2 weeks.  In the meantime, check our facebook page, Crimmins Downhill.  Catchya!

Vic State Round 4 - Mt Buller 15 Jan 2012

The team attended the Fourth Round of the Vic State Series in Mt Buller on the weekend of 14 & 15 January 2012.  Both boys decided to race this round as we were all going to be there and Thomas decided he needed to try and replenish his bank balance hopefully with some cash in U19's.

Thomas traveled down with David McMillan while the rest of the team went together.  Thomas and David arrived first and found our little lodge and luckily turned the heaters on for us as the place was freezing.  We settled into the lodge and the boys did some runs on Friday to see what the track was like.  Not overly impressed with the race track but were happy to also be able to do a variety of runs on different tracks. 

Saturday was a solid day of practice.  Sunday morning was qualifying runs for both boys.  Andrew wanted to gain maximum points so he went all out in qualies and finished first by 14 seconds.  Thomas held back a bit and qualied in fifth place.

Afternoon race came around and the boys were pumped to go well.  Final results were Andrew 1st U17's by 10 seconds in a time of 03:32,425 and Thomas coming in 2nd place U19's in a 03:31,347 (only one second between the boys).  Another great Vic event over with and now looking forward to the last round.

National Round 1 - Thredbo 11 Dec 2011

The first of the National Rounds arrived nice and close to home too.  Both boys have now moved up a division, Andrew into U17's and Thomas into U19's at National level.  Andrew decided to do the Rando/Corey clinic at Thredbo on Thursday before race where he said he learned a lot and picked up a few good tips.  The whole family headed to Thredbo on Friday for a day of practice and to check into the lodge.  Practice went well on Friday with the track quite dry and dusty.  Both boys got in some good runs but because they know the track so well, didn't need to bust themselves.

Saturday practice saw another day of fine weather.  Group B practice started at 8:30am with seeding starting at 11am.  Mum and Dad had to attend a wedding in Braidwood on Saturday afternoon so were able to watch Andrew's seeding run before quickly heading out to make the big trek to the wedding.  Andrew had an absolute blinder of a seeding run and finished in a time of 5:49.14 which was about 20 seconds faster than his run at the CORC round 2 weeks prior and also 19 seconds faster than the second placed U17 rider.  As it turned out Andrew's time was the fastest in Group B (also only just over 1second slower than Sam Hill's seeding run in the arvo haha).

Thomas's seeding run was going well until he hit a tree which slowed him down a bit but he still managed to finish with the third fastest seeding time so he was happy with that.  He knew he could pick up a bit of time for race tomorrow.  Funny thing is that Andrew's seeding time was 0.02 second faster than Thomas' and didn't he let him know it!!  Pretty much all night actually.  Lucky Mum & Dad were in Braidwood.

Saturday night saw some heavy rain with showers clearing in the morning.  Thomas was hoping that it would rain all night and all day as he loves the mud.  Not so much Andrew.  With the clouds threatening all morning, lucky for us the rain held off for Andrew's race run.  As Andrew was the fastest seeded rider in U17's he was the last rider down not only for U17's but for the whole of Group B.  Very nerve wracking for us parents standing around waiting.  Waiting for Andrew to come out of the scrub, watching the clock, we could see his seeding time come and go but still no Andrew.  Next thing here he comes, pedalling and jumping hard, it was going to be close to Joel's time, could he do it?  YES, he crossed the line and took the win by 2 seconds.  As it turns out, Andrew actually took a 'digger' in his race run, went over the bars and broke his gear lever, a bit of bark off but still managed to get back on and keep going.  Just goes to show, you should never give up even after a crash.

Group A practice in the afternoon saw some showers which at times looked like it could turn into heavy rain but luckily it didn't.  As the U19's started coming down the track, so did the rain.  We were all thinking if the rain got heavier as the riders went through, the top guys might end up racing on a totally different track than the earlier riders.  But luckily that didn't happen.  As Connor Fearon didn't finish his seeding run on Saturday, he was the third rider to come down the track and as expected, took the hot seat.  With only 3 riders left that might be able to knock Connor out of the seat, here came Thomas, out of the bushes, this was going to be close but yes, he came over the finish line to claim the hot seat.  Sooo stoked.  With only 2 more riders to come, Thomas new he had a podium position. Thomas' time ended up being beaten by only 0.68 second to see him finish in 2nd place in his first ever National Round in Under 19's.  There was only 2 first year U19 riders in the top ten so Thomas was really happy with his efforts as were the whole family.

Due to Thomas' fantastic result, he has now been told that he is on the Junior Worlds long team and will be going into camp for the next round at Mt Buller.  We are all so very proud of Thomas as this is what he's been working towards for the last 2 years.  He now just needs to continue getting good results and will then end up representing Australia at the World Championships in Leogang, Austria in September 2012.

Vic State Round 2 - Mt Major, Shepparton 6 Nov 2011

While Thomas stayed home to study for his Year 10 School Certificate Exams, Andrew attended Round 2 of the Vic Series in Shepparton.  Andrew had a good practice on Saturday only having one stack and skinning the front of his arm (to match the scar on the back of his arm from a couple of years ago).  Seeding was done on Sunday with Andrew posting a pretty good time which saw him seed #1 in U17's.

Race run done and Andrew's time of 2.14:80 was good enough to win him the U17 division by 4 seconds.  Andrew's time would have placed him 7th in Elite and 4th in U19's.  As much as people complain about the track at Shepparton, it seems to suit Andrew.

Till next time, keep up to date on our facebook page: Crimmins Downhill.

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.

SERAS Mayoral Reception

The boys attended the Cooma Monaro Shire Council Chambers last night to receive their SERAS Scholarship Awards in front of a full Council meeting. Garry gave a speech about the boys achievements during the last year and then they were presented with their Awards from Mayor Lynch.