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!
Saturday, March 28, 2009
Friday, March 20, 2009
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!!!!
Friday, March 13, 2009
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".
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
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
Thursday, February 26, 2009
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.
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.
Thursday, January 29, 2009
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.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
