Having spoken to Paulie this evening, I can add a few tidbits of information for you!!

After riding off the front of the race (U/19) with Nathan Haas, Paul discovered a new line that he hadn't found in practice. Later that lap, he gave it a squirt and pulled away from Haas, but when he came upon the section with the new line, he tipped into the corner a little early. Unfortunatly the track didn't exist a few meters early, and subsequently he fell off a rock face, and in a strange twist on words, put his own face into the rocks... With face and leg, not to mention his shiny XTR cranks, all a bit scratched up, he "got up and proceeded to crash into every bush between there and the finish line" whist he got his head straightened back out. His lead was cut back to around 30 seconds, but Paulie got himself composed again, and stayed on the gas all the way to the finish, and picked up an invitaion to the top spot on the box, but shamefully no Aussie Champ jersey... C'mon, what happened to development of younger riders!? These guys are the future, and if you don't believe us, check the times relative to the elite riders!!

The next morning, under advisement from a friendly physio, Paulie left it until 1 hour to go before the start of the short track, before deciding at all to race... A long gentle warm up in pain didn't inspire much confidence in his decision, but standing in the box put Paulie back in race mode. Sitting in for the first nine minute apparently was enough for Paul, apparently patience doesn't feature strongly, and he opened it up. Quote ".... and then I didn't see them again..." I guess that sums it up again, Paul Van Der Ploeg, U19 Long Course Australian Champion and U19 Short course Australian Champion! Thanks for coming, and check out his blog over the next few days for the story, photos and whatever corrections he makes to the retelling of this story :)