UtahMountainBiking Race Team 08 scrapbook

Css Horizontal Drop Down Menu by Vista-Buttons.com v4.3.0

UtahMountainBiking.com
Team Photo Scrapbook 08
2008 Intermountain Cup Mountain Bike Racing Series

Scrapbook Index
Team Index Page
Team Roster
Racer Info

Cholla Challenge - Hurricane, April 12, 2008

The 2008 Cholla Challenge added some new singletrack to the loop south of Hurricane. Then, to make things interesting, the race ran around the loop in the opposite direction from previous years. The weather was warm and sunny, but not too hot.

We had first place finishes by Joshua Peterson, Derek Ransom, Jim Jackson, Meri Bruin, and Brian Oliver, with 2nd-place wins by Shawn Nielsen, Kyle Jackson, Eric Ellis, and Justin Griffin. The team showed enough depth to score big and win the race despite (quite a bit of) bad luck.

Left: The Van Wagoners get ready to rumble...

Category 9-and-under:


Joshua Peterson (#200) jumps out to an early lead and grabs the 1st place finish!	Shawn Nielsen chases behind Joshua, finishing 1 second behind for 2nd place.	Mandy Clark races to 2nd place among the girls, 12th in the 9-and-under.

Category 10-12:

Left: Brayden Nielsen turns the corner and
climbs the hill on the way to 6th place in the
10-12 category.

We've got some great competitors in the 10-12 and 9-and-under categories. We're excited to see our young riders get faster and stronger.

Right: Zachary Peterson sprints up the hill
toward the finish line, taking the 10th place spot.

Beginner 13-15:

Left: Kyle Jackson powers up to the finish
line as he takes 2nd place in his category.
Kyle now has a 1st and a 2nd place in two
races, nailing plenty of points for the team.

Home base. Gatorade and bike fixing.

Beginner 19-29:

Left: Eric Ellis rockets across the desert in his
first UMB team appearance. Eric grabbed the
2nd-place finish in his category with a solid
performance.

Right: Andrew Youngkin climbs toward the finish
line as he again takes a 4th-place ribbon.
Andrew has bounced back faster and leaner
after his injury at the Rampage.

Beginner 30-39:

Left: Derek Ransom navigates through the
slickrock section, on his way to a solid 1st
place in his first outing as a UMB team member.
Derek rolled over the finish line 7 minutes ahead
of the 2nd place guy, so we'll be watching
his career with great anticipation.

Right: Jeff Frederick wheelies up onto
a rock ledge as he fights to the 4th-place spot.
Jeff is getting faster and moving up the ranks.
Four sweet team points from Jeff...

Beginner 40-plus:

Left: Jim Jackson powers through the
slickrock section on his way to 1st place.
Two big finishes in two races. And after
completing his race, Jim took the finish-line
pictures and around-the-camp photos you
see on this page.

Right: Jason Sparks takes the 5th-place
spot in this race. He's got that "heart of a lion"
look in his eyes when he races.

Left: Russ Margetts climbs up the rock
on the way to a 7th-place finish. Russ is
getting faster and breaking into that critical
top-7 where the team points come.

Right: Scott Hunsaker pedals through the desert
scrub and gets the 9th position in the
Beginner Men 40-plus category.

Beginner Women:

Left: Meri Bruin sprints toward the finish
line to capture 1st place in BW. In two races,
Meri now has a two 1st places. We'd love to
see her venture away from St George for some
races up north!

The 10-12 category fires out.

Sport/Expert 13-15:

Sport/Expert 16-18:

Left: Justin Griffin pilots the bike through
the desert brush and gets the 2nd place
against the older buys in Sport/Expert 13-15.
Justin is racing "above category" because
he's sick of dominating the kids who are
his same age.

Right: Danny Van Wagoner sprints into
the finish area on the way to taking
4th place in Sport/Expert 16-18.

Sport Women:

Left: Catherine Reay moves up to the Sport
Women category with this race and makes
an impressive ride to 4th place. New bike
and a new mean attitude. Great to have
a lady sportster again! And we know
Catherine will make us proud.

Getting that ribbon; a job well done.

Sport Men 19-29:

Left: Ryan Van Wagoner must have moved
too fast for either of our photographers, but
he's captured here testing out his bike. Ryan
got the 4th-place spot.

Right: Tyler Margetts heads up the rock
as he rides to the 8th place finish in Sport
Men 19-29.

Sport Men 30-34:

Left: Jon Hall sprints up the final climb as he
takes the 9th-place spot in SM 30-34. Jon was
our only rider in this tough category.

Right: Like a swarm of angry hornets, the wave
of black and yellow dominated this race.

Sport Men 35-39:


Brian Oliver makes an impressive showing as he gets 1st place by a big margin.	In his first race for UMB, Dan Broadbent takes a solid 4th place.	Darren Harris, also new to UMB this year, gets the 5th-place spot.

Left: Greg Meyers gets the 6th position in SM 35-39.

This was the largest category for our team, with 7 racers representing UMB. In the duel with Revolution, we divided 12 of the top 13 spots in this category among our two teams.

Right: Stephen Bergen follows close behind
as he nails the 7th-place spot in the category.

Left: Denmark Jensen rides the slickrock on
the way to 9th-place. We have so many great
riders in the Sport 35-39 category it gives the
team enough depth to grab points even if
a couple of racers can't make it to the race,
or break down during the race.

Right: Rich Bruin sprints hard but is knocked
to the 12th position with a flat tire.

Sport Men 40-plus:


Jay Griffin grabs the 5th-place spot in this large and competitive category.	Brad Sneed again gets the 9th position in Sport Men 40-plus.	Kris Nosack follows Brad around the race loop and comes in at 10th.

Expert Men 30-39:

Left: Mike Engberson cranks through three
long laps as our Expert 30-39 rider, taking the
12th place spot. When we get to those ugly "ski resort" races -- the ones the rest of us hate -- that's when Mike becomes The Man.

Thanks to Jay's wife Mei-Dai for taking most of the great racing photos you see on this page.

Desert singletrack, with a taste of slickrock.

Women 35-plus:

Left: Jolene Nosack sprints up that final hill
and takes 3rd place. Jolene is a consistent
racer, hitting around the same spot in the
ladies pecking order race after race. She's
a solid producer of team points.

Right: Kendra Clark moves to the Women 35-plus
category and finishes the race in 7th place.
Thanks for the team point, Kendra!

Men 50-plus:

Left: Stan Larrabee pedals past yucca and mesquite
as he drives to the 8th place spot in Men 50-plus.
Because there's no "Beginner" or "Sport" in this open
category, they're racing against the fastest old guys
on the planet.

Right: John Van Wagoner rides the slickrock and
follows 4 seconds behind Stan to take 9th place.

Men 57-plus:

Beginner Men 16-18: Expert Men 19-29: Expert Men 40-plus: Clydesdale: Singlespeed: Men 57+
The UMB race team had no riders in these categories at this race.

We had fewer racers at the Cholla Challenge than at last month's Desert Rampage. Some are excused absenses: Deon Hutchings broke his arm pre-riding the course, and our stalwart younger Hutchings racers missed the race to be sure he was taken care of. Bruce missed his first ICup event in 61 straight races due to his wife's medical emergency, which left Matt without a ride to the race. But those who made it to Hurricane gave it their best, and the team got some critical help from riders making their first appearance of the season. In the team competition, we again scored into the 90s, and again barely edging out the strong Revolution team for the win. It was a great effort, and we can look forward to Five Mile Pass.

<<Previous Race

[ Return to Scrapbook Index Page ]

Next Race>>

[Team Index Page] [Team Roster 08] [Team Member Profiles] [Team Signup] [UtahMountainBiking Home Page]