UtahMountainBiking Race Team 09 scrapbook

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Team Photo Scrapbook 09
2009 Intermountain Cup Mountain Bike Racing Series

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Cholla Challenge - Hurricane, April 4, 2009

Despite the snowstorm up north, the weather at the Cholla Challenge was perfect: blue skies and a cool but pleasant temperature. The previous day's rains packed the trail firmly. The rerouted 7.5-mile loop offered plenty of challenges, and racers generally agreed it was the best Cholla race ever. But the fun came with a price: pinch-flats sidelined many of our riders, and Corbin's crash broke bones in his hand. The trail was lined with racers pumping tires -- more tire-pumpers than spectators. UMB had first-place finishes by Steve Winters, Justin Griffin, Jay Griffin, and Derek Ransom, with a second place by Zachary Peterson.

Left: Jason leads the charge over the slickrock of the Cholla Challenge course. Two of the three UMB riders in this photo will have flat tires.

Category 9-and-under:

Left: Hunter Ransom heads into the final finish-line
sprint on his way to UMB's top placement in 9-and-under
at 5th place.

Right: The bumpy rocks have knocked Isaac Loosli's helmet
into an interesting position, but he pedals on to get the
9th place finish.

Left: Ashton Loosli fires down the 12-and-under
loop and grabs the 12th position for the UMB team.

Right: Eliza Loosli makes her first ride as a UMB racer
and shows good riding form as she comes in strongly
at 16th place. Eliza's finish is good for 3rd among the
9-and-under girls.


Hattie Ransom cranks the bike toward the finish line and 18th-place honors.	Sawyer Ransom is up and sprinting as he takes the 20th place spot.	Amelia Youngkin rolls over the finish line and takes the 23rd-place position.

Category 10-12:

Left: Zachary Peterson leans as he carves the turn
around the yucca to head down the hill into the
first lap. Zach grabs the 2nd place finish in the
10-12 category.

Right: Joshua Peterson grinds out some speed
in his second of three laps on the junior course,
finishing in 4th place.

Left: Brayden Nielsen powers past the yucca
as he nears the finish line to take 6th place.

Right: Harrison Woodard drops off the hill, heading
toward the mesquite flats on the first half of the
junior race loop. Harrison hangs on to take 9th place.

Beginner 13-15: UMB had no Beginner 13-15 riders at the Cholla Challenge

Beginner 16-18: UMB had no Beginner 16-18 riders at the Cholla Challenge

Beginner 19-29:

Left: Andrew Weber hits that nasty steep
little hill just before the finish line as he
nails the 8th place spot in his first outing
as a UMB racer.

Right: In the chill of early morning, the
"support crew" sets up the check-in table,
workstand, and Gatorade dispenser while
the kids get ready for the first race.

Beginner 30-39:

Left: Ryan Nielsen wheelies off a sandstone lip
as he navigates the slickrock on the way to taking
the 3rd place spot in BM 30-29.

Right: Corbin Young powers the bike out of the wash
and around the sandy turn. A couple of miles later,
Corbin takes a nasty plunge, breaking his thumb and
little finger, and has to take a DNF. After x-rays, he's
back in time for the post-race burger fry.

Beginner 40-plus:


Steve Winters drops off the top of the slickrock and nails 1st place in BM 40+.	Dale Hutchings eyes the next rock transition, fighting to take 3rd place.	In his first race for UMB, Pascal Vincent gets the 5th place finish.

Beginner Women: UMB had no Beginner Women at the Cholla Challenge

Sport/Expert 13-15: UMB had no Sport/Expert 13-15 riders at the Cholla Challenge

Sport/Expert 16-18:

Left: Justin Griffin powers up the slickrock on the
way to a convincing 1st place finish in sport/expert
16-18. Barely old enough for the 13-15 category, Justin
moved up to challenge tougher competition.

Right: Dylan Tanner romps the pedals over the sandstone
on his way to grab the 3rd place position in his category.

Sport Men 19-29: UMB had no Sport Men 19-29 riders at the Cholla Challenge

Sport Men 30-34:

Left: Coming around to finish a lap, Derek Ransom
doesn't look like he's suffering enough as he cruises
to the 1st place podium spot.

Right: Jake Weber makes his first race as a team
member, attacking the slickrock of Warner Valley
to secure the 7th place finish.

Left: Dan Hutchings gets the front wheel up onto
the next level of rock as he rides to the 9th place
position in SM 30-34..

Right: Ben Hutchings pedal-mashes his way up the
steeper section of sandstone on the way to 13th.

Sport Men 35-39:

Left: Darren Harris fires through the brush and
cranks out a nice 3rd place victory in SM 35-39.

Right: Denmark Jensen attacks a steep pitch in
his first lap, finishing in 5th place.

Sport Men 40-plus:


Michael MacDonald navigates a tricky section of rock, getting team points at 6th.	Stephen Bergen looks powerful here, but he's knocked back to 14th place by a flat.	Jason Sparks manages to tally three flats and hikes in to take a DNF.

Sport Women:

Left: Amber Hatfield pilots the bike over the
sandstone on the way to a 5th place finish.

Right: Catherine Reay cranks up the rock after a good
start to her race, but drops back to 6th place with
a flat tire.

Expert Men 19-29:

Left: Eric Ellis powers uphill on his first
of three laps, finishing with team points
in 5th place in Expert 19-29.

Right: Teammates working together at
the UMB home base, getting a bike back
in service.

Expert Men 30-39:

Left: Brian Jeppson heads uphill on his second lap,
staying strong to grab 3 team points with a 7th place
finish in his expert category.

Right: Mike Engberson has a tough race, adding
another flat tire to our tally, but after a pit-stop
manages to scratch out a finish and 19th place.

Expert Men 40-plus: UMB had no Expert Men 40+ riders at the Cholla Challenge

Expert Women:

Left: Chanda Jeppson has a flat tire,
but fights her way back to take the
3rd place finish in spite of the trailside
down-time.

Right: The 10-12 category's third, fourth,
and fifth places hit the finish line as photos
are snapped.

Singlespeed:

Left: In the singlespeed category, you
can't sit back and spin your way up the
hill. Shane Horton stands and grunts
to take a 6th place finish.

Right: Too many flats. Jason walks his bike
up to the finish area. If you're counting,
that's six riders knocked out of contention
so far.

Clydesdale:

Left: Jared Loosli drops over a sandstone
roller as he finishes his Clydesdale lap
in 5th place.

Right: Ryan gets the spatula going on Bruce's
grill. Kay Hutchings has her bun ready.

Women 35-plus:

Left: Jolene Nosack drops off the slickrock
as she takes the 3rd place finish in Women
35-plus.

Right: Sally Hutchings heads up that final ugly hill
before the finish line, catching team points with
a 7th place spot.

Men 50-plus:

Left: Jay Griffin has another strong race as he
rolls over the top of the hill on his way to 1st place
in Men 50-plus.

Right: Jeff Kingsford hits a steep pitch on the
standstone, getting a good ride in this tough
category as he scores the 8th position.

Men 57-plus:

Left: Bruce Argyle motors up the hill on the first of two laps in the old-guy 57-plus category for a 4th place finish.

This was an important race for UtahMountainBiking. Our team depth let us put more tires on the trail, so we were able to score an impressive 119 points despite five teammates with flats and one with a serious injury. With this second race of the season, our team is now in the lead for the season championship. We just need to keep showing up and racing hard.

More race photos (thanks to all who snapped pics!)
http://picasaweb.google.com/bikersal35/ICUP2009Cholla4409#
http://picasaweb.google.com/1mtnbiker1/ChollaRace4409#
http://picasaweb.google.com/bikerbruceargyle/ChollaChallenge2009#


Hanging out at team barbeque. Great burgers, hot dogs, drinks, cookies, chips, and other stuff.	Good way to pass the time while waiting for the awards. Beats napping in your car.

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