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Red Rock Rampage
St. George - March 5, 2011The
temperature was in the low 60s with high thin clouds. The Green Valley
race course was in great shape for a fast race. 43 riders represented UMB
at this well-attended event. Team members Carter Greene and Casey Zaugg
posted first-place finishes, with Jacey Messer, Rachel Hutchings, and
Jared Muir taking 2nd in their race categories.
Left: Mike rolls over the rock drop at the end of
the downhill.
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Jacey Messer cranks up and out of the
wash on her 2nd lap, finishing in 6th place
overall, 2nd place for girls 9-and-under. |
New to the team this year, Carson
Taylor
stands to pedal uphill on the way to a
25th place finish. Welcome, Carson!
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Parker Horton spends the night
sick
with stomach flu, but at race time he
goes for it and takes 29th place. |
| Category 10-12: UMB had no
age 10-12 riders at this race! |
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As race time approaches, Mike
works on a malfunctioning
disc brake. Ryan Allred will be wrenching for the team soon! |
The team bulletin board has a
race map, team notices,
sign-up sheets, plus forgotten ribbons and prize certificates. |
| Beginner 13-15: UMB had no
Beginner 13-15 class racers! |
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Left: New team
member Carter Greene
drops
off the rock
ledge to nail the 1st place
finish in the
Beginner Men 16-18 group.
Welcome, and good job!
Right: The first wave at
10 a.m. included kids,
beginners, and Women 35-plus. Glenn
makes announcements
as the racers line
up at the starting line. |
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| Beginner 19-29: UMB had no Beginner Men
19-29 at this race! |
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William Oliver sprints toward the finish
line
to finish in 5th place in BM 30-39.
Bill is
new to the team this season.
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Also joining UMB for 2011, Chris
Seare
drops off the rocks on the way to the
11th place finish. |
New team member Scott Seare steers
into the technical rock to take the
12th place spot in the category. |
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Left: Ryan Steed rolls down
the slickrock ramp,
almost finished with his 7-mile lap. Another new
2011 sign-up, Ryan grabs
points for the team with
a 5th place finish.Right: Sally has recruited her husband Adam Reynders
to join our little racing family in 2011. Adam takes the
9th place position in Beginner 40-plus. |
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Left: Rachel Hutchings hits
the rock
drop with speed on the way to a nice
red 2nd place ribbon in Beginner Women. Right: The
Men's 40-plus expert group
hits Keyhole Wash in a tight tangle
of riders jockeying for position. |
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| Sport/Expert 13-15: UMB had no
S/E 13-15 riders! |
| Sport/Expert 16-18: UMB had no
S/E 16-18 riders! |
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Left: Jared
Muir turns to the rock drop as he
nears the end of his 2nd (final) lap in Sport Men
19-29, taking the 2nd place spot.Right:
Ian Beaty rolls out of the slickrock with helmet
camera filming the race. Ian also grabs a spot on the
podium with 3rd place. Dylan
Tanner (#512) is listed as the 8th place finisher
in Sport 19-29, but we don't have a photo of him. |
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Left: Ben Hutchings is
almost finished
with his race, taking the last climb out of
the gully. Ben finishes with 14th place
in the Sport Men 30-34 category. Right: Nice
views. Jason climbs up the
northern end of the race loop with Santa
Clara, Ivins, and the Pine Valley
Mountains in the background. |
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Left: Wearing a new jersey, Mike Horne eluded
Kay's watchful eye as he rode to 5th place, but we
caught
him at the BBQ.
Right: Jonathan Hall climbs
up Keyhole Wash early
in his two laps, getting a good ride with 12th place
in the Sport Men 35-39 group. |
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Passing strategy. Mark takes a
line through the brush
to force a pass as he drops down the last of the
Cow Pond
singletrack before Rock Wash. |
The Plunge. Cat (middle of
photo) descends the steepest
part of the race course as the DH section drops toward
the slickrock and the rock drop. |
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Left: New to the team this year, Dave
Benson
pivots at the top of the rock drop to be our
top finisher in Sport Men 40-plus with a 10th
place position.Right: Brian
Ressa speeds away from the slickrock
on his final lap, finishing the race in 12th place. |
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Corbin Young navigates the tricky
surface
in Keyhole Wash on the way to 23rd place. |
Dominic Bria corners hard off
the slickrock
as he heads home with 33rd place. |
Chad Horman climbs Keyhole
strongly,
but flats out and drops to 36th place. |
| Chad Horman pulls the tire at
trailside, but finds it can't be fixed. He hoofs the bike across the
line for an official finish. |
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Angelica Ramirez climbs up
Keyhole
to grab points for the team with the
6th place spot in Sport Women. |
Colleen Tvorik turns
to the rock drop
on her final lap to finish with the 14th
position in the category. |
Cat Kalwies speeds across the
rock
at the bottom of the Plunge to cross
the
line at 16th place. |
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Left: Casey Zaugg motors
through the
2nd of his three laps in Expert Men 19-29,
finishing at the top of the podium with
1st place.Right: This
course features a nice mix of
cruising, climbing, technical features,
fast descending, and a few hazards. Here
Jay leads the way down the rock. |
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Left: Nathan Drozd hits the
bottom of the rock after
the DH leg of the loop. Nate gets to the podium with
a nice 3rd place finish.Right: Chris
Cole powers up and out of the gully, over
the final rise to spot the finish line, taking 14th place
in Expert Men 30-39. |
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And we're done! Carson clears
the line as Glenn calls the number
and the finishing time. A volunteer rushes to pull his tag. |
Jacey rolls out of the
finishing chute, happy to have made
a good effort and won a spot on the podium. |
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Left: Brian Jeppson powers
up the long climb after Keyhole
Wash, taking a ribbon and team points with his 5th place
finish in Expert Men 40-plus.Right: Mark
Messer drops to the Cow Pond to begin the
tech climb in Rock Wash, nailing the 9th place spot in this
tough category. |
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Hitting the rock drop, Jason Sparks heads
toward 13th place. |
Denmark Jensen powers across
the rock
to grab the 21st position.
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After fixing a broken chain, Mike
Engberson rides on to take 25th. |
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Left: Chanda Jeppson speeds
away from
the DH section at the south end of the
loop, finishing 4th in Expert Women.Right: Race
over. Bruce tosses burgers on
the grill while discussing race trivia
with Gene. |
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Left: Shane Horton pops up
and over
one of many ledges in Keyhole Wash,
finishing with the ribbon at 6th place
in Singlespeed.Right: Mike,
Jason, and Chris get the fixings
on their burgers and dogs at the post-race
picnic. |
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Left: Mike Ball heads up
Keyhold Wash on his first lap,
taking a ribbon and 3 team points with 6th place in
Clydesdale.Right: Richard Ewell is
happy to crest the last uphill
before the finish line, grabbing the 9th place spot. |
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Left: Sally Reynders (same
Sally, different
last name) hits the technical rock at the
end of her lap, taking 7th in Women 35+.Right: BIG
burgers. |
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Left: Jay Griffin finesses the
puddle edge in Keyhole
wash on his first lap, taking the 4th place finish in Men
50-plus.Right: New to the
team this year is Paul Zimmerman,
rolling down the slickrock toward 11th place. |
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Left: Bruce Argyle
has a little fun by hitting the deepest
part of the puddle before attacking the ledge. Bruce
takes 4th place in Men 57-plus. Right:
Gene Poncelet pivots toward the rock drop on his
last lap, finishing with the 9th place spot in the group. |
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| Socializing at the team
picnic before hustling over to get those award ribbons (or to cheer for
those who did). |
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The 2011 Rampage was a fun race. But it
showed us the challenges that this new season brings. We lost several key
teenage riders over the winter -- racers who would have increased our team
point total by over 30% in this race. Many team mates moved up to harder categories.
The team is now "thin" in the Beginner and Sport categories. We
took 2nd place in the team competition at the Rampage. That's OK. UMB
traditionally gets tough in the second half of the season.
More pictures:
Bruce photos (kids and beginners)
Kay
Hutchings photos
Ian's helmet-cam video: Part
1 Part
2
Next to the team supply of water and Gatorade sits the
poster of last year's winning team. Over 100 racers participated on the
Championship UMB Race Team in 2010.
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