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Team Photo Scrapbook 2015
 

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Red Rock Rampage
St. George - March 7, 2015

After the heavy rains of the previous week, the trails in the Green Valley competition area were dry and ready for some fun in the St. George sunshine. The first race of the 2015 Intermountain Cup competition got under way for the kids at 9 am. The one-lap racers hit the trail at 10, with the Sport and Expert classes following at 10:30.

Left:   As the first racers arrive, the air is still a bit cool. Mike has the repair stand and team support canopies set up and ready for action.

The race loop followed the classic route over to Keyhole Wash, then followed singletrack uphill along the next wash descending and climbing the "Steps" out. Back on the traditional loop for the rest of the climb, the descent down the ridgeline, and the climb up Rock Wash. Just before "The Plunge" to the slickrock area, the loop veered left onto new singletrack for a meander north. After returning to the doubletrack, it a short sprint downhill to the lap/finish area. Each lap was 6.3 miles in length with 850 vertical feet of climbing per lap. 
There was frost on windshields as dawn broke. But there wasn't a cloud in the sky nor the tiniest skiff of a breeze. So Green Valley warmed up quickly. By race time, it was comfortable hanging around in shorts and a summer jersey.

Mike leads Taylor Engberson over to the registration area.

Registration went quickly because most racers had electronically signed their waiver when registering on-line. Each racer received a nice blue Rampage t-shirt. The new ICup management seemed to have the logistics well in-hand.

It's still a bit chilly as the early arrivers check in.

As in years past, the Red Rock bike shop in St. George was the major sponsor for the race. With veteran Glenn Ames back to stage the race, four separate starts were staggered about 1/2 hour apart, getting all riders onto the mountain over 90 minutes time.

John Twitchell heads back toward the staging area after a warmup ride.

In addition to starting the Sport-Expert riders while the Beginners were still on their lap, many categories were grouped together for a mass start. The compressed start schedule got the later categories across the finish line earlier in the day than in past years.

Looking north at the lap/finish split, with the starting line and announcer's booth to the left.

As usual, the 9-and-under and 10-12 youth categories had a shorter, less-technical lap appropriate to their age. 

Taylor Engberson (middle rear) and Draeden Jensen (middle front) line up with the 10-12 category at 9:20. New team member Jaxson Weaver is front left in the red shirt.

UMB was well represented in the Youth 10-12 group with three racers. The team is still a bit under-staffed in the 9-and-under race category.

Taylor sprints down the doubletrack as he starts his first lap on the smaller 10-12 loop.

The 10-12 racers were on course for about 25 minutes, completing their race as the one-lap adult and teen racers were being staged.

Draeden sprints away from the start line in the pack of young riders.

UMB Team Results, Youth and Beginner Categories

Youth 10-12
   Draeden Jensen  5th
   Taylor Engberson  7th
   Jaxson Weaver  8th

Beginner Men 35-plus
   Bogdan Balasa  1st
   Jason Cowley  2nd
   Adam Reynders  4th
Women 40-plus
   Sally Reynders  2nd
Beginner categories and Women 40-plus raced one 6.3-mile lap, starting at 10 a.m. Each lap had 850 vertical feet of climbing, spread over two ascents up the escarpment with the descent down the ridge to Cow Pond in between.

Bogdan Balasa is the first racer up the hill in the Beginner Men 35-plus category at 10 am.

The team had three racers in the Beginner Men 35-plus category, but no one in the younger men and teen groups. 

Jason Cowley uses some body English to get the bike over the last bit of the slope.

With 26 racers riding for the team (and possibly others that I didn't spot in the results), UMB had a reasonable showing at this race. 

Adam Reynders gets out of the saddle to crank up the hill.

The Sport and Expert groups started at 10:30. They were dispatched in big groups so all were out on the course when the first one-lap racer hit the finish line at around 10:40.

Reaching the top, Sally Reynders has another 6 miles to go.

UMB Team Results, Sport and Expert Categories

Semi Pro Men
   Mitt Stewart  7th
Singlespeed Men
   Darren Harris  5th
Expert Men 19-34
   Dallin Hatch
Expert Men 35-plus
   Brian Jeppson  3rd
   Jason Sparks  4th
   Mark Messer 9th
   Dave Benson 13th
   Mike Engberson 14th
  

Sport Men 35-plus
   Denmark Jensen  12th
   Steven Weaver 14th
   Tim Wagstaff 18th
   Corey Spencer 20th
   John Twitchell 24th
   Ben Hutchings 25th
Sport Men 50-plus
   Phil Blair  1st
Men 60-plus
   Joel Quinn  1st
   Rick Morris  2nd
   Joe Benson 4th
   Bruce Argyle 5th
The Sport class raced two laps, for a total of 12.6 miles and 1700 vertical feet of climbing. 

Mike passes the feed zone after the lap/finish split.

Experts did three laps -- 19 miles with 2600 feet of climbing.

Jason Cowley took 2nd and Bogdan Balasa won 1st place in the Beginner Men 35-plus group. 

In addition to the nice hefty medals for podium finishers, there was swag for 1st through 3rd place. And a drawing at the end for more loot.

Phil Blair hit the top of the podium with his win in Sport Men 50-plus.

High-res pictures:   A few pics... 
Download GPX track of  Rampage course
Link to Green Valley Trail Page on UtahMountainBiking.com

In the Men 60-plus category, Rick Morris nails 2nd place, with Joel Quinn grabbing the top podium spot.


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