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Team Photo Scrapbook 09
2009 Intermountain Cup Mountain Bike Racing Series

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Saturday saw beautiful blue skies in St. George, with temperatures warming to "perfect." For team members from northern Utah, it was a great break from dreary snow. The team did well in this race. Yes, many were hoping to do better, and the team missed a few key members who've moved on. But we're a faster and stronger team, and this is just the first race. So many of our riders have moved up to harder categories, the team was actually very thin in the Beginner categories. Highlights include first place finishes by Zach Peterson, Justin Griffin, and Jay Griffin, while Joshua Peterson and Eric Ellis finished 2nd in their categories. 

Left:  Mike flies his Cannondale downhill against the crystal blue skies of a perfect racing day.

Right:  Jaxon Van Wagoner heads back toward the
finish line to complete a loop. Jaxon grabs the 9th
position among the 35 racers in this youngest
race category.

Got a photo?

Isaac Loosli also makes his first start
as a team racer, getting the 19th spot.

Ashton Loosli (#207) managed to
miss our camera as he comes in 22nd.

Sawyer Ransom is fired up for his
second season, finishing his laps 31st.

Sydney Nielsen rolls through a wash
and rides the bike into the finish at 33rd.

Left:  Zachary Peterson fires out to an early lead
in the 10-12 category. Zach powers the bike through
the desert scrub to win the 1st place.

Right:  Close behind is brother Joshua Peterson,
 our 2008 9-and-under champion. Joshua has moved
up into the tougher race category for the challenge,
and nails the 2nd place finish.

New to the UMB team is Harrison Woodard,
who grabs the 8th place position.

Shawn Nielsen moves up to the older
age group this year and wins 9th place.

Left:  Ryan Nielsen flies into the steep plunge
of the downhill course on his way to 7th-place
in the BM 30-39 category.

Right:  Jeff Frederick catches a little air as he
heads downhill to take the 12th spot.

Dominic Bria grabs more points for the
team as he finishes in the ribbons at 4th.

Dale Hutchings plunges downhill
on his way to take 8th place.

Right:  The team HQ waits for team members
 in the crisp but sunny morning air
of Green Valley.

Right:  Jake Van Wagoner moves up into
the Sport/Expert division this year and speeds
to grab the ribbon at 6th place.

Right:  The Beginner Men 30-39 category
races away from the starting gate at 10 am.

Left:  Dave Larsen is back with the team for the 2009
season and fights his way to a nice 6th place in his
category.

Right:  Ryan Van Wagoner powers up from the wash
on the way to take the 10th position in SM 19-29.

Dan Hutchings climbs out of Keyhole
Wash en route to 15th place.

Ben Hutchings prepares to take the
big drop as he finishes 16th.

Right:  Jonathan Hall zooms down the big plunge
on his way to the 9th place finish in the category.

Michael MacDonald runs the downhill
in a string of racers and gets 17th.

Scott Van Wagoner moves to Sport
and takes the 23rd place finish.

Catherine Reay plunges with determination
and secures the 8th place finish.

Amber Hatfield climbs out of Keyhole
Wash to get the 15th place in SW.

Right:   Mike Engberson speeds downhill on his
way to the 18th spot in the Expert 30-39 category.

Right:  Hunter leads a huge group of 35
9-and-under racers as they head out into the laps.

Right:  Dominic gets the burgers and dogs
started for the post-race BBQ. Thanks to
all who brought food. Good times!

Right:  Jared Loosli joins the team for 2009 and makes
his first race as a UMB Clydesdale to get team points
with a 7th place finish.

John Van Wagoner climbs the hill on
his first lap, finishing in 13th place.

Jeff Kingsford joins our little team
and gets the 17th finishing position.

As the 2008 champions, we came into this race with high expectations. A few of us had hoped to do a little better, both individually and as a team. But we did OK. We fielded 45 racers (versus 46 in 2008) and earned a respectable 93 points (compared to 96 in 2008). So we're in good shape as a team. And with the huge numbers of competing racers this race, individual racers can still feel good about their performance even if they finished a little lower in the "pecking order" than they'd planned. Many of us are faster and have moved up to harder categories, so the team has lost some of our traditional point-earning strength in the Beginner categories. Time to invite new racers to join us!

So, go UMB! On to the next race, coming up in just four weeks.

Thanks to Jared Ferguson for taking the awesome racer photos! For additional photos:
http://picasaweb.google.com/jaredf/UMB2009DesertRampage#

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