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Team Photo Scrapbook 08
2008 Intermountain Cup Mountain Bike Racing Series

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After being delayed due to snow, the Solitude racers found the trail powdery dry, except for a little water trickling down the upper doubletrack. The trail was the most technically-difficult race so far this year. As the State Championship race, the Utah State Open awards each division a championship medallion. State Champions (first-place winners) were Kyle Jackson, Dylan Tanner, Shane Horton, Jay Griffin, and Joshua Petersen. Brayden Nielsen, Justin Griffin, and Jared Muir took 2nd-place finishes.

Left:  Dylan closes in on a rival, with Ryan climbing up close behind.

Shawn Nielsen heads toward the finish
line on the loose singletrack. Shawn takes
the 3rd place ribbon in 9-and-under.

Hunter Ransom hustles to 4th place
in his second race as a UMB team
member.

Hattie Ransom carefully makes a turn
in the loose trail as she gets 11th place.

Sydney Nielsen heads downhill. Despite
 a bike-bumping crash, she takes 13th 

Right:  A moose munches willows,
oblivious to the racers running circles
around the mountain.

Left:  Brayden Nielsen finishes a great ride as
he zig-zags down the ski run toward the finish
line to take the 2nd place finish at Solitude in the
10-12 category.

Right:  Zachary Peterson heads up the mountain
to start his lap and hangs in to take 3rd place.

Left:   Kyle Jackson heads up the Serenity singletrack
for his 2nd lap, and becomes the state champ for his
category with a 1st place finish.

Right:  Hanging with the mates at the staging area
before the race. That's Dale, Karl, and Shane.

Right:  Jared Muir descends the steep, rocky,
dusty chute near the end of his second lap
and makes a great ride to nail 2nd place.

Ryan Nielsen is almost finished with
his race, hustling to 6th place.

Dale Hutchings heads uphill on
the way to the 8th place position.

Right:  New to the team is Karl Parkinson,
descending the slope to take 10th place.
Welcome Karl!

 Brandon Balkman bounces over the rocks
as he heads downhill towards 5th place.

Clark Nielsen makes his first race for
the UMB team and nails 7th place.

Right:  As riders head back uphill, Richard Williams
hands up a fresh water bottle to Darren Harris
in the feed zone -- a rare level spot on the trail.

Right:  Danny Van Wagoner gets a good jump off the
start line, but blows a tire and is forced to take a DNF.
 

Right:  After the race, it's time for war stories.
L to R, that's Clark, Ethan, Brandon, Jason,
Dale, and Kendra.

Left:  As our only rider in the Sport 19-29
category, Ben Hutchings heads downhill
to the 9th place finish.

Right:  State Champ Dylan gets his medal on
the podium, with Jared at second place.

Right:  Another State Champion on the UMB team
is Joshua, with wingman Shawn on the 3rd-place
level of the podium.  

Left:  Denmark Jensen carves a turn in the dusty
air near the finish area, on the way to the 4th place
spot in this tough category.

Right: Stephen Bergen flies downhill on the way
to 6th place.

Left:  Greg Meyers cranks through the feed zone
on his second lap, chasing Stephen to 7th place. 

Right: Darren Harris grabs the water bottle for
a quick hydration hit as he heads back uphill.
Darren finishes in 9th place.

Racer Mike MacDonald joins the UMB
team with this race and grabs 10th.

Jim Jackson heads uphill for another
lap and a 13th place finish.

Left:  Mike Engberson heads into the trees
for another big lap in the expert category,
riding to 9th place.

Right:  Brian Oliver pops a fresh water bottle into
the cage. Solitude can dish out plenty of mechanical
trouble as well as physical pain. Brian drops out
when his seat breaks.

Left:  Kendra Clark is on the backside of her last
loop as she takes the 3rd place finish.

Right:  Sally Hutchings gets back off the saddle
as she controls the bike through a rough technical
spot. Sally gets the 4th place spot.

Right:  The after-race picnic. Burgers, dogs, salads.
Jason is doing grill duty. Looking forward to
another one at Snowbird in two weeks!

Thanks to everybody who made the effort for this race. We welcome our four new teammates who were new at this race. Also nice to have Dylan back from his injury. The Solitude race was postponed then rescheduled on a holiday weekend, and many of our regular tough regular riders couldn't make it to this race. It looks like Revolution will edge us for the team win, but we're still ahead for the season. Three races to go -- let's win this thing! 

More race photos are available at http://picasaweb.google.com/utahmb/ChrisAllaireOpenState

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