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Team Photo Scrapbook 09
2009 Intermountain Cup Mountain Bike Racing Series

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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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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

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.

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

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

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.

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

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. 

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

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

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.

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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