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Team Photo Scrapbook 09
2009 Intermountain Cup Mountain Bike Racing Series

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Once again, for the third time this season, rain made an Intermountain Cup race interesting. Deer Valley got a good soaking overnight. But the trail was surprisingly firm, and racers quickly learned to stay in the center of the trail to avoid slippery stuff on the trail edges. A light dribble stopped just in time for the race, and there was even sunshine for our BBQ. Dale Hutchings, Dallin Johnson, Jared Muir, Justin Griffin won first place victories in their categories. Second place finishers were Hunter Ransom, Brayden Nielsen, Ryan Nielsen, Derek Ransom, Denmark Jensen, Sally Hutchings, and Joel Quinn.

Left:  Ryan and Mark begin the doubletrack climb to Little Stick.

Left:  Hunter Ransom posts a turn on the grass under the
ski lift on the 9-and-under loop, riding three laps to take
a 2nd place win in the category.

Right:  Jakob Haderlie rolls through the rocks of the creek,
from wet doubletrack to wet rocks to wet grass, as he
gives another great effort to take 3rd place.

Hattie Ransom is enjoying a good ride as
she leaves the trees and heads toward the
ski slope on the way to 12th place.

Sydney Nielsen looks around the next
cone as she makes her turn, taking the
15th place spot in 9-and-under.

New to the team is Anna Wekluk,
helped along the trail by her dad as
she comes in 18th in 9-and-under.

Sawyer Ransom keeps the small wheels
moving through the wet grass and
takes 19th place.

Left:  In a very close race, Brayden Nielsen battles his
way to 2nd place in the 10-12 age group. Here Brayden
enters the small finishing loop as he completes the
big 4-mile loop.

Right:  Zachary Peterson takes a sip from the hose
as he sprints up the hill toward Little Stick. Zach
gets a good race, finishing in 3rd place.

Joshua Peterson fights through the
pack on the initial climb and finishes
with the 7th place spot.

Shawn Nielsen heads off the mountain
after four long muddy miles, taking
an 11th place finish.

Right:  The ground was a little tacky, which
increased the resistance to pedaling.
And that dirt road is steep. But
whatever gets you up the hill is good,
as Hattie and Sawyer get the job done.

Left:  Jared Muir drops off the mountain
and sprints across the ski slope. Another
quarter mile and he's got another 1st place 
win.

Right:  Ryan accompanies Sydney on her
race -- three laps on the ski slope just
uphill from the lift.

Right:  This is the scene just before the
main race, as a few raindrops fell and
a chilly breeze came up. The weather
was just bluffing, though, as conditions
were great once the race began.

Left:  Ryan Nielsen hustles through the final downhill
singletrack and gets a nice 2nd place win.

Right:  Mark Messer cranks up the steep gravel service
road toward Little Stick. This is the most brutal part
of the climb. Mark gets a ribbon and team points
with a 4th place finish.

Left:  Corbin Young puts on his "finish line face" as he
sprints toward the Intermountain Cup banner, crossing
the line in 7th place.

Right:  Nathan Thayer drops off the mountain onto the
ski slope, hustling across the meadow to 9th place.

Right:  Eric Johnson has been riding hard -- to the point
where he doesn't qualify for the Clydesdale category
any more. Eric moves to BM 40-plus and takes a
ribbon and team points at 6th place.

Left:  Justin Griffin powers through
another great ride, getting to the 1st place
spot on the podium for the second week
in a row.

Right:  The purpose of this photo is to
remind you of that brutal, soul-sucking
half-mile climb that started every lap.
Never easy, it was doubly hard with
the wet dirt surface. 

Right:  Continuing the climb up Little Stick.
Bringing up the rear of this pack are
Cat (green jacket) and Bruce (big and
clumsy looking).

Left:  Derek Ransom fights for the lead during the
initial sprint from the starting line. Derek finishes
strong with a 2nd place victory.

Right:  Jake Weber drops from singletrack to doubletrack
as he begins another lap, taking a ribbon at 6th place.

Left:  Ben Hutchings heads downhill through the aspens
to a 7th place finish in Sport Men 30-34.

Right:  New to the team with this race is Gary Wekluk,
sprinting across the ski slope on the way to 8th place.
Welcome to the team, Gary!

Right:   Darren Harris gets another good race to
take the 3rd place spot on the podium.

Left:   Six seems to be a lucky number for Jason Sparks,
as he flies down the singletrack to take another 6th place
ribbon. How many 6th place finishes is that, now? What's
wrong with the number 5?

Right:  Dominic Bria passes in front of the condos and the
Intermountain Cup trailer as he nears the finish line
in 25th place.

Right:  Physical evidence, inserted by the
editor, that Bruce has, indeed, at some time,
actually been in the lead at some race
somewhere sometime, as the Men 57-plus
guys lead a wave of several starting groups
up the mountain.

Right:  Brayden wins the "most muddy"
award, as he hits the early-morning
mud puddles while chasing the leader
in the 10-12 age group. 

Right:  Decreasing the cook's lung
capacity with BBQ smoke, as the burgers
and dogs go on the grill for the after-race
team picnic.

Right:  The pop, chips, burger-fixins, and
frog-eye salad are ready. Time to dig in. 

Right:  The 9-and-under racers get their
ribbons. Good work, ladies and gents
of the youngest racing class! Our
young racers put up a total of 26
team points in this race.

Right:  Dallin gets his blue ribbon.  The UMB
team had an unbelievable 18 racers get on
the podium (1st, 2nd, or 3rd) in this race!

Right:  Jeff Kingsford drops down out of the aspens
as he finishes his second lap in 14th place.

Left:  Joel Quinn cranks across the ski slope as he
nears the end of the race and a 2nd place win.

Right:  Bruce Argyle hits the mini-lap at the end of his
first 6.5 mile lap. Then it's out onto the course again.
Another climb up Little Stick. Then Deer Crest, Pipeline,
Village Way, and back on the cutoff trail to 5th place.

The UMB team did a great job at Deer Valley. In this 8th of 12 races, we grabbed the team victory by a good margin and extended our lead toward the season championship. It felt good to put this one in the "win" column after being mauled by the Mad Dog and dethroned by a Revolution in the last two races. There were a lot of great individual efforts, and a lot of UMB jerseys on the podium. But one big factor is that our team isn't afraid of a little weather. Turned out, the weather for the race was nice, even if the trail was a little slimy. A fun race. See you at Snowbird!

More photos, Bruce:
  http://picasaweb.google.com/bikerbruceargyle/DeerValley09#
Hutchings photos:
 http://picasaweb.google.com/bikersal35/ICUP2009DeerValley61309#
Griffin photos: 
  http://picasaweb.google.com/UMBTeam2009/DeerValley#

Left:  The Men 57-plus winners.

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