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Team Photo Scrapbook 09
2009 Intermountain Cup Mountain Bike Racing Series

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The day started out with temperature in the upper 30s, but the sun quickly warmed things up. The trail at Sherwood Hills was firm and grippy under the tires, with just a few damp spots and one accidental creek. The UMB team was down in total numbers, with just 36 riders at Sherwood. Two riders DNF'd with mechanical disasters. And rumor has it that one of our regular stalwarts didn't make it because he couldn't get the mud out of his bike from last week. But we turned in a solid performance! UMB had first-place finishes by Jakob Haderlie, Mark Messer, Justin Griffin, and Jay Griffin. Second-place winners were Zach Peterson, Ryan Payne, and Stephen Brown.

Left:  Justin Griffin chases Darren Harris through the aspens in the second race of the day.

Right:  In her first race for UMB this season,
Rebecca Sparks follows the twisting trail
through the trees toward the finish line.
Rebecca gets the 3rd place finish among
the girls.

Left:  Coming in at 4th place in 9-and-under girls,
Sydney Nielsen pilots her bike out into the shakeout
loop which, with a little tough twisting singletrack
at the end, doubled as the kids' race course.

Right:  Also racing for the first time this year is
Rebecca's sister Rachel Sparks, heading into
the first downhill section of the race loop and
getting across the finish line as the 5th-place girl.

Left:  Zachary Peterson makes the turn and sprints
through the final singletrack toward the finish line
with Brayden giving chase. Zach makes a solid ride
to finish in 2nd place.

Right:  Brayden Nielsen makes another good ride,
challenging Zach for position and getting on the
podium with the 3rd place finish.

Harrison Woodard sprints out from the
starting area and takes the 8th position.

Shawn Nielsen crosses the tape at the
finish line to end the race in 10th place.

Right:  Eating breakfast in the chilly
morning sunshine, Mike has five hours
until his race as he hangs out at the
UMB HQ, ready to provide racer support.

Right:  Mike looks for the correct jersey size.
New beginner racers are the lifeblood of any
team. Welcome, new racers!

Ryan Nielsen flies across the mountain as
he nears the lap/finish split to grab 2nd place.

With the broken hand healed enough to
make the race, Corbin Young gets 4th. 

Left:  Bill Becker sprints out in the 
Beginner 40-plus pack for his first race
as a UMB team rider. Bill grabs a point
for the team at 7th place.

Right:  VIP rider Rachel is escorted by Mike
and Jason as she chases the 9-and-under
riders in her racing category.

Right:  The mountains behind Dominic
show that one week before the race, much
of the trail was still covered in snow.
Temperatures were great for riding;
cool but not too cold.

Right:  Dave Larsen stripped off his pedal at the end
of the shakeout lap, taking his bike out of action and
giving him a DNF.

Rebecca crosses the finish line as the race judge announces her
finishing time and the tag-puller steps up to take her racing tag.

Ryan fires out to an early lead in the shakeout loop, with
Mark chasing close behind in Beginner Men 30-39 action.

Ben Hutchings cranks uphill through the
maples, getting the 9th position.

Dan Hutchings powers the climb from
the shakeout loop, grabbing 10th place. 

Right:  Stephen Brown, Mike MacDonald
and Jason Sparks do the post-race
analysis. That looks like Eric Ellis
behind them, getting ready for the
pro-expert race to follow.

Michael MacDonald hustles to the 9th
place spot in this big and tough group.

Dominic Bria gets a good start, then is
knocked out of the race in a chain mishap.

Right:   Amber Hatfield clears the climb in the meadow
and prepares to enter the twisting singletrack in
the trees again, getting 12th in Sport Women.

Right:  Jay takes the blue again, against
some pretty tough competition.
These are the Men 50-plus winners.

Right:  Bruce decreases his lung capacity
through smoke inhalation as he grills
the burgers and dogs.

Right:  In his first start as a UMB racer, Eric Johnson
stomps the pedals to get up the hill on his way
to a great first race at 4th place! 

Right:  Second shift at the picnic. Because
there were three separate races, there were
three picnics. Thanks to all who brought
food and drink. With three races, it wasn't
certain the BBQ would work out, but it
went well with a little help from our
team mates!

John Van Wagoner's speed overshoots
the trail a bit as he rides to 5th place. 

Jeff Kingsford tips into a tight turn in
the aspens, nailing the 7th finishing spot. 

With four of twelve races completed, it was critical to maintain our lead in this race. And we certainly did that. With over 100 team points, it was a great race by our little team. We welcomed a couple of new members to the team with this race, and they got right down to helping the team with solid rides. Next week's race course at Soldier Hollow has a totally different feel and will bring out other strengths and weaknesses in our racers. See you there!

Thanks to everyone who took photos!
Additional photos, Bruce: http://picasaweb.google.com/bikerbruceargyle/Sherwood09#
Jay's photos:  http://picasaweb.google.com/1mtnbiker1/SherwoodRace#
More photos, Ryan:  http://picasaweb.google.com/UMBTeam2009
Hutchings photos:  http://picasaweb.google.com/bikersal35/ICUP2009SherwoodHills5909#

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