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Team Photo Scrapbook 2010
2010 Intermountain Cup Mountain Bike Racing Series

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While the northland was preparing for an Easter-weekend snowstorm, UMB turned out 54 racers for the Cholla Challenge. The gentle hazy sunlight at Warner Valley was perfect for racing. The UtahMountainBiking team scored a decisive victory, setting a new record for team points. Justin Griffin and Jay Griffin won 1st places, with Joshua Peterson, Jeff Frederick, Sally Fairbairn, Mark Messer, and Joel Quinn getting 2nd place finishes.

Left: Randy Croall leads Brian Ressa up the slickrock early in the first lap.

Left:  The UMB ladies were impressive in this race. Our girls
swept the top three and scored all of our 9-and-under team
points. Here Hattie Ransom heads north on the doubletrack
on her way to taking 4th place overall and the 1st place
girls finish.

Right:  After picking herself up from a crash on that
nasty last hill, Jacey Messer gets the bike moving again.
Jacey scores points for the team with her 5th place
finish (2nd place girls).

Sawyer Ransom stands to crank his small
wheels northward after cresting the
steep hill, finishing in 10th place.

Parker Horton rolls across the finish
line to Mom's encouragement as he
gets the 15th place position.

The racers line up for the start of the
10-12 category race at 10 a.m. Count
the UMB jerseys on the front row.
7 out of the 18 competitors were
members of our team. Gotta like
those odds.

Left:  Joshua Peterson fights to stay ahead of his
Revolution-team nemesis heading up the steep hill
on his 2nd lap. After leading the entire race, Joshua
gets nipped in the finish-line sprint by a bike-length
and takes 2nd place.

Right:  After a hassled start and a bike-tangling
crash, Hunter Ransom heads toward the finish
line to win the 5th place spot.

Left:  Harrison Woodard pushes hard on the northbound
flat desert, finishing his three laps with 6th place.

Right:  Approaching the lap/finish split, Shawn Nielsen
puts his head down and cranks out some more speed,
taking the 9th place finish in the 10-12 category.

Maggie Ressa has a smile as she heads
to 13th overall, 3rd place girls.

 Joseph Ressa cranks through the yucca
of the flats on his way  to 17th place.

Left:  Landon Ashton looks guilty as he
tries to sneak past the UMB photographer
by not wearing a team jersey. Here he's
descending off the slickrock. Next up: the
sandpit, then the big climb, then a finish
with the 4th place honors.

Right:  Looking east across the valley at the
race staging area, with the cliffs of Permian
limestone and shale dwarfing the campers
and trailers.

Left:  New to the UMB team (and new to
racing) Paul Staten pivots the bike at the
apex of the red slickrock, finishing his lap
with 5 points for the team and a 3rd place
ribbon for his auspicious first outing.

Right:  The 30-34 Sport category fires out
from the start line and jockeys for position
at the turn into the downhill. Jake Weber
has an inside line on Jack Gage.

Left:  Jeff Frederick sucks in extra oxygen as he grinds
uphill past the yucca on the last hill before the finish
line, grabbing a nice 2nd place win.

Right:  Making his first appearance as a racer for the
UMB team, Chris Morrill rocks a sharp turn in the
twisting singletrack of the valley floor on his way
to taking 4th place in the BM 30-39 category.

Cort Ashton heads up the rock slope
as the easy stuff ends and the hard riding
begins, getting podium at 3rd place.

After dropping off the rock, Bill Becker
cranks through the rolling desert
on the way to 6th place.

Greg Soper rolls down the slickrock
ridges as he eyes the singletrack ahead.
Greg gets 8th place in the category.

Left:  Putting the tricky slickrock hill behind
her, Rachel Hutchings rolls off the rock.
Rachel finishes her 7.5 mile race with team
points at 5th place.

Right:  Should this photo's theme be
"the ups and downs of racing," or should it
be "the benefit of team mates?" Derek picks
the bicycle off of Hunter, who dusts
himself off and continues the race.

Zachary Peterson cranks some extra
speed early in his big lap as he takes
5th place in Sport-Expert 13-15.

Brayden Nielsen pushes up the last
slope of the big slickrock mound on
the way to the 6th place position.

Left:  Showing power to spare, Justin
Griffin gets up and over the handlebars
to crest the top of the slickrock mountain,
taking another 1st place win in the Sport-
Expert 16-18 division.

Right:  Jay catches a loose rock with the
front wheel, sending him into the bushes
and to the back of the 50-plus category.
Temporarily.  He fights his way back
through the crowd to regain the lead. 

Right:  The 7.5 mile loop featured a lot of
fun technical riding, then a slightly-uphill
romp north through desert. But an ugly
little hill separated you from the lap/finish
area. Here Jake and Jeff stomp their steeds
up the hill, while the rider in front grimaces
in pain at the top.

Left:  Jack Gage takes the right-hand line on the
thigh-killer final hill, finishing his three laps with
an impressive 2nd place win.

Right:  Jake Weber looks to the next turn and next dip
as he cranks away from the sandstone descent, getting
the 4th place spot for team points and a ribbon.

Left:  Dan Hutchings posts a turn coming through
the valley between the slickrock and the sand pit,
finishing with the 11th position in Sport Men 30-34.

Right:  Ben Hutchings cranks out more speed as he
heads north through the desert scrub, taking the 12th
spot in his category.

Left:  Mark Messer pushes into the
slope with a competitor in tow, grabbing
the 2nd place finish in this tough
category.

Right:  After the race, it's time for Dale
and Dan to put the bikes away and
head for the team BBQ, already in
progress at the UMB HQ.

Stephen Bergen banks a high-speed turn
below the slickrock as he  takes 9th in
the large tough Sport 40-plus category.

Mitchell Cloward jockeys for position
in the cloud of dust at the shakeout
for the first lap, taking the 11th spot.

Fighting back from a flat tire, Brian Ressa
pushes for extra speed heading north
through the scrub, taking 18th.

Randy Croall nears the final slickrock
hill and the turn at the top, finishing the
race with the 19th place position.

Turning toward the desert at the bottom
of the rock, Colleen Tvorik gets a
podium finish with 3rd place.

Amber Hatfield heads up the final hill
toward the finish line and team points
with 5th place.

After breaking off her derailleur, Cat
Finlayson takes a pit stop to fix the
bike and gets back out for 7th place.

Left:  Getting low against the breeze, Derek Ransom 
heads back to finish another lap of his 22 miles,
taking 8th place in the Expert Men 30-39 category.

Right:  Mike Engberson heads up the slickrock early in
the first lap. Mike chases Derek through three laps,
finishing just behind at 9th place.

Left:  Brian Jeppson crests the last hill for the 10th
position. Our four Expert 30-39 riders were close together
the entire race.

Right:  Dropping a sandstone ledge, Nathan Drozd
grabbed an early lead in the race and completed
the three laps, but we don't see his placement in
the results spreadsheet.

Right:  Shane's father-in-law volunteered
for grill duty and delivered great dogs
and burgers. Behind him, note the colorful
new team canopy, making its premiere.

Left:  Shane Horton heads into the scrub
on the singlespeed bike, taking a podium
spot with a 3rd place win.

Right:  Ribbons and swag. Gene and
Joel get ribbons for their finishes
in the Men 57-plus group.

Left:  Richard Ewell heads up the hill toward the finish
line, taking a ribbon at 4th place in Clydesdale class.

Right:  After being knocked to trailside with a flat,
Veldon Moser comes back to get the 5th place
finish.

Right: Sally Hutchings dodges the lava boulders on the
sandstone surface as she rolls down from the slickrock
hill. Sally takes points for the team with 6th place.

Ready, set, go! Our younger racers and their brothers
and sisters head out for the Easter Egg hunt.

Careful, some of those bushes have pointy parts.
The kids left no candy for the rabbits.

Left:  Despite a crash early in the race, Jay Griffin
keeps his game plan together and gets another
impressive 1st place.

Right:  Jeff Kingsford has mastered the deep breathing
technique as he grinds up the thigh-burning final hill
on the way to team points at 7th place.

Gene Poncelet throws the hammer down
as he heads northbound to finish his
first lap, taking a ribbon at 4th place.

Rolling off the sandstone, Bruce Argyle
fades late in the race but hangs on to
the 5th place spot in the category.

More pictures:
     Bruce photos (kids and beginners)
     Community photos 
     Hutchings photos

The photos here are the work of at least six different photographers. Race pictures are a key morale-booster, and much appreciated. At left, Mei Dai readies the camera to frame Jay against the sandstone wall. At right, Kay packs the "big gun" up the mesquite slope.

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