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Team Photo Scrapbook 2011
2011 Intermountain Cup Mountain Bike Racing Series

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Cholla Challenge
Warner Valley, Hurricane - April 2, 2011

There was light cloud cover and gentle breeze as the 2011 Cholla Challenge got underway. The trail was dry and a little loose. 33 riders raced for the UMB team, grabbing the team win with strong performances across many categories. First place finishers for UMB were Travis Millward, Ian Beaty, Casey Zaugg, and Mark Messer, with second places going to Garrett Hays, Rachel Hutchings, and Richard Ewell.

Left: Bruce hits the slickrock section with the Men's 57-plus riders.
Category 9-and-under:

Left:  Jacey Messer sprints around the first corner -- and 
into the downhill plunge -- to finish with 4th place overall,
  2nd place for girls in the 9-and-under group.

Right:  Hattie Ransom finishes the steep uphill
just before the finish line. About a quarter-mile to
go to finish the race with 9th place overall.

Left:  Sawyer Ransom puts the hammer down as he
sprints toward the finish line to finish his lap in 11th place.

Right:   Carson Taylor pedals past the yucca to get the
13th place spot in the category.

Category 10-12:  
Left:  Hunter Ransom cranks toward
the start-finish area on the second of
three laps, taking a podium spot with
3rd place in 10-12.

Right:  Prepping for the arrival of the team.
UMB now has a trailer to get the gear
to the races.

Beginner 13-15:  UMB had no Beginner 13-15 class racers!
   

 
Beginner 16-18:   

Left:   New team member Garrett Hays 
tips into the turn at the end of the shakeout
sprint, heading to 2nd place and a red
ribbon in the Beginner Men 16-18 group.

Right:  This is the cholla cactus for which
the Cholla Challenge is named. Thought
you'd want to know that.

Beginner 19-29:   

Left:   Travis Millward is back with the
team after a few years on hiatus, and he
makes an immediate mark by snatching
the 1st place victory in Beginner 19-29.

Right:  The racers assemble at the start
line for the second race of the day at
11 a.m. There's Wayne, Garrett, and 
Christian for the UMB team.

Beginner 30-39:  
Left:  Climbing the slickrock early in his lap,
Wayne Baker tackles his first race as a UMB team
racer, grabbing 3rd place in Beginner Men 30-39.

Right:  Also new to the team, Christian Burrell
grunts up the slope near the end of his race,
finishing with a team point at 7th place.

Beginner 40-plus:

Left:  Adam Reynders hits the gas pedal
after dropping into a wash on his way to
3rd place in Beginner Men 40+.

Right:  Mike has a lineup of bikes waiting
for last-minute tweaks before the race.

Beginner Women:  

Left:  Rachel Hutchings heads up the
slickrock as she nails the 2nd place  
finish in Beginner Women.

Right:  The 10-12 age group listens to
Jerry's instructions before starting
the first race of the day.

Sport/Expert 13-15:  UMB had no S/E 13-15 riders!

 

  

 
Sport/Expert 16-18:  UMB had no S/E 16-18 riders!
   

 

Sport Men 19-29: 
Left:  Camera recording the whole
race, Ian Beaty leads the Sport Men
19-29 riders up the slickrock as he
speeds to 1st place.

Right:  The Sport Women group fights
for position as they hit the slickrock
in a tangled bunch.

Sport Men 30-34:

Left:  Ben Hutchings cranks the northbound
singletrack as he completes the first
of two laps, finishing with 9th place.

Right:  Jay drops into a wash, oblivious
to the scenery of Warner Valley behind
him. He's about to hit a loose surface of
 rounded river gravel at high speed.

Sport Men 35-39:   UMB had no Sport Men 35-39 riders! ...for the first time in years!

 

  

 
Sport Men 40-plus:

Left:   Dave Benson rocks over a dip in the slickrock
as he heads toward a podium finish 3rd place in
Sport Men 40+.

Right:  Stephan Bergen cranks back across the valley
toward the start-finish area, grabbing points for the
team with the 7th place position.

Left:   Chad Horman absorbs the G's at the bottom of
a steep drop into the wash, riding to the 12th place
spot in the category.

Right:  Brian Ressa makes the turn away from the slickrock
after his second flat tire forces him to stop periodically
to pump air into the leaky wheel. Not content to take
a DNF, Brian pumps and cranks his way to the 22nd
place finish.

Sport Women:
Left:  Cat Kalwies fires up the steepest spot
of the race loop, taking 4th place in Sport Women.

Right:  Colleen Tvorik speeds across the desert to finish
her two laps with team points for 7th place.

Expert Men 19-29:  

Left:  In another strong outing, Casey Zaugg 
cranks up the slickrock on the way to
1st place in Expert Men 19-29.

Right:  Hunter arrives at the finish line after
three laps of the 10-12 loop. It's a good
feeling to see that white stripe go under
your front tire, right Hunter?

Expert Men 30-39:
Left:  Nathan Drozd leads a group of Experts up
the Navajo sandstone as he grabs a podium spot
with 3rd place in Expert Men 30-39.

Right: Derek Ransom puts on some speed heading
up-valley in the second of three long laps, taking
8th place in the category.

Left:   New to the team with this race, Theron Jeppson 
(brother of Brian) takes the 11th place finish.

Right: Jack Gage drops into a wash a mile from the
finish line, earning the 12th place spot.

Expert Men 40-plus:  

Left:   Mark Messer indicates his current position
as he hustles past a rock outcrop on the way to the
1st place finish in Expert Men 40-plus. Congrats!

Right:  Jason Sparks tilts into a downhill turn, grabbing
 the 5th place finish with three fast laps.

Left:   Mike Engberson keeps ahead of a U of U fan
up the slickrock, on the way to the 6th place spot
in this tough group.

Right:  Brian Jeppson blazes past the yucca late in the race,
coming back from a flat tire to take 8th place in the category.

Expert Women:     UMB had no Expert Women riders!

 

  

 
Singlespeed:     UMB had no Singlespeed racers at this event!

 

  

 
Clydesdale:
Left:  Richard Ewell works up the slickrock
on the way to winning 2nd place in the
Clydesdale category.

Right:  Hattie and Jacey  hang near the
leaderboard as finishing tags are added.

Women 35-plus:

Left:  Sally Reynders drops over a
ledge on the rock, getting 7th place
in the Women 35-plus group.

Right:  Sally stops to help out another rider.
Another rider who, we must point out, is
NOT wearing a UMB team jersey. While
her category rides away, up the rock.
(Just kidding. Don't ever change, Sally!) 

Men 50-plus:
Left:  Jay Griffin hits the steep pitch
on the slickrock on the way to a podium
spot at 3rd place in Men 50-plus.

Right:  The team gets together for the
after-race picnic. What an assortment
of nice salads and other goodies! 

 
Men 57-plus:

Bruce Argyle powers up the rock on
the way to the 3rd place spot in the old
guys' 57-plus category.

Gene Poncelet heads into the slickrock
on his first lap, taking the 8th place
spot in the group.

Joel Quinn paid his fees and suited up
for the game, but after having back
spasms, took the role of cheerleader. 
Like the wind in Warner Valley, the UMB team came roaring back in this race, taking the team competition with strong performances. Next up is Five Mile Pass -- always unpredictable.

More pictures:
     Bruce photos (kids and beginners)
     Kay Hutchings photos
     Ian's helmet-cam video:  Lap 1   Lap 2

Left: The wind hits hard in the middle of the BBQ, and team members help get the canopies down before they break.
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