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Team Photo Scrapbook 2011
2011 Intermountain Cup Mountain Bike Racing Series

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The trails at Solitude Resort were in great shape -- smoothed and bermed in time for the 10th Intermountain Cup race of the season. UMB put 41 racers on the race loop to come away with a team victory. First-place winners were Michael Buhler, John Higgins, Jay Griffin, and Joel Quinn, while Rachel Hutchings, Cat Kalwies, Denmark Jensen, and Richard Ewell took 2nd in their categories.

Left:  Around 8:50 a.m., on a beautiful summer morning...  Jonathan Duncan leads John Marshall around a swooping turn on the first lap of the race.

Tipping into a turn, Hattie Ransom
zooms downhill to get the 4th place
finish in the category.

Coleman Cowan cranks out more
speed to take the 5th place position
just one second behind Hattie. 

Carson Taylor cranks along the
aspens, riding to the 10th place spot
in the category.

Heading downhill on the grass near
the trail (where it's not so slippery),
Pierce Ransom takes 11th place.

Hunter Ransom tips hard into a banked
turn one mile into the lap, grabbing
podium with 3rd place.

Dylan Payne pedals across the meadow
near the lap's end to finish with
6th place in the 10-12 category.

 In his first race for the UMB team,
Brayden Jacob tips hard into a turn
on the way to 7th place.

Left:   Michael Buhler drops down the rocky chute
near the end of his first lap, taking the top spot in
Beginner Men 19-29 with another 1st place win.

Right:   Accelerating away from a turn in the trees,
 Aaron Johnson is a mile into the 11-mile race,
and is on the way to a podium finish at 3rd place.

Wayne Baker carves a turn on the ski
slope above the chute, grabbing a point
for the team with 7th place.

On the first lap, Adam Little rockets
around a banked turn to nail down the
8th place finish in Beginner Men 30-39.

New to the team this week, Majid
Abbasi hustles toward the finish line
and a 10th place position.

Jonathan Duncan pivots the bike
through a turn on his first lap,
taking 12th place in the category.

John Marshall bounces down the
hazardous rocky chute above the finish
area, taking the 13th spot.

Making his first race for the team,
Jeremy Parker cranks the bike to
the 15th place position.

Right:  Making his first race for the UMB team, Ben Buhler
rolls a turn on the ski slope above the finish zone. Ben
keeps the bike moving through two tough laps and
gets three points for the team with his 5th place finish.

Right:   The creek churns downhill through wildflowers. Refreshing cool water.
And in a couple of minutes you'll be
riding your bike through that refreshing
cool water -- receiving a cool refreshed
butt and cool soggy shoes.

Left:   Darren Stirland blasts through the
creek in a wall of spray as he upgrades to
the Sport class with this race. Darren gets
the 4th place spot in Sport Men 19-29.

Right:   At 8 a.m. the 9-and-under racers
gather at the start line to receive race
instruction from Ed. It's a nice 62 degrees,
a welcome change from the heat in the
valley.

Left:   Ben Hutchings cranks away from a turn near the
Eagle Express lift, ready to start the big climb up
Honeycomb Canyon and Queen Bess. Ben takes the
4th place ribbon in Sport Men 30-34.

Right:   Tipping hard into a high-speed turn, Ryan Olsen
is on lap 1 of 3, on the way to a nice 5th place finish
in the category.

Right:   Having a little fun while racing. Ian
launches off a bump on a high-speed section
of lap number one.

Left:   Chasing down her competitors after
a flat tire, Cat Kalwies rails hard around a
turn on the ski slope, taking 2nd place 
in a no-holds-barred three-way scramble
at the finish line.

Right:  Desert trumpet (scarlet gilia) blooms
along the race course, adding a splash
of scarlet to the July sunshine.

Right:   Mike closes in on Mark as they finish
their first lap on the zigzag downhill.

Right:   Race spectator.

Left:   John Higgins flies out of the aspens and onto
the ski slope as he nears the end of another lap. John
grabs the 1st place podium spot in Expert Men 40-plus.

Right:   Mike Engberson rolls a turn on his first lap,
patiently catching and passing the competition as
the laps tick off, taking 3rd place. We won't mention
that he crashed 50 feet before the finish line and
actually walked across.

Speeding out of a turn, Mark Messer 
hustles toward the green ribbon
with a 6th place finish.

Geno Smith rails the berm as he drops
down toward the finish line and the
7th place spot in the category.

Right:   There's something satisfying about
a big noisy splash. Jeff blasts up the bank
of the creek on his second lap.

Right:   Ryan Payne zips around a bermed turn on the
way to 4th place in the Clydesdale category, good for
5 team points for UMB.

Right:  Having a burger, hanging out, as the
riders of the first race relax. Meantime, our
team mates in the second race of the day
are continuing the fight on the slopes
above us. 

Right:   Jeff Kingsford sets up for the same creek-splash
as he turns to drop toward the rushing water and rough
rocks. Jeff also gets onto the podium with 3rd place.

Bruce Argyle heads across the big
meadow on his second lap, grabbing
a podium share with 3rd place.

Bouncing down the rocky chute, Gene
Poncelet hustles toward the 6th place
ribbon in the category.

More pictures:
     Kay Hutchings photos from the race. Sally's podium photos.
     Mike's photos (first race, plus some by Bruce)
     Ian's helmet-cam video:  pending... watch the forum

Left:  The Expert Men 40-plus winners. Four of the six are UMB riders. L to R are Mark (6th), Hyland Cyclery's Reed, Mike (3rd), John (1st), our Revolution buddy Bob, and Jason (4th).

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