UtahMountainBiking.com
Team Photo Scrapbook 2012
2012 Intermountain Cup Mountain Bike Racing Series

Scrapbook Index
Team Index Page
Team Roster
Racer Info

The weather was sunny and pleasant for the Red Rock Cactus Hugger on Saturday April 7. The race was held in the Green Valley competition area, with a more-technical race loop using the Barrel Trail. Congratulations to first-place winners Adam Lee, Christian Burrell, Rachel Hutchings, and Darren Stirland. Second-place finishers for UMB were Jake VanWagoner, Ben Schmalz, and Joel Quinn.

Left:  Sally Reynders hits the downhill on the Barrel Trail.

Left:   New to the team with this race, Korbin Twitchell
takes 4th place as our top finisher in the 9-and-under
category.

Right:  Sawyer Ransom cranks through a small
wash on his second lap, taking the 5th place
spot. Sawyer's ride gets three points for the
UMB team.

Left:   Racing for the first time in UMB uniform,
Denmark's son Draeden Jensen pivots a turn on
the short course, while looking back to check
with dad to be sure he's going the right way.
Draeden finishes with 13th place.

Right:  Pierce Ransom pedals on the doubletrack
as he gets out from the start line on his
first lap, taking the 17th place position.

Left:   On the larger 12-and-under loop,
Hattie Ransom drops off the hill toward
the finish line and the 8th place finish.

Right:  A Cactus Hugger.                       
These are barrel cacti, for which the trail
is named.

Dylan Payne cranks past the sandstone
outcrops on the way to a close 4th place
finish and 4 team points.

Climbing the small hill early in the lap,
Hunter Ransom pops off the saddle
 as he rides to 5th place.

At noon, the racers assemble for the Sport, Expert, 
and Pro events. Riders were staged ahead of the
finish line to make room for the large turnout.

Right:  Pierce's coach follows him through
the lap/finish gate as Pierce heads out
for his second 9-and-under lap.

Left:  Christian Burrell rockets down the
hill as he finishes his lap with the 1st place 
position in Beginner Men 30-39. 

Right:  New to the team with this race, Kent Fairbourn  
cranks toward a podium finish with the 3rd place 
spot in the category. 

Left:   Welcome to new team member Michael Dodge,
seen speeding down toward the finish line to take 
5th place. Sorry we ran out of loaner jerseys, Michael.
Next time.

Right:  Sprinting toward the finish line, Jeremy Parker  
gets the  9th place spot in the category.

Ben Becker heads down the final
stretch to finish his lap with the
3rd place podium spot.

 Tim Martindale cranks over the rough
rock along the wash to take team points
with 6th place.

 Rolling into a turn in the rocks,
Adam Reynders gets the 13th place
finish in Beginner Men 40-plus.

Left:  Rachel Hutchings handles the tech
rock to finish ahead of the other ladies
with 1st place in Beginner Women.

Right:  Kent is in the middle of a sprinting
group as they hit the small hill 1/4 mile from
the start line.

Right:   Smaller cluster barrel cacti bloom
in the April sunshine.

Left:   Darren Stirland rolls into the rocky singletrack 
below the Barrel descent as he finishes his second
lap on the way to the top spot with 1st place in
Sport Men 30-34.

Right:  Higher up on the mountain, Ben Hutchings 
carves a turn ont he Barrel Trail on the way to
a podium finish with 3rd place. 

Left:  Ben Schmalz drops off the mountain in a cloud
of dust to nab another podium spot for the UMB team
with the 2nd place win in Sport Men 35-39.

Right:  Carving a turn on the technical descent
down the Barrel Trail, Adam Little gets the 8th place
position in the category.

Right:  After breaking his chain, Stephan Bergen gets
back in the race as he flies past cacti and bangs over
rocks on his final lap, finishing with 19th place.

Left:   Powering uphill after the first
dip of the first lap, Cat Kalwies gets
a ribbon and team points with the
 6th place finish in Sport Women.

Right:   Two of three laps completed,
Denmark gets a bottle handup as he comes
through the support zone.

Left:   On his 3rd and final lap in the
Expert Men 30-39 category, Derek Ransom
drops down the Barrel Trail on the way
to 9th place.

Right:   More cacti. Prickly pear this time,
with the morning sun turning the spines
aglow.

Right:   Mike Engberson rolls a turn on Barrel on his
final lap as he heads toward 14th place in the category.

Geno Smith flies up and over a rise
on lap three, taking 16th place in
Expert Men 40-plus.

After a crash and bike breakdown, Dave
Benson heads downhill on the way to
19th place. Note the holes.

Denmark Jensen cranks through the
scrub to finish his race with 21st place
in the category.

Right:  Geno takes advantage of a rare flat
spot to get a drink as he leaves the
neutral support zone of the lap/finish
area. One lap to go.

The temperature was perfect. No wind. The air was clean and
crisp. Behind Derek are the red cliffs below Snow Canyon,
the white cliffs above, and the Pine Valley Mountains.

Christian is one happy racer as he hits the finish line with
the win. First Place. The Blue Ribbon. Some of us are
still looking for our first one. Christian just got his!

Right:   Ryan Payne powers the bike toward the finish
line over the rocky singletrack, nailing the 5th place
finish.

Right:  UMB held an easter egg hunt for the
kids. Is it cheating to hide the best stuff
in the middle of a prickly cholla cactus?

Right:  Checking the leaderboard after the
first race. Ben, Kent, and Christian
look for their racer tags to go up.

Hitting a turn on the Barrel Trail,
Bruce Argyle finishes his two laps
with 4th place.

Gene Poncelet rolls over the sandstone
of Barrel as he takes the 6th place
ribbon in the category.

Right:  The UMB team gets down to burgers
after the race, next to Casey's CocoNutz Fuel
booth 

More pictures:
     Bruce and Christian B photos
     Kay Hutchings photos

GPX track of Cactus Hugger course

Left:  Three ribbons in the Beginner 13-15 category, with Hunter (5th, far right),
Dylan (4th, far left), and Adam (1st place, center).

[ Return to Scrapbook 2012 Index Page ]

Next Race>>