UtCX Race 4 at Weber Fairgrounds

	Cyclocross Race 4, October 19 Weber County Fairgrounds It was, again, great weather for riding a bike at the Weber County Fairgrounds for the 4th event of the 2013 UtCX season. Jack Gage puts a lot of air between him and the log near the lap-finish area.
	The temperature was below freezing at check-in time. First-wave racers started a finger-numbing sub-40 race, with temperatures rapidly rising during the morning. Two more chilly early mornings before Daylight Savings Time comes to an end. The view in front of my tire in the parking area.
	The race was well-attended. The UEA school holiday didn't take many cyclocross fanatics out of town. Daniel Truong and Dallin Hatch swap race stories after the first wave.
	By the second wave of racing at 10:30, it was shirt-sleeve weather with blue sky and bright sunshine. There was no breeze unless your bike was moving forward. Jason lines up in the 45-plus Masters race. To the right is one of my favorite non-UMB racers, Jon Argyle (we're related through my great-grandfather, which makes me a second-rate uncle once removed or something).
	The race started with a sprint past the canopies, then turned north. The course then quickly zoomed into a series of quick turns. No rest here. Colleen Tvorik turns around the locomotive on the first lap of her race.
	After the first series of turns, the first barrier crossed the race lane. This log was low enough to bunny hop if you had the nerve and an open riding line. Jeff Kingsford lands the hop.
	After clearing the log, the course served up a series of 180-degree turns, going up-and-around as the turns worked west to east. Enjoy these turns, because the tricky off-camber turns are coming up! Colleen rocks around a 180 with Ben Lomond Peak in the background.
	The course then came back to the start-finish area and ran parallel to the canopies, but in the opposite direction from the shakeout sprint. Here was a series of three barriers to be jumped. Jeff takes the third barrier on his first lap around the course.
	The course now headed out and across the horse track. It ran parallel to the track out-and-back, so you could see how much ground you were gaining on the guys in front of you. Or in my case, how much you'd lost since the last lap. Jeff Kingsford crosses the racetrack. It was Jeff's second race of the day.
	Now the course crossed a ridge in the grass. It turned back on the side-slope, forming a tricky off-camber turn. A second off-camber turn followed on the other side of the ridge. I saw a few riders go down hard here. Jason Sparks hits the off-camber S-turns of the ridge.
	Now came a couple of near-180 turns on grassy slope. There were more turns, and trickier turns, than on last week's course, even though it followed the same general layout. Jack Gage chases Mike Engberson up and over the grassy ridge before the run-up.
	Last week's pedal-up and been converted to a tough run-up by adding a very tall barrier at the bottom of the hill. At the top, there was only one bike-length in which to remount before plunging back downhill. After jumping the barrier, Mike runs up the hill.
	The course then served up a series of whooshing valley-crossings with turns on the hillside. Jason rolls through a turn and heads to the next turn. No rest.
	The ground was harder than last week. In spots where the trail followed the same line around the trees, the hard-pack was blazing fast. Mike cranks around a tree before heading for the southern out-and-back straightaway.
	After another "look at who's ahead of you" out-and-back on the south end, the trail followed the same course back to cross the horse racetrack. Jack ducks the branches as he sets his sight on the horse racetrack.
	After a couple of high-speed turns, the trail turned toward the start-finish area, where the big log awaited. Some riders actually bunny hopped this log. Jason makes his last jump over the log. 150 feet more to finish his race.
	This was a fun race layout with plenty of interesting turns and lots of small hills. The effort never let up. Rebecca Sparks pedals toward the finish line.