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Snowbird
Little Cottonwood Canyon July 6, 2013Racers
came away from Snowbird feeling they'd really been mountain biking. The
scenery was beautiful and the trail was a challenge of damp roots, big
rocks, and mud splashes. The overnight rains moved the Beginner wave into
mid-afternoon. Some stuck around for 6 hours, most went home. UMB saw a
first-place win by Michael Dodge, and second-place finishes by Bentley
Vanderwel, Dave Benson, John Twitchell, Joel Quinn, and Sean Linden.
Left: Stephan cranks uphill on his first lap
with the racers of the Expert class behind him.
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| There was some early-morning confusion about
the race status. Some bikers (example, Mikey) made other plans as soon as
they saw this message, missing the 10 am sport race start. Our BBQ plans
came totally apart. |
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After camping in the canyon
overnight, Brian serves up
lunch to his kids as they wait for their race to start. |
The lap-finish split and the
check-in tent was up the gravel
road a bit. The start line was down near the bridge. |
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Left: Draeden Jensen heads
up the singletrack on the
9-and-under Billie Goat race at 2:30.Right: Joshua
Nielsen heads back toward the finish
line after completing his loop. |
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Left: Bentley Vanderwel cranks
up
the canyon on the Bird Trail as he
takes 2nd place in the Youth 10-12
category.Right: The view
up the mountain. Laps
were 5.1 miles with 760 feet of climbing
per lap. The surface was rocky, rooty,
and slippery.
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Left: Maggie
Ressa pedals through the
aspens with a mile to go on her 5-mile lap,
finishing with 4th place in Junior Women
12-15. Right: A look
downhill at the buildings
of Snowbird from the race trail. |
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Left: David Ressa gets
the 9th
place
spot as he races in the Junior Men 12-15
category.Right: The
mountainside was covered
with flowers. Sticky Geranium fills
the damp meadow.
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Left: Joe Benson cranks along the Bird
Trail toward
the finish line and a podium spot at 3rd place in
Beginner Men.Right:
Enjoying a brief downhill section, Corey
Spencer
dodges the aspens as he takes 4th place in the category. |
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Brian Vanderwel films the
race as he
completes his second lap with 5th place. |
Sprinting up the hill on the shakeout,
Daniel Truong takes the 6th place spot. |
Ben Buhler cranks through the
trees
to grab the 7th place finish. |
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Much of the race is
singletrack through the trees, with plenty
of rocks and roots to contend with. The rain made it extra slippery. |
Paintbrush stands under
overcast skies. There were some
breaks in the clouds later in the day. |
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Left: Dave Benson hits the steep bang-em
climb after the bridge, grinding out the
2nd place win in Singlespeed.Right: The
view down the canyon as
Stephan climbs uphill. Most of us never
noticed there was a view. |
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Left: Michael Dodge fires
up the hill on the way
to finishing his second lap. Michael gets the unofficial
state championship for Clydesdale with 1st
place.Right:
Crossing the Dick Bass Highway Trail,
John Twitchell descends toward dark damp
trail in the trees early in lap number one. John
nails the 2nd place spot. |
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Left: Paul Zimmerman grinds uphill on his
second
of three laps, grabbing a podium spot with 3rd place
in Men 50-plus.Right: Rick Morris
cranks out some speed on
the Bird Trail as he heads toward the finish line
with 4th place. |
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Joel Quinn pops out of forest onto ski
slope as he grabs 2nd place in Men 60+. |
Bruce
Argyle fights around an uphill turn
to take 3rd place in the category. |
Gene Poncelet bounces over the
roots
among aspens on the way to 4th place. |
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A marmot watches the action.
See Kay's photos gallery
for more pics of this curious critter. |
A plump squirrel makes a dash
across the trail between
riders. |
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Left: Cranking across a ski slope
on his
second of three laps, Brock
Jeske gets his
podium spot with 3rd place in Sport Men
19-29.Right:
Dallin Hatch
grinds around the rocky loose
turn above the bridge as he snatches the 4th place
finish. |
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Left: Christian Burrell heads
uphill through
brush and grass on the edge of a ski slope.
Christian gets his podium medallion with the
3rd
place finish in Sport Men 30-39.Right:
Early in his first lap, Darren
Stirland drops
into a dip as he takes 4th place in the category. |
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Left: Breaking out of an aspen
grove onto the ski
slope, Sean Linden gets the 2nd
place spot in the
Sport Men 40-plus category.Right: Brian Ressa cranks
away from the bridge
his second lap of three, getting his podium spot
with 3rd place. |
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Finishing lap three, Greg Sironen is
on the way to 4th place. |
Denmark Jensen cranks over a
rock
outcrop as he takes 7th place. |
Shae Chatlin cranks the Bird
Trail to
take 9th place in Sport Men 40-plus. |
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| The tram ferries hikers and
sightseers uphill. |
While Corey waits forever for
race to start. |
| Expert and Pro Categories |
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Left: As our only rider in the
entire
Expert/Pro wave, Stephan Bergen
gets the 4th
place finish in Expert
Men 40-plus.Right: Cranking
through the finish line
after several passes through the mud
at the west (downhill) end of the loop. |
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Brian must know the
photographer is nearby. "If you
can pull it off, it's not showing off." |
Little Cottonwood Creek
ripples down the canyon. There
were massive slides and floods the day before the race. |
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Snowbird was the third racing weekend in a
row. Weather kept a few riders away, and other team members were at
Nationals or at the Fire Road event in Cedar City. Those who were able to
make it enjoyed a nice bike ride.
More pictures:
Kay
Hutchings photos
Resources:
GPX track
Snowbird race loop
Satellite
map
of race course
Left: Homeward bound. Draeden and Denmark roll downhill after a
day well-raced.
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