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Team Photo Scrapbook 2013
2013 Intermountain Cup and Utah State Mountain Bike Racing Series

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Soldier Hollow
Midway August 10, 2013

Soldier Hollow in August looks very different from the green slopes we've seen in previous years. But the riding was good, as racers agreed that the course made an excellent racing loop. UMB had 28 racers at Soldier Hollow for this final race of 9 Intermountain Cup events of 2013. First-place wins were scored by David Ressa, Katy Nafus, Geno Smith, and Joel Quinn, with seconds by Joe Benson, John Twitchell, Clyve Cousins, Sally Reynders, Mitt Stewart, and Meghan Sheridan.

Left:   The Pro Men category heads up the XC ski slopes of Soldier Hollow as the race begins.
View east from the race loop. Notice that a few trees are
already starting to turn orange. 		 At 8:45, the Billie Goat category receives their instructions
from the race director. These are our future champions.
Kids Categories
Billie Goat 

Draeden Jensen hits a turn on the grassy
slope in the Billie Goat category.

Joshua Nielsen turns around a spruce
tree as he nears the end of the lap.

Jacob Nielsen suits up for his first-ever
race, on a strider bike. Welcome Jacob!
Youth 10-12 

Left:   David Ressa is almost finished with his
6.6-mile lap as he passes the big willow trees
on the way to 1st place in Youth 10-12.

Right:  The Billie Goat category gets their awards
as the older racers get ready for their event. There
will be two more waves of racers, one at 9 and
one at 11:30.

Junior Categories
Junior Women 12-15:    

Left:   Maggie Ressa climbs the first section of
singletrack after the paved-road shakeout sprint.
Maggie gets the 5th place finish in Junior Women
12-15 with one lap around the big course.

Right:   Waiting for the last wave of the race,
Jason warms up with the road bike on his trainer
under the UMB canopy.

Beginner Categories
Beginner Men:
Left:   In the Beginner Men category, Joe Benson 
rides to 2nd place, dropping off the mountain to
the meadow near the end of his lap.

Right:    Corey Spencer rockets downhill with just three
more turns to go before he finishes with 4th place.

 
Adam Reynders pops up from the little
flat near the willow, taking 7th place.

Ben Buhler has his eye on the final stretch
to the finish line and 9th place.

 On the first singletrack of the course,
Devin Spencer heads uphill to 10th place.
Beginner Women:
Left:  Turning into the final sprint across the 
meadow, Katy Nafus propels her new Rocky
Mountain race bike to 1st place in the
Beginner Women category.

Right:  Between waves, racers prepping for the
final race mix with those who've finished
their event. 

Looking east from the race course. Just to the right of the
finish line, racers line up on the road for the race start.		 Katy and Sally hit the narrow singletrack as they begin the
climb up the hill. Six miles to go for these ladies.
Open Categories
Clydesdale:
Left:  John Twitchell heads toward the finish
line on his first of two laps, taking 2nd place 
in the Clydesdale category.

Right:   Mike slips away from racer-support
during the middle of the race to test-ride
the course. Some of us look forward to
race day, because that's the day that Mike
will fix our misbehaving bikes!

Men 50-plus:
Left:   Geno Smith accelerates around a turn in the
scrub oak on lap two of three. Geno nails 1st place 
in Men 50-plus.

Right:   Paul Zimmerman cranks across a flat XC ski
slope on lap two.  The Men 50 group rode the
brutal "expert" distance for this event. Paul gets
a podium spot with 3rd place.

Men 60-plus:
Left:  Joel Quinn leads the Men 60-plus category
up the hill and stays at the front to take another
1st place win.

Right:   Clyve Cousins is back from New Zealand for
more racing, as he zips around the spruce tree
in the meadow to nail 2nd place.

Left:   On his final lap, Bruce Argyle carves a turn
and takes aim at the finish line on the way to a 
4th place finish.

Right:   Gene Poncelet drops through the sage brush
toward the meadow to take 6th place in the
Men 60-plus group.

Lupine blossoms on the mountain slopes. Sunflowers wave in the breeze.
Women 40-plus: 
Left:  Sally Reynders cranks through the dry
grass on the last turn before the finish line,
taking 2nd place in Women 40-plus.

Right:   The Men 60-plus group has its largest
showing of the year, as Bruce, Gene, and Clyve
head up the first bit of singletrack.

Sport Categories
Sport Men 19-29: 
Left:   Dallin Hatch pedals hard on a flat section of
XC ski course as he races to 6th place in Sport 
Men 19-29.

Right:   Daniel Truong tips the bike into a downhill
turn. For this final race, Daniel moves up to the
Sport category and finishes with 9th place.

Sport Men 30-39:

Left:   Christian Burrell flies along the
mountainside on the way to the 4th place
finish in Sport Men 30-39.

Right:   As temperatures rise in early afternoon,
Geno takes a hit from his water bottle on a
flat stretch of trail.

Sport Men 40-49:

Left:   Brian Ressa finishes a hard
carving turn on the downhill of lap
two, getting on the podium with the
3rd place spot in Sport Men 40-49.

Right:   Bruce's water bottle lies in the bed of
morning glory where he tossed it between
laps.

Joel drops through a steep switchback turn.

UMB riders fly along the narrow singletrack.
Expert and Pro Categories
Expert Men 19-29:  

Left:  Brock Jeske jumps to the Expert group
for this race, cranking along the ski slopes on
the way to a 5th place finish in Expert Men 19-29.

Right:    Yes! Done! Paul celebrates the end of a
long race as he passes under the finish-line
arch.

Expert Men 40-plus:  

 
Mitt Stewart hits a turn in the gambel
oak as he rides his three laps to take
2nd place in Expert Men 40-plus.

Powering through a turn on lap two,
Jason Sparks grabs the 5th place
spot in the category.

Denmark Jensen paid and showed up,
but didn't race. Don't know the story. 
Pro Women:  

Left:  Meghan Sheridan zooms through the
sagebrush surrounding the singletrack as
she takes a 2nd place position in Pro Women.

Right:    A racer passes under the finish line
as those who've completed their event
hang out and talk about their race.

The UMB team enjoys the post-race BBQ under the canopy. Ooooooh.

Soldier Hollow was a very enjoyable race. The trail was in good shape. ICup race director Marek has streamlined the processes of registration and awards, and in this final race the bugs have been shaken out of the new system. We're looking forward to the next ICup season. But there's one more USCS race to go for the combined championships of the 2013 season. See you September 21!

More pictures:
     Kay Hutchings photos  
Resources:
     GPX track Soldier Hollow race loop
     Satellite map of race course

Left:   Geno gets his moment at the top tier of the podium.
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