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2013 Huntsman World Senior Games
Mountain Biking
The Huntsman World Senior Games (HWSG) are open to mountain
bikers over age 50. Day one features the Hillclimb and Downhill time
trial competition, with cross-country racing on day two. The 2013 games
were held on Monday October 14 and Tuesday October 15.
The Start-Finish area of the games. Here Steve Washburn
of the Mad Dog team has almost caught his minute-man as he approaches
the finish line of the Downhill event. |
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The first step of registration must be done at the Dixie
Center, where riders check in for the games. Racers must purchase a USA
Cycling license to participate. Sport and Beginner competitors can pay
$5 per day for a single-day license. Experts are required to have the
$60 annual license.
On raceday morning, racers pick up their race plates at the race
site.
At 8:30 in the morning, Gatorade and fruit await
racers as they get their racing numbers from the volunteers. |
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Morning temperatures were in the upper 40s, warming
rapidly in the bright St. George sunshine. There was plenty of time to
check out the bike. There was even enough daylight to test-ride the
hillclimb and downhill before the first rider headed uphill at 9:30.
Joe Benson sets his tire pressure. |
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When you think about the loose rock and ledges of Green
Valley, you don't say "perfect spot for old people to ride
bikes." But these are tough competitors. The ambulance crew sees
some action every year, but you don't hear as much whining as when young
guys crash.
The medical team is expecting some business. |
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Both the Hillclimb and Downhill were done as time trials.
Riders had an assigned start time. For the Hillclimb, riders were staged
30 seconds apart. The gap between riders increased to one minute for the
Downhill -- because of the hazards of trying to pass on high-speed
singletrack.
Racers check the roster for their assigned start time
in the Hillclimb. |
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The races have tight rules. No make it up as you go stuff.
The event is well organized and run with military precision.
The tight organization allows racers to lay back and have fun. There
are racers that you see every year. And riders from other state events.
Plus riders from around the country. California, Nevada, and Colorado
are always well-represented.
The race clock shows 20 minutes to the Hillclimb start
as race announcer Ralph creates the Start-Finish line. |
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The Hillclimb started southwest along the doubletrack of
the race loop, then crossed the wash to a fairly steep climb. Once the
route veered
onto the
downhill race loop, the climbing wasn't quite as
brutal. The route kept left where the Green Valley race loop merges to
the right,
joining the uphill
doubletrack just before the fork to the
Barrel Trail. It ended at mile 2.0 on the cliffs above Stucki Springs,
where there
were great views of the crisp fall
day in all directions.
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The Downhill started about 1/4 mile downhill from the end
of the Hillclimb, where the singletrack intercepted the doubletrack. First
the DH back-tracked the Hillclimb route. At the spot
where the doubletrack climb first veered onto singletrack, the course
forked to the right to stay on ST. This led to The Plunge, the steepest spot of the
downhill singletrack. It rolled over the slickrock as in the
cross-country Green Valley loop before heading over the rise back to the
finish zone.
Joel Quinn finishes his Downhill with second place in
the Expert Men 70-74 category. |
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The race announcer kept everyone updated. It was nice to
hear rider's names and home towns. If you were lucky enough to be the
first to head downhill in your category, you'd immediately know everyone
else's time.
As the first rider down the mountain, Rick Morris has
finished his blazing sub-six minute downhill run to win the Expert Men
55-59 category and post the fastest time of the day. |
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Riders were staged first by Expert vs. Sport vs. Beginner.
Within each of these divisions, groups went in order of age. This gave
the "youngsters" an open mountain, with the more-careful older
riders coming after. Still, there was an occasional rider who had to
make a pass on the downhill.
Joe Benson hits the finish line in the Sport Men 55-59
category. |
UtahMountainBiking.com Hillclimb
Results:
Expert Men 55-59
Rick Morris 3rd place
Expert Men 60-64
Bruce Argyle 1st place
Expert Men 70-74
Joel Quinn 1st place
Sport Men 55-59
Joe Benson 6th place |
UtahMountainBiking.com Downhill Results:
Expert Men 55-59
Rick Morris 1st place
Expert Men 60-64
Bruce Argyle 1st place
Expert Men 70-74
Joel Quinn 2nd place
Sport Men 55-59
Joe Benson 7th place |
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The temperature was a chilly 35 degrees as racers stepped
out of their cars, but by race time the sun had warmed the desert into
the still-cool mid-40s. Blue sky and yellow fall sunshine made it a nice
day for riding.
Some riders participated only in the Cross-country
event. Volunteers registered the new riders.
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The course followed the Green Valley race loop, but with a
couple of tweaks. Because some of the older racers had struggled in
Keyhole Wash in past years, the course skipped this fun but challenging
piece. And in place of the tricky climb just after exiting the wash, the
course detoured along (and into) the next wash to the south, meeting the trail a
bit further uphill. There was also a new ride-around in Rock Wash that
bypassed the big ledge. |
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The changes made the loop a bit shorter, faster,
and less technical. A lap was 6.0 miles with 820 vertical feet of
climbing per lap. The beginner loop was two miles of doubletrack on the
lower mountain.
Before the XC race, riders check the results of
yesterday's Hillclimb and Downhill time trials.
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Distances varied by division and by age. Rick and Bruce, as younger
experts age 50 through 69, went three laps. Joel hit the age break where
the expert distance decreased to two laps. (Experts over 80 did one
lap.)
Looking west, where The Plunge is seen as a slash on
the hillside. Bruce's IV stand is ready with a water bottle for lap 2
and for lap 3.
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Red Rock Bicycle provides a lot of logistical support for
the mountain biking portion of the Senior Games. Overall, 2,500
volunteers helped the 10,000 participants at the Games. Glen Ames (race
director for the ICup St. George races and original founder of Red Rock
Bicycle) directed race timing and scoring for all three events.
Ralph again performed the play-by-play announcing of the race. For
years he's been the voice of mountain biking at the Huntsman World
Senior Games.
Ralph welcomes riders to the morning's racing.
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Near the end of lap one, I got a quarter-inch slash where a shard of glass
penetrated the rear tire. The Stans slowed the flow but didn't completely
stop it. The tire lost more air whenever chunky rock deformed
the tread. It held up through one slower-than-planned lap. But after the final loose descent into Rock Wash, the tire
couldn't be pedaled further. Time to pull the wheel and throw in a tube.
Unfortunately, my single CO2 cartridge left the tire dangerously squishy. The
remaining half-lap required slow and careful riding while leaning forward over the
handlebars to put the weight on my front tire. But hey, turns out there was nobody else in
my racing category. First, and last. |
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UtahMountainBiking.com Cross-country
Results:
Expert Men 55-59
Rick Morris 3rd place
Expert Men 60-64
Bruce Argyle 1st place
Expert Men 70-74
Joel Quinn 1st place
Sport Men 55-59
Joe Benson 7th place
Joel is on top of the podium with first places in
Hillclimb and Cross-country for Expert Men 70-74.
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After the XC race, racers reassembled at 2 pm at
Tonnaquint Park in St. George for the Sport Social. Red Mountain Spa
provided a Texas Roadhouse dinner.
Here medals were given to the top three finishers in each category for
Hillclimb, Downhill, and Cross-country.
Rick gets the Gold in Downhill Expert Men 55-59, with
the fastest time of the Games for the Downhill.
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For every category, points were awarded to the top six
finishers of each race. These points were tallied to determine an
overall category champion. Joel took the Overall Championship for Expert
70-74 and Bruce got the Overall for Expert 60-64. They were awarded a
Huntsman World Senior Games cycling jersey.
Bruce (back, 4th from left) and Joel (back, 3rd from
right) pose with their championship jerseys.
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Curious about the courses? GPX file for download has
tracks for HC, DH, and XC races: Download.
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