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Showdown at Five Mile Pass
May 3, 2014The scheduled date for the Five Mile Pass race
was rained out, so the race was put off a week. For those who weren't
totally hosed by the date change (pause for gnashing of teeth by your UMB
website editor), Saturday offered great weather for the rocky rollers of
the Pass. The UtahMountainBiking team missed many of our usual stalwarts,
who had committed to other activities.
Left: The course is broad ATV track,
with some grunt climbs and fast descents.
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| The UMB team saw some hot performances by our members, with
11 podium finishes. First place winners were Steve Bonney in Singlespeed,
Richard Ewell in Clydesdale, Katy Nafus in Beginner Women, and Bentley
Vanderwel in Youth 10-12. Meghan Sheridan took a second place in Pro
Women, with Rick Morris also grabbing second in Men 60-plus. |
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The Five Mile Pass recreation area awaits the
arrival of the
racers as the mud of the past week has turned to dust. |
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The UMB canopies are ready as Mike gets
the base camp set up
and ready for our team racers. |
| Expert and Pro Categories |
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Left: Meghan Sheridan pops
up out of the wash
on the home stretch, taking the 2nd place spot in
Pro Women.
Right: Racers meander toward
the starting line.
With the first wave out on the course, the Sport
and Expert wave will be heading out as the
Beginners are finishing.
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Left: Dallin Hatch is
riding without a chain
in this photo as he coasts through the sage
brush. Dallin has an official DNF as the
"moving-up curse" hits.Right:
Joel, Rick, Christian, John, Paul,
and Mike at wait for the start of the race. |
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Left: Jason Sparks
drops into a wash on the
far side of the mountain, taking a podium spot
with 3rd place in Expert Men 40-plus.Right: Looking
north from the start line as riders
assemble in the warm sunshine. |
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The Sport Men 40-plus group bursts away
from the starting
line in the 11:00 race. Go get 'em! |
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Rick, Joel, and Richard crank up the hill as the Men
60-plus and
Clydesday groups have a combined start. |
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Left: Steve
Bonney rockets into the wash on the
way to a 1st place win in the Singlespeed
category.
Right: Jason gives chase as he
climbs away
from the valley floor.
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Left: Phil Blair cranks
through the sage brush with two laps
in the Men 50-plus category, taking the 4th place position. Right:
Paul Zimmerman comes around the north side of the mountain
on his first lap, finishing with 9th place and a little blood. |
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Left: Rick Morris has his
eye on the finish line was he
nears the end of his last lap, nailing 2nd
place in the
Men 60-plus group. Right:
Sucking in some clean desert air, Joel Quinn grinds
across the sagebrush flat on the way to the 3rd
place
podium spot. |
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Left: Richard Ewell rolls
through the wash
as he grabs 1st place in the Clydesdale
category. Good job, Richard. (And thanks
for the photos!)Right: Yellow
Page Hill. Calves screaming,
gasping for air, hauling that bike up the steep
slippery slope. Keep pushing up the hill,
Shae!
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Left: Grunting up a
slope on the north side
of the loop, Christian Burrell takes the
3rd place finish in Sport Men 30-39. Right: Powering
through the rollers of the
north side of the loop, Meghan is
about two miles from the finish line. |
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Richard blasts down the backside of a rolling
hill with Shae
chasing him from behind. Lots of rocks to break your bike. |
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And speaking of breaking your bike...
Dallin has many uphill hikes
ahead as he heads west toward the start/finish area. |
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Left: Flying down a hill on the
north side of the
loop, Tim Wagstaff
is our top Sport Men 40-plus
finisher with 4th place. Right: John Twitchell
cranks up some speed across the sage
flat as he nears the finish line and a 5th place position in the
category. |
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Looks like we missed Adam Little,
who finished 8th in the category.
Gotta wear that UMB jersey, Adam. Only Kay has eyes fast enough
to spot our team members without their team colors! Left:
Corey Spencer
pops out of a small wash with an eye
on the finish line, taking the 9th spot. Right:
Shae Chatlin zips down the hill on the way to taking 10th
place in Sport Men 40-plus. |
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Left: Cat Kalwies is enjoying
her cruise to 1st place
in Sport
Women 19-34.
Right: Jennifer Cherland
makes her debut as a UMB rider
in Sport Women
35-plus but registers a DNF for this
race. |
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Steve Bonney stands and grunts to get his
singlespeed up
the slope. The mountains of the Wasatch are snow-capped
in the distance. |
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More bike trouble. Cody Dabb left with the
first wave, but is still
hiking his bike along the north side of the loop as the second-wave
riders come around for their first lap. Ouch! |
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Left: Bogdan Balasa rockets
into the finish area while
Mike is pre-occupied. Nice podium finish with the
3rd place spot in Beginner Men. Right:
Jason Cowley catches his breath at the finish line
as his support crew come out to congratulate him on
a 4th place finish. |
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Left: Turning around the inflatable
finish-line arch,
Brian Vanderwel grabs the 5th place spot in the
Beginner Men category. Right: Cody
Dabb coasts a downhill section near the finish
line, good enough for the 9th place finish. |
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Looking for
Katy's photo!
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Left: Katy Nafus
takes 1st place in the
Beginner Women category. Right: Paul
uses a solar shower to do a little
abrasion-scrubbing. Hey, the blue thing
is a BIKE repair stand, not a people repair
stand. |
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Looking for
Bentley's photo!
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Left: Bentley Vanderwel takes 1st
place
in Youth 10-12.
Right: That tired but good
feeling. You've
hit it hard, done your best, and now it's
over. Good job, Jason!
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The team picnic is beginning to appear under
the canopy,
but the riders are still up at the awards. |
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OK, why is Cat on the top row of the
podium when the web results
say 3rd place? Do I need to fix this page? |
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Although not a popular scenic ride for
mountain bikes, Five Mile Pass makes a great race site. The broad track
gives plenty of room to pass, and there's just enough rock in the way to
make things interesting. Good job, UMB team! More pictures:
Mike
and Richard's
photos
Cycling
Utah photos
Race course Trail Page on
UtahMountainBiking.com
Left: Richard gets his moment at the top of the podium. Some of
us are still waiting to know what that feels like.
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