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Utah Off Road Series
Season Opener
Friday July 25, 2014 - Nordic Valley, Eden Utah
The season opener for the UORS (Utah Off Road Series) was held at
Nordic Valley on Friday July 25. As expected, a new event on a weekday
didn't draw a big crowd. But it allowed the race promoters to test their
system and get the new series underway.
View from the parking area, looking west up the ski slope. The brown
slashes in the left half of the photo are the descending side of the
trail.. |
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The weather was warm with a light breeze as the XC race
started at 11 a.m. Eight of the 27 riders were UtahMountainBiking team
members. Five of us were over 60. But for this start-up race there were
only three categories: Beginner, Sport, and Expert/Pro.
Joel Quinn warms up in the parking area. |
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The race course ran counter-clockwise. The loop was 2.3
miles, with 350 feet of climbing per lap. And as Gene pointed out, there
were downhill switchbacks on the climb and uphill switchbacks on the
descent. Beginners did 2 laps, Sport 3, Expert/Pro 4.
The race course. |
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The course is new this summer, and was just a bit bumpy.
There was only one sloppy moon-dust descent, mercifully quite short so you
could just free-fall it. Some sections of the descending half of the loop
were mowed grass rather than excavated trail -- and these spots tended to be the bumpiest. My top
speed during 3 laps was only 20 mph, compared to a 29-mph top speed at
Solitude the next day.
Gene Poncelet hits the final sprint toward the finish line. |
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The race went smoothly, with excellent organization. There
was a fun oldies band playing live, with burritos for sale near the timing
area. The electric chip in the number plate took the confusion out of race
timing.
It was a great start for this new series, which is USAC permitted. (You
can accumulate points toward Nationals.) There are more races coming up.
See the WeBe cycling web
site and click on the UORS option to see the schedule.
A rider passes under the electronic readers at the finish line. |
Results for UMB team racers:
Sport Men
Daniel Truong 4th
Joel Quinn 7th
John Twitchell 11th
Bruce Argyle 13th
Joe Benson 14th
Corey Spencer 15th
Gene Poncelet 16th
Expert/Pro Men
Rick Morris 7th |
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| Corey Spencer and Joe Benson stuck around for the
"Eliminator" at 1 pm. Racers sprinted around a tiny loop for an
individual time trial. Based on the results, racers then were assigned to groups of three riders. Each of
these four groups of three then raced the little loop, one group at a time. The slowest
rider was eliminated from each of the groups. The 8 remaining riders were
divided into two groups of four, from which the slowest two were
eliminated. Then the remaining four raced for placement 1st through 4th.
Sorry to say, Corey and Joe were not among the final four. |
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