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UMB Season Party 2011
The UMB team had its season-end party at the Draper park on 13th East
in the big pavilion. The menu included special BBQ chicken and many side
dishes. The team provided the main course, with members contributing
salads and desserts. |
| Team business included a discussion of options for next
year's team kits, with samples from a vendor.
Jay Griffin and Jason Sparks were re-elected by acclamation to the team
advisory committee, to serve with Bruce and Mike in guiding team
decisions.
Then it was time for the team season awards. See below. |
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Team members received water bottles with GU packs, license
plate holders, window stickers, and team socks.
Great food, and lots of loot.
Here are the team awards for 2011... |
Workhorse Awards
Since the 2005 racing season, UMB has honored those riders who race in
every event on the Intermountain Cup schedule. We call this our Workhorse
Award -- for those who consistently show up and do the work of racing.
It's a fun award, because you get a memento scrapbook page with photos of
you at every race. Our Workhorses for 2011 are: |
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Ian Beaty. Few people work harder and put more
heart into the job than Ian. |
Richard Ewell. It makes sense that a workhorse
would be a good-natured Clydesdale. |
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Mark Messer. A lot of work went into Mark's
season. He's very much a workhorse. |
Adam Reynders. New guy on the job, improving
with every race. |
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Sally Reynders. Seems like she's always been a
workhorse for the team, every race, every year. |
Jason Sparks. Jason is the whip that makes the
workhorse run like a racehorse. |
Team Member Season Awards
Awards to individual team members are determined by a vote of the team
in the two weeks before the season picnic. Racers nominate their team
mates for one of our traditional award categories, or can suggest a new
category for someone who's done something special. The racer who gets the
most nominations within an award category is the winner. |
Sportsmanship
As votes came in, a new award category had to be created. The category
for this special award is Good Sportsmanship. Two UMB riders at Snowbasin
gave up their race to help a competitor who had suffered a nasty crash.
They showed that there are more important parts of life than a
championship race. We honor two individuals with a Good Sportsmanship
award: Cat Kalwies and Colleen Tvorik. |
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Our top trailworker spent over 100 hours during this racing
season improving trails. He installed trail signs, repaired trail damage,
and supervised work crews as they created new trail in American Fork
Canyon. He works with the Forest Service as an advisor and skilled
volunteer. He probably spends more time improving trails, than most of us
do riding them. Our Top Trailworker for 2011 is Steve Winters. |
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Our Honorable Mention for Crucial Team Supporter is a guy
who's always smiling. He recieved votes for Best Attitude. He's always
willing to help out at races, often sacrificing his warm-up time. He
brings equipment and sets up the team base camp. He's always on the phone
with team members, encouraging them, and getting them more-awesome wheels.
Honorable Mention for Crucial Team Supporter goes to Mike Engberson. |
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Our Crucial Team Supporter came to every race but one during
the 2011 season. And boy, was she missed that day. Racing wouldn't be as
much fun if we didn't have such awesome photos to view and share
afterwards. Her photos are as good, and often better, than the
professional photographers at the races. It makes it possible to have a
team poster, photos on our awards, and nice web pages to document UMB's
action at the Intermountain Cup races. Some racers have asked why we make
such a big deal of the ICup compared to other races. It's because our
Crucial Team Supporter is there: Kay Hutchings. |
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Our winner of the Best Attitude award also received votes
for Most Improved. He came to every race during the season and usually
finished on the podium. He raced hard, but afterward had an aw-shucks fun
attitude. Our racers enjoyed hanging with him at the after-race picnics.
He showed good sportsmanship, enjoyed racing, and brightened other racer's
days. The winner of our Best Attitude award for 2011 is Richard Ewell. |
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Our runner-up Rookie of the Year began hanging around the
UMB canopy last year. He wasn't so much interested in racing, as he was
interested in a specific racer. This year he was induced to get onto the
mountain after receiving his first-ever mountain bike in February. He
raced every event in the 2011 Intermountain Cup schedule. Some say that
his wife "made" him do it, but he did it on his own. He wasn't
our fastest rookie, but he generated plenty of team points. Our Honorable
Mention for Rookie of the Year goes to Adam Reynders. |
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Our Rookie of the Year did 4 races back in 2008. He hit the
dirt at Five Mile Pass as his first race in a UMB uniform. He raced hard
and quickly moved to the head of his Beginner Men pack. He was winning
consistently. He was usually on the podium, most often at the top spot. At
Solitude, he recruited his father to also come race with the team. The UMB
team members have voted Michael Buhler as Rookie of the Year. |
| Most Inspirational and Motivational |
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The voting for the most motivational and inspirational racer
on the UMB team was a blow-out. This racer was always there to give a word
of encouragement, and even to push your buttons a little. He'd do whatever
it took to motivate you to give it your all. He recruits hard, and always
encourages others to train harder and ride faster. He showed up for every
Intermountain Cup race, hit the hard endurance races, and took the top
spot on the Cat 2 podium at the National Championships. If you need any
motivation at a race, just go talk to Jason Sparks. |
Most Improved
In the voting for Most Improved, there was a tie for second
place. By order of Mikey, both of these racers will be recognized. |
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First, a racer who's always pumped up and enthusiastic. He's
followed the advice of his trainer and worked hard, logging 5000 miles so
far this year. He moved from Sport class to Expert, and began to win in
Expert. He took 2nd place in his category in the Intermountain Cup and won
the Cat 2 National Championship for his age class at Sun Valley. Honorable
Mention as Most Improved goes to Jason Sparks. |
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Our second Honorable Mention goes to a racer who's raced
over 100 Intermountain Cup events without winning a single one. At the end
of the previous season, he was fighting not to be the last in his
category to cross the finish line. But in January, in disgust, he got on
the trainer. He's logged 5000 miles so far this year. He finished the
season as 2nd in his category despite missing one race. An Honorable
Mention as Most Improved goes to Bruce Argyle. |
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Our Most Improved racer moved from Sport to Expert to Pro within a year. He
worked hard and continually impressed our team members. The jump to Pro is a
giant leap, and to survive in Pro is awesome. But to be an immediate contender
is miraculous. As one voter put it, he's one tough cookie. Our Most Improved
racer for 2011 is Casey Zaugg. |
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Our runner-up to Toughest Racer for the year 2011 actually looks tough. But
more importantly, he races tough. He was regularly stomping racers ten years
younger. Our team members thought it was fun to watch him be so competitive and
fight for the win. He took the season championship in his category despite
missing the first two races of the season. Our Honorable Mention for Toughest
Racer goes to Joel Quinn. |
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Our Toughest Racer began racing with the team last year. As he got faster, he
moved from Beginner to Sport. He raced in a way that most of us would consider
"too tough" to do. He rode with
flat pedals. He raced wearing full-body clothing on the hottest of days. He
pedaled a bike that was heavy by racing standards. There were last-minute
repairs before hitting the start line without a warmup. And how many times did his bike
break down, yet he still finished with a ribbon? He recorded every race via
video camera on his helmet and posted them on the internet. The team has voted
for Ian Beaty as Toughest Racer. |
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Our Junior Racer of the Year made it to most of the races during the season.
She -- yes, for the first time our Junior Racer of the Year is a girl -- always
raced hard and gave it her best. Our team members enjoyed talking to her after
the races and hearing about her successes and challenges. She finished on the
season podium in her category. Our Junior Racer of the Year for 2011 is Jacey
Messer. |
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Our runner-up to Racer of the Year began his career with the UMB team as a
Sport rider. He put a lot of effort into his training and steadily improved. He
moved up to Expert, and began moving toward the front of the pack. After half a
season, he moved up to Pro, the first UMB racer to make that jump. It surprised
the team. He raced hard and showed us that he belonged in the Pro field. Our Honorable Mention
for Racer of the Year is Casey Zaugg. |
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Your votes have been tallied. Our Racer of the Year probably sacrificed more
than any other UMB racer this season. He made it to all 11 races on the schedule
despite a commute of over 250 miles to 9 of those races. He spent the winter working with dedication on
an indoor trainer to be ready for the season, jumping from Sport class to Expert. Despite aggressive competition
(often from another member of the UtahMountainBiking team), he took the season
championship in his Expert category. He took 2nd place in the Cat 2 National
Championships at Sun Valley. Our Racer of the Year is Mark Messer. |
| The 2011 UMB Intermountain Cup Squad |
The team poster for the UMB 2011 ICup Squad is ready. It's available on-line for downloading to print in your favorite size.
(The file can be uploaded to a local shop or to your favorite on-line
printing service.) You can also grab JPG originals of your award certificates to stuff in
your electronic scrapbook.
Here's the link: Season
Photos.
Notes: The poster is designed to be printed on
a double-width page (17x11, two standard 8.5x11 pages joined together). To
print it yourself, you'll need a wide-format printer. The 72 dpi version
is for quick download, for viewing at screen resolution. 200 dpi yields a
smaller file for plain-paper printing.
I've included an 8x10 version of the team poster at 300 dpi resolution
that you can print on your home computer using photo paper. (It's 60% of
the original size). |
Great season, team mates! On to
cyclocross.
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