sagebrush safari 2018

The UCC/JW Floors mountain bike team participated in the Quick n Dirty Sagebrush Safari.  Team results summary is as follows:
16+ Expert women – 4th place Monica Taylor, 5th place Rhonda Geiszler out of 11 participants
40+ Expert men – 4th place Pascal Bonaventure, 7th place Greg Twitty, 8th place Steve Boyd, 14th place Paul Todd out of 22 participants
55+ Open – 2nd place Ken Winston, 4th place Jack Kairy, 6th place Randy Liechty, 9th place Bob Wilcox out of 22 participants

Greg Twitty race report:
Conditions on race day were perfect.   It was about 60 degrees, breezy with hero dirt damped down from recent rain.  There was great anticipation across the whole UCC MTB squad because Sagebrush was back from a 5 year hiatus.  Thanks to Quick n Dirty crew for the vision and effort to make it happen. 
All categories started together.  This ended up less chaotic that expected, since the race started with a 7 mile, 1600 foot climb which strung out the field.  Early in the climb, Pascal disappeared from view with the front elite group.  I climbed at a moderate pace along with Jeff Jacobson and Steve Boyd.  Near the top, Ken caught our group as he matched the pace of his main rival Pete Tholl.  I lost contact with all three teammates at the top.  So I used by knowledge of the Spur Meadow Trail decent to gain back my deficit.  Jeff was nice to let me pass on the flowy Downhill.  At the bottom, I had caught Ken, Pete and Steve.  We all rode together up the paved climb to 4 Corners. 
At the entrance of Wrangler Trail, I pushed past Ken to lead the group through the technical single track.  I rode a high tempo pace and used my 5 year old knowledge of the Wrangler descent to create a separation.  I needed that time buffer since I was not climbing as fast as my teammates.  By the time we reached the top of the new single track climb, the buffer was gone.  Again, Ken, Pete, Steve and I rode together on the final climb up Morena Stokes Valley Rd.  And again, I could not match Ken and Pete as the pace quickened at the top of the climb and entrance to the Kernan Trail descent.  Ken first, then Pete.  Ken was held up on this legendary DH by a competitor in the Expert under 16-39 class, so Pete was able to close a gap Ken had created.  I trailed by about 10 sec, and was able to make up that time on the downhill.  
On the pavement prior to the finish, we gathered together as a group of 5 including Ken and Pete.  With 200 meters to go, I was in the back.  I sensed a slowing of the group, so I attacked (difficult on a full suspension).  Unfortunately, my lead did not stick and I lost out in the group sprint.  Two in that group were 40+, which pushed me to 7th.   Ken miss-timed the sprint also and got second place to Pete in the 55+ class.  Steve finished 1 minute behind our group and Jeff rolled in shortly after.  Regardless of our placing at the end, we all really enjoyed riding the forgotten trails of the Sagebrush Safari.