Carbon Shreds at Moab

By Mark Jespersen

The Carbon mountain bike team packed up their bikes and headed to the Bar M trail in Moab last weekend. The Moab course is one of the longer courses with technical rocky sections, slick rock sections and wide open two track for the riders to go fast.

This was the third race of the season and the last for the Jr. Devo group (seventh and eighth graders). It was also a chance for the high school racers to continue their steady improvement and positioning in the Central Region. With each race, there is a little more pressure for our riders to perform as region and state championships are around the corner.

Andrew Loveless, in the Jr. Devo group, went all out on the course and finished with a strong third-place finish and a spot on the Jr. Devo podium. This was his second third-place finish out of three races. Our other Jr. Devo group raced a tough, challenging course and sometimes you just have to run it out when you get a mechanical failure – great job Teagan Robison for not giving up.

Starting the day off for the high school riders, Craig Olson was the points leader of the Central Region, putting a big target on his back. Pushing hard in the first 6.8 mile lap, Olson was able to create some real distance and continued that fast pace over the next two laps. After 20 miles, Olson won again by four minutes. Joining him as the new leader in his group, Boyd Bradford found some inner confidence and pulled away on the second lap to take first. Colin Fausett wasn’t too far behind Bradford, taking fourth and earning a spot on the podium as well with his teammate.

Carbon’s lone girl rider, Lindsey Jespersen, continues her strong first season, moving up again to take fourth place. There’s a group of five JV girls that are within 10 seconds of each other, making for some great individual battles and finishes.

Again, Carbon was well represented with many riders in the top 10 and other teams have taken notice of their strong riding ability. The next race is in Richfield and is the region championship. Go Carbon!