March 21, 2013
The Epic Brewing/MTBRaceNews.com team is returning all five
team members for the 2013 season as well as many of the sponsors that helped
make the 2012 campaign so successful. Epic Brewing, Utah’s premier microbrewery,
is returning as the team’s title sponsor. Epic Brewing’s biggest move of 2013
however will be the opening of its newest brewery right in the heart of Denver,
Colorado. Our team is also proud to represent some of the most trusted names in
mountain biking today including Stan’s No Tubes, Pivot Cycles, Kali
Protectives, Ergon, CarboRocket, Continental Tires, DNA Cycling, Honey Stinger,
Go Ride Bikes and Xpedo pedals.
The team will be competing on the all-new Pivot Mach 429
Carbon and Les frames in all racing formats from cross-country to enduros to
hundred-milers.
The team’s strong female contingent includes Karen Potter
(Shrewsbury, MA) and Jen Hanks (Salt Lake City, UT). Karen has been an elite level mountain bike
racer for over 10 years, with the last five years focused on ultra-endurance
racing. Career highlights include a 2nd
place women’s overall at the inaugural Transylvania Mountain Bike Epic Stage
Race as well as podium finishes at multiple NUE races including multiple
seconds at Shenandoah 100, Lumberjack 100, and Pisgah Mountain Bike Stage
Race. When not riding, Karen works as a
massage therapist on both humans and horses!
The rest of her time is spent walking her adorable pug Bruschi.
Jen Hanks finished the 2012 season as the Utah State
Championship Series overall Pro Women champ.
She is two for two in 2013. She
won the pro women races at ICUP #1 and True Grit 50. In addition to racing, Jen facilitates
numerous women’s skills clinics where often times over 40 women participate to
hone their skills. She also volunteers
at Utah High School Mountain Bike races as a girl’s category sweeper where she
encourages high school girls new to racing.
When not racing and volunteering, Jen works as an occupational therapist
in the public schools helping students with disabilities access their
education.
Jen Hanks on top of the podium at True Grit 50
The men’s side of the team includes Shannon Boffeli (Salt
Lake City, UT), Matt Williams (Waterbury, VT), and Jens Raz (San Diego,
CA).
Shannon Boffeli, the founder and inspiration behind MTBRaceNews.com,
has been racing mountain bikes since 1992, and as a pro for ten years. He created MTBRaceNews.com to fill the gap
in mountain bike race coverage that left some of America’s premier MTB events
without media attention or national recognition. Career highlights include
top-10 finishes at TransAlps and TransRockies, plus a third place singlespeed
finish at the 2013 NUE#1, True Grit 100. Additionally, Shannon is co-founder of
the Park City Point 2 Point and the Utah State Championship Series. It is also rumored that he is behind Salt
Lake’s uber-popular, top-secret, underground short track racing series, Bush
League Short Track.
Shannon Boffeli racing to a 3rd place singlespeed finish in the True Grit 100
(photo: Crawling Spider)
Matt Williams is a perennial leader in the Northeast
Mountain Bike scene. He has coached
collegiate mountain bike teams, promoted races, raised money for mountain bike
scholarship programs that provide bikes and mentorship to middle school girls,
and conducted skills clinics and bicycle repair clinics.
Matt Williams helped raise $1400 for Mountain Moxie a scholarship program
to provide bikes and mentorship to middle school girls in Vermont
Matt is also pretty darn fast too. He is a 5x collegiate national championship
podium finisher. He also has finished 2nd
at the Swank 65 MTB race, 5th at the Vermont 50 MTB race, and 5th
at ORAMM. Matt races as a Pro in
everything from short tracks to hundred-milers to enduros. He was on the top step of the podium four
times in 2012.
Jens Raz is a mainstay in the southern California endurance
racing scene. You name the race and Jens will be there. Raz is a frequent flyer
on the expert/Cat 1 podium too taking top finishes at the Big Bear 50 and
several installments of the 12 Hours of Temecula. Jens is just as fond of racing on the Velodrome as off-road! He has been involved in
numerous mountain bike skills clinics exposing new riders to the joy of
mountain biking. Jens’ biggest
accomplishment in 2013 is becoming a first time dad.
The Epic Brewing/MTBRaceNews.com team will be attending some
of the biggest, most exciting races around the country. Look for them sporting
their kelly green jerseys at Whiskey 50, Sea Otter Classic, Marathon Nationals,
Trans-Sylvania Epic, multiple legs of the National Ultra Endurance series, and
many more.