San Luis Rey 60+

By John McKee

It is May 3rd, 2009 and the reconfigured San Luis Rey Road Race was scheduled for the 60+ group to go off at 7:40 am. 5 minutes after the 55+ and 10 minutes after the 45+. 25 guys are signed up to do the race. 9 don't show. Not sure why. The old course which used Hwy 395 was out so the course was shortened and made easier because of the lack of "The Climb". Some of the 60+ heavy hitters choose not to race in 60+ but to race down in 55+. That being Kenny Fuller and James Morehouse. The Frenchman doesn't show and Bruce Steele has a bad cold and decides to bag it before he comes down. Butch Richardson is in the hospital recovering thankfully from a very bad crash. The field sounds a little denuded but the show goes on. Right! The favorite now had to be John Rubcic. John has been riding so well the last couple of years that he has raced in 60+. John use to be mainly a sprinter but since he retired he didn't have the doughnuts and other high calorie enticements that were around the US Post Office. Since his retirement to Hemet he spends his mornings climbing mountains and not eating junk. Citrus Valley Velo had 3 good riders and wanted to team up against John. 2 of them were complaining heavily before the race. Paul "Jerry" Springer was complaining about being fat. I know fat and thats not fat. He may have a few extra but Paul is riding well. Phil Richards had a litany of problems starting with the new shoes. Phil has a leg length differential and uses a shim to build up the short leg so when he gets the new shoes he takes the shim out of the old shoe and puts it in the shoe that matches the longest leg. After a week of riding Phil figures out something is wrong. Lol. Phil hit 60 this year so expect more things to happen like this.
Glenn Town was there in his Simple Fit outfit but no one knew who he was or at least I didn't. Glenn is mainly a climber and doesn't race much with us but can climb with the best our age.
OK. 15 riders start off at 7:45 am although 16 were there. Dan Crain was racing his first race in a Paramount jersey and was at his car making a last minute adjustment to his bike. He chased the entire race because he missed the start.
The race starts off and its all downhill so nothing is going to happen. Everyone makes the left onto the flat stretch and its a Sunday training ride. Every now and then Benji Maciel would go off and either myself or one of the other riders would chase him. Everyone is together going up the hill for the first time until Glenn Town puts a little pressure on. I don't think he was totally putting the hammer down but this split the field up anyway. 7 riders went with him. Paul Springer took over for Glen.
Paul can't help himself. He likes to ride at the front. The pace was comfortable enough but 2/3 the way up John Rubcic puts in a harder effort and everyone had to step it up. Don Kimper and myself fell off the pace. Further up John put in another effort and Paul cracked a bit.
At the turnaround it was John, Benji, Glen, Phil, and Mike Crystal. Mike is rounding back into form. Going down the hill Paul caught back on and myself and Don worked together basically for the rest of the race a ways off the lead group.
The magic six kept together until sometime after the turnaround. Paul Springer went off on a solo effort and wasn't caught until the right turn for home. Once caught it was a waiting game until Glenn Town went to the front and put the hammer down. Paul went out the back first, then Phil, and Mike. John Rubcic said he was on the edge with Glenn pushing the pace. Once over the hump the finish was a foregone conclusion. John out sprinted Glenn for the victory and Benji was a bike length behind Glenn. This is the finish as I know it now(7 more riders finished but unsure of the order):

San Luis Rey Road Cycling Classic (Rank 2.0)
Masters 60+
Place	License	Name	Team	SoCal Points
1	48760	John Rubcic	UC Cyclery/JW Flooring	28
2	205555	Glenn Town	Simply Fit/Action Sports	22
3	275832	Benjamin Maciel	Citrus Valley Velo	20
4	8283	Michael Crystal	CA Pools Racing	18
5	238828	Phillip Richards	Citrus Valley Velo	16
6	33679	Paul Springer	Citrus Valley Velo	14
7	180386	John McKee	Paramount Racing	12
8	195498	Donald Kimper	ACQUA AL 2/San Diego Bicycle Club	10
9	203244	Cary Alpert	South Bay Wheelmen	8
10	115793	Jim Roebuck	Southern California Velo	6
11	45763	Robert Paganini	Pasadena Athletic Assoc (PAA)	4
12	45342	Domenick Forte	PAA / RE/MAX	2
13		David Schechatman		0
14	223119	C Kevin Post	South Bay Wheelmen	0
15	246256	Daniel Crain	Unattached	0
16	235545	Link Lindquist	Unattached	0