Moreno Steps it Up at Ontario for 55/60+ Racers

By John McKee

On a day when age proved to be insurmountable for EVERYONE even Tom Watson and Lance Armstrong. First Tom Watson at age 59 having a chance to win the British Open with a par on the last hole boogies it. He then fell apart in a 2 up playoff. He would have been the oldest person by far to win a major golf tournament. Then Lance also showed his age when he couldn't answer Schleck and then the Wiggins group on the climb to Verbier. Age is a bitch and then you get older. LOL. I have to say that the scenery in Hi Def on Versus was fantasic. Now compare that to the scenery and the smells of Ontario, California. Now thats a big LOL. Thats where the 55/60+ racers were today July 19, 2009 at Ontario # 4 Criterium. Ray Moreno the promoter of the Ontario race series stepped it up a bit for the 55/60+ racers with $200 in prize money, good start time at 8:05 am and pre reg until the Wed. before without a late fee. Thank you! I wonder how this all happened. I must take some credit but Dale Luedtke and Kal Szlalak had been pestering Ray for some time to get us some cash. 34 riders lined up at 8:05 am with 13 55s, 19 60s(good job 60s) and 2 gals that didn't show in the final official placings so it is unknown what cat they were racing. One of the gals dropped out early and it is unknown what happened to the stronger woman. 40 minutes of racing in pretty warm conditions. Early and there was a cloud cover which made it a bit humid and sticky. Kind of what it is like in the Eastern US this time of year but milder. The race started out rather mild with Mark (Mr. Tempo) Wisnosky of SDBC doing a lot of the tempo work in the race. It didn't take long before Phil (The Jumping Bean) Richards jumped the field. Phil has to ice down his knees and ankles after every ride but always races aggressively. Phil is retiring from being a postal carrier to being a full time cyclist in retirement. Seems like we have been down this path before with JR. Phil is either going to fall apart and or get better. Phil lasted a couple of laps and there was no major chase but the pressure was kept up. Not many slow periods today. You knew Kal was going to make a major move and he did about 6 or 7 laps into the race. He did on the top of the course where there are 2 corners to go to the finish line. When he jumped I shouted at Bruce Steele to get on him and I got on Bruce. Monty Pettus also of Paramount got on my wheel. We started to work it and had a small gap but it was closed down by someone and Kal threw in the towel. I think Kal was looking for a stronger mix of riders. We were all 60+.The next move several laps later proved to decisive. Kal jumped with Ricky Shorts. Craig Jones who is showing excellent form took off slowly. No one got on his wheel and he made it across the gap to make the break group 3. Howard Miller, Rino Barbagiovanni, George Chester, and Bruce Steele were trying to chase down the 55+ racers. I tried to make a jump to get across the gap or get us close and then let someone else finish off the break. I closed the gap in half but ran out of gas and Dale Luedtke used this as an opportunity to get across. Dale went by without his usual speed thinking I could catch on but the fuel tank was saying empty for myself. I needed to sit in and refuel. Dale made it and this looked like it but the pesky Howard Miller and Georger Chester redoubled their efforts to actually reel in the group. Ricky was spent and dropped back but Kal wouldn't give up and kept going. The 3 remaining riders started to slowly pull away again. Astonishingly the 3 got away again! The 55+ fire power wasn't there and without any 60s in the group there was little encouragement for them to bring the break group back. The 3 break riders worked together well this time and they got pretty far up the road with 3 laps to go. No bringing them back. All during the chases UCC member John Edwards was doing a good job jumping on the different chases and legally disrupting the chases. This is John's first race back in a while. John got knocked down on the road by a trailer with a boat on it and broke his arm badly. Nice to see John back. I saw John about a month ago on the Wed. Oceanside ride through Camp Pendleton. Hard fast ride and John was using it to hone his race skills. Glad to have you back, John. The break group had the finish stamped all over it. Craig Jones knew it. Kal and Dale knew. In fact everyone knew it. Sorry, Craig. Craig worked on the last lap with the knowledge he was riding with the 2 fastest finishers in 55/60+ racing. Yikes. Craig did some work near the end of the last lap and then Kal pulled through with Dale on his wheel. Was the finish in doubt. NO but that was for 55+. Dale won with Kal second and Craig third.

All the 60+ racers were in the bunch. The last 3 laps were a bit dicey because no one wanted to give themselves up to ride tempo. I encouraged Steve Borer from mid pack to pace. He was at the front. Steve did do some good work. With 2 laps to go I asked PAA member Cully White if he would help me on the last 2 laps. He said he would. Cully has come back to racing after a layoff. Cully finished 2nd at MBGP in 55+ a few years ago. Cully kept me in good position. The last lap came and it was bunchy and bouncy for the pack. With 2 corners to go on the last lap Howard Miller made a jump for it on the outside of the pack. Ricky Shorts got going seeing this as an opportunity(Ricky couldn't get his brother out to race). I also saw this and jumped but a few seconds late. We got going wide and Howard and Ricky had a great line through the last corner. I jumped on a train with Loren Stephens, Mike Fleming and Monty Pettus. I knew being on Monty's wheel at the end of a race is always a good place to be. Coming home Howard faded a bit but Ricky came on to win the bunch sprint. Monty waited to about 150 meters and jumped Fleming and Stephens. I also went but didn't get out of the saddle. Doh! Monty won the 60+ sprint over Fleming. I was coming on but didn't have it to take Mike and finished 3rd. Mike Duck was also coming on and passed Loren for 4th in 60+. Loren was 5th. Howard Miller finished 5th in 55+ with John Edwards taking 6th. Ernie Hoffer in his best race so far this season finished 6th in 60+. The overall speed per several riders was over 25 mph with the average wattage at 260 watts. Good hard race. The complete placings were:

Ontario GP (Rank 1.0)
Masters 60+
Place
License
Name
Team
SoCal Points
1
219074
Leo Pettus
Paramount Racing
14
2
129293
Michael Fleming
Coates /On Deck Foundation
11
3
180386
John McKee
Paramount Racing
10
4
58170
Sydney Duck
Unattached
9
5
234791
Loren Stephens
EDGE Racing
8
6
57726
Ernest Hoffer
EDGE Racing
7
7
236498
Bruce Steele
South Bay Wheelmen
6
8
61278
Mario Seri
Kahala LaGrange
5
9
171652
Stephen Whitsitt
South Bay Wheelmen
4
10
45763
Robert Paganini
Pasadena Athletic Assoc (PAA)
3
11
50498
Richard Rodriguez
Nytro Racing
2
12
101582
William Carvin
Unattached
1
13
47098
Peter Volpe
Pasadena Athletic Assoc (PAA)
0
14
45342
Domenick Forte
PAA / RE/MAX
0
15
188249
Cully White
PAA / RE/MAX
0
16
223119
C Kevin Post
South Bay Wheelmen
0
17
56242
Edward Keck
Velo Avanti Cycling Team
0

Ontario GP (Rank 1.0)
Masters 55+
Place
License
Name
Team
SoCal Points
1
47262
Dale Luedtke
UC Cyclery/JW Flooring
14
2
54522
Kalman Szkalak
UC Cyclery/JW Flooring
11
3
18156
Craig Jones
Velo Avanti Cycling Team
10
4
52251
Ricky Shorts
Velo Allegro
9
5
49424
Howard Miller
Paramount Racing
8
6
46547
John Edwards
UC Cyclery/JW Floors
7
7
49110
Rino Barbagiovanni
Santa Clarita Velo
6
8
297255
Mitchell Odell
Unattached
5
9
196820
George Chester
Amgen Cycling Club
4
10
243425
mark wisnosky
ACQUA AL 2/San Diego Bicycle Club
3
11
155459
Thomas Reilly
Pasadena Athletic Assoc (PAA)
2
12
228631
James Swigart
ACQUA AL 2/San Diego Bicycle Club
1
13
245777
Steven Borer
Citrus Valley Velo

Thats all for now folks! Train hard and race safe!