2009 YEAR END REVIEW 55/60+ RACING

By John McKee

When I mentioned I was going to write a year end review I didn't realize what a monumental task this would be. There were LOTS of races and LOTS of different championships that many of you raced in and won or did well in. The season had many highs and lows. The low in our sport is a crash or worse a tangle with a automobile and a number of you did that in 2009.

I have to think back to the "Wide World of Sports". I use to watch it most every Saturday from 5 pm to 6:30 pm. You all must remember the "thrill of victory and agony of defeat". In the agony of defeat some poor athlete messed up in the ski jump and wipes out really bad. ABC showed that every week. Some claim to fame.

Those that I know that tangled with cars are Steve Horine, John Edwards, Barney Feigenbaum and Ernie Hoffer. Not sure what happened to Steve but I know John Edwards got smacked by a trailer, Barney had a car turn in front of him and he did a 360 over it. I am saving the worst for last. Ever set up on the street in front of your house thinking about getting a good training ride in. Ernie Hoffer did but much to his surprise a neighbor had something different in store for Ernie.

His neighbor slammed into the back of Ernie sending him through the windshield backward and then as a late panic maneuver the neighbor puts on the brakes. A little late right. This sends Ernie flying out and onto the street many feet from the car. Ernie had a number of broken bones including in his face but is recovering and hopes to race again in 2010. What are neighbors for but a good takeout.

There were a lot of high moments in the season and many of you had some great races and have medals and jerseys to show for it but one person comes to mind and that is Kenny Fuller. Kenny has been winning medals and championship jerseys most of his life but had a mind blowing great year in 2009. Kenny doesn't enter many local races but builds his form for the "big fish". The one that usually gets away from the rest of us but Kenny bagged a good number in 2009. Kenny won the SCNCA TT and road championship building his form. Kenny went to Natz in Louisville, Kent. and destroyed everyone else in each of his races-TT, road and then criterium. Kenny bagged his 38th National Championship. Kenny took his great form to Worlds and won the TT and podiumed the road race. If that wasn't enough Kenny heard about the one hour record for masters and thought he would give it a go. Roger Young the director of the LA Velodrome worked with Kenny on a plan to break the one hour record in the 60+ category. Keith Ketterer of Amgen was also going for a record on the same day in the 50+ category.

The deal in the one hour record is to go as hard as you can for one hour on a closed velodrome and see how far you went. With a UCI official there Kenny went further than anyone had before. A new world record! Now if that isn't a great way to cap off a season. KK by the way also set a record in the 50+ category.

The racing season for us mere mortal type racers started in Imperial Beach in El Centro and Mothballs in Santa Barbara. Dale Luedtke entered the 55+ category in 2009 and with Kal Szkalak also of UC Cyclery/JW Flooring gave the 55+ and 55/60+ races a speed surge at the end that amazed me and most everyone. Kal was fast but Dale was really fast. Dale showed his great form throughout the 2009 season and won many races as did Kal.

UCC/JW Flooring proved to be the dominate team with John Rubcic also of UCC/JW Flooring cleaning up in the 60+ category making things very difficult for all 55/60+ racers with this lethal mix of very fast racers.

The 2009 season wasn't all about the favorites winning. Take the SCNCA Masters Championship in Dom. Hills hosted by Paramount Racing. Yes the 55+ race had Dale, Kal and Carlos Soto finishing in that order as you might expect but the 60+ race had a surprise finish. A 5 pack of riders shed Phil Richards and John McKee leaving Bruce Steele, John Rubcic, and Kenny Fuller. Coming into the last lap Bruce knew he had to do something exceptional or JR would outsprint everyone at the finish. With a little less than one lap to go Bruce made a move on the downhill northside. John R was hoping Kenny would chase but Kenny wouldn't chase leaving Bruce off into a twilight zone that he had nevered experienced before in bike racing. Bruce gave it 100%. He was as they call in Vegas "All In". John Rubcic decided he couldn't wait any longer and made a desperate chase with 2 corners to go but alas Bruce had done it. This day, this race Bruce Steele was the winner and champion! I love stories like this because I always liked the underdog. Whenever I saw a 50s cowboy and Indian movie back in the day I always rooted for the men of color but I knew the pale faces would win in the end.

The 55+ road race was won by Kal in a small field sprint in Bakersfield. I already mentioned that Kenny won the 60+ race as I mentioned Kenny won the 60+ SCNCA TT. The 55+ was sweep by TTing specialists. I must say I have some disdain for those that only do TTs when we are trying to build group racing in our categories but I do understand some of the reasons...crashes.

The MBGP is proably the biggest non champ race on the calendar. Paul Rodiguez won the 55+ category in a break which was great for him and UCC/JW Flooring but slowed the pace behind him and bunched everyone up. John Rubcic won out in the 60+ race as was pretty much the custom when John lined up. John had a great year and won MBGP with a soft cast on his arm from a training accident.

There were many of you that podiumed at Natz on the road, cyclocross or the track. I will try to include everyone but if I leave you off, let me know about it. At the road championships in Louisville we know that Kenny Fuller proved to be super human but Gary DeVoss managed to podium in the 65+ criterium. Fritz Tomasello with his teammate Dave Prechtl won the 110 division in a 2 up sprint in the road race as you can see in the photo.

In cyclocross Natz Bob Llamas placed 2nd in 65+ in Bend, Org. with freezing weather. John Rubcic placed 6th in 60+ which is one off the podium and this author knows what that feels like. Lousy!

In track Natz racing held in Colorado Chuck Watson showed great form and won the red, white and blue jersey in the 65+ points race. Barney Feigenbaum was 3rd. Chuck also got 3rd in the 65+ sprint while trackie Steve Whitsitt placed 3rd in the 60+ points race.

Trully sorry I couldn't mention more names and get more of you in my report but I think the final SCNCA points standing are a good way to get more people some acclaim for their racing efforts. The final points standing are a result of your placings and the number of events that you pointed in. The final standings for the top 10 racers in 55+ and 60+ were:

SoCal Cup Standings For 2009

Masters 60+

Place	Name	License #	Team Name	SoCal Points
1	John Rubcic	48760	UC Cyclery/JW Flooring	302
2	Bruce Steele	236498	South Bay Wheelmen	226
3	Kenny Fuller	46765	Team Simple Green	188
4	John McKee	180386	Paramount Racing	178
5	Paul Springer	33679	Citrus Valley Velo	165
6	Loren Stephens	234791	EDGE Racing	149
7	Benjamin Maciel	275832	Citrus Valley Velo	148
8	Leo Pettus	219074	Paramount Racing	140
9	Michael Fleming	129293	Coates Cyclery Cycling Club	124
10	Phillip Richards	238828	Citrus Valley Velo	97
11	James Morehouse	283640	Paramount Racing	87
12	Donald Kimper	195498	ACQUA AL 2/SDBC	82
13	Michael Crystal	8283	CA Pools Racing	80
14	Glenn Town	205555	Simply Fit/Action Sports	66
15	Mario Seri	61278	Kahala LaGrange	59
16	Steve Close	204901	Team Chicken Ranch	59
17	Stephen Whitsitt	171652	South Bay Wheelmen	55
18	Domenick Forte	45342	PAA / RE/MAX	48
19	Joseph Wells	48252	EDGE Racing	45
20	Robert Paganini	45763	Pasadena Athletic Assoc (PAA)	42
21	Richard Rodriguez	50498	DARE	41
22	Glenn Baldwin	45047	SLO Nexus-Gym One	38
23	William Langstaff	49334	Cycles Veloce	36
24	Sydney Duck	58170	Unattached	34
25	Scott Hennessy	15827	VOS Racing	33
26	Warren Keyser	180504	Bike Religion	33
27	James Heise	163415	South Bay Wheelmen	31
28	Michael Barnes	220804	Rock Solid Cycling	31
29	Alan Morrison	166644	TBS Racing	27
30	Jim Roebuck	115793	Southern California Velo	25
31	William Carvin	101582	Unattached	23
32	Vicente Gomez	3794	Team Simple Green	21
33	Cully White	188249	PAA / RE/MAX	21
34	Daniel Crain	246256	Paramount Racing	20
35	Ernest Hoffer	57726	EDGE Racing	20
36	Cary Alpert	203244	South Bay Wheelmen	18
37	Peter Schindler	98729	8th Wonder Cycling	18
38	Charles (Chuck) Watson	37370	South Bay Wheelmen	16
39	Richard Lilleberg	64127	South Bay Wheelmen	16
40	Michael Edwards	50406	Kahala LaGrange	15

SoCal Cup Standings For 2009

Masters 55+

Place	Name	License #	Team Name	SoCal Points
1	Kalman Szkalak	54522	UC Cyclery/JW Flooring	354
2	Dale Luedtke	47262	UC Cyclery/JW Flooring	321
3	Richard Pollock	219983	Citrus Valley Velo	188
4	Warren Wicks	202108	Swami's Cycling Club	145
5	Ricky Shorts	52251	Velo Allegro	125
6	Albert Shorts	230085	Velo Allegro	110
7	Howard Miller	49424	Paramount Racing	109
8	Paul Rodriguez	58847	UC Cyclery/JW Flooring	87
9	Donald Davidson	48278	Citrus Valley Velo	76
10	Craig Jones	18156	Velo Avanti Cycling Team	75
11	Mark Huffman	59572	UC Cyclery/JW Flooring	75
12	Carlos Soto	47380	Unattached	74
13	Karl Weber	47819	CA Pools Racing	72
14	Mitchell Weinstock	55591	UC Cyclery/JW Flooring	72
15	Steve Bernede	126351	Team Simple Green	68
16	Raphael Gomez	3793	Team Simple Green	67
17	Richard Stahlberg	50911	Ironfly	56
18	Rick Swanson	34753	Acme Racing	55
19	Kenny Fuller	46765	Team Simple Green	50
20	Rino Barbagiovanni	49110	Santa Clarita Velo	49
21	John Rubcic	48760	UC Cyclery/JW Flooring	44
22	James King	226956	Unattached	44
23	David Holt	182726	Sho-air/Sonance	42
24	William Tippets	125634	UC Cyclery/JW Flooring	40
25	Wayne Rosenkrantz	30596	EDGE Racing	39
26	Reed Moore	61353	UC Cyclery/JW Flooring	38
27	George Chester	196820	Amgen Cycling Club	37
28	Bob Guglielmelli	14374	Central Coast Magazine	35
29	Stanley Appel	1825	Fog Racing	35
30	Thomas Reilly	155459	Pasadena Athletic Assoc (PAA)	34
31	David Kelley	65663	Alto Velo Racing Club	33
32	Steven Borer	245777	ACQUA AL 2/SDBC	29
33	Stephen Horine	195618	UC Cyclery/JW Flooring	27
34	Brad Holland	244084	Pasadena Athletic Assoc (PAA)	25
35	Eric Nelson	108843	SLO Nexus-Gym One	25
36	Mike Marotta	72880	Simply Fit/Action Sports	24
37	John Wagnon	266614	Liquid Fitness/Adageo Energy Reno	23
38	Hans Jorgensen	222120	Unattached	21
39	Todd Schooler	49144	Alliance Cycling Team	21
40	Henry Pfister	187845	Simply Fit/Action Sports	20

That's all for now folks! Train hard and race safe!