55+ SCNCA 2010 ROAD CHAMPIONSHIP

By Bob Willcox

UCC/JW FLOORING

 

A truly team effort resulted in 1st and 2nd at the 55+ State RR championships in Bakersfield.  At the pre-race meeting, UCC planned to attack immediately on the 31 mile course.  Steve Horine and Rick Roberson got a 300 meter gap up the first 2 mile climb, and made the contenders chase constantly.  When those two got caught, Reed Moore and Mitch Weinstock attacked and this continued with John Wagenaar.  Paul Rodriguez and Dale Luedtke controlled the front and protected the rest of us.  By the time we got to the 4 mile climb midway through, Paul Rodriguez was off the front w/ 2 others from another team.  Bob Willcox attacked at the beginning of the climb to further soften the other teams.   Soon, the group caught up to Bob, and immediately Mike Mueller attacked alone, soon bridged up to Paul, and then left them on his own.  He stayed away the entire climb and descent, and the first 6 miles of the rollers back to the finish.  This was the key to the race, because after all the UCC  attacks, the other teams were tired and just waiting for the race to be over.  As Mike finally got pulled back in, Mitch and Mark went up to help Mike until the pack bridged up.  Mark and Mitch attacked again, and the group chased, all the while with UCC guys resting.  After coming back together Bob asked Kal if he should attack when he could get some separation and Kal said sure!  After a few more UCC attacks were caught, Bob attacked to make sure the other teams were tired by the sprint.  Bob got a good gap with over 4 miles to go and Reed soon  bridged up solo.  The two traded pulls for a few miles, then Eddie M. from Amgen bridged up and it was 4 of us out front.  Bob noticed Eddie resting up for the finale right after his first pull so Bob attacked again with 2.7 miles to go.  He got a good gap, and knowing that Reed would be fresh on Eddie's wheel, Bob kept going and pulled out a solo win.  Kal Szkalak won the field sprint for 2nd about 15 seconds later.
The quote of the day was from Mike, when he saw Bob get a quick gap - "Bob can win this" - thanks for the boost guys!  It was a phenomenal team effort as everyone put the team first and executed exactly what we planned.  Great job everyone.  I'm really proud to be part of this team and so glad I didn't let you guys down!

 

Master Road Race Championship  (Rank 3.0)
Masters 55+
Place	License	Name	Team	SoCal Points
1	69952	Robert Willcox	UC Cyclery/JW Flooring	42
2	54522	Kalman Szkalak	UC Cyclery/JW Flooring	33
3	72880	Mike Marotta	Simply Fit/Action Sports	30
4	202108	Warren Wicks	Swami's Cycling Club	27
5	52251	Ricky Shorts	Velo Allegro	24
6	202041	Mark Planellas	Southern California Velo	21
7	126351	Steve Bernede	Unattached	18
8	59572	Mark Huffman	UC Cyclery/JW Flooring	15
9	55591	Mitchell Weinstock	UC Cyclery/JW Flooring	12
10	204724	Steve Cahill	Moonlight Velo	9
11	287584	Charlie Tatarian	Canyon Velo	6
12	58847	Paul Rodriguez	UC Cyclery/JW Flooring	3
13	49191	Kim Bleth	Platinum Performance Cycling Team	0
14	55635	Pedro Ordaz	Unattached	0
15	44197	Gary Shuey	Citrus Valley Velo	0
16	247382	Richard Gentili	Citrus Valley Velo	0
17	61353	Reed Moore	UC Cyclery/JW Flooring	0
18	46688	Michael Mueller	UC Cyclery/JW Flooring	0
19	49080	Eddie Morris	Amgen-UBS Elite Masters	0
20	49110	Rino Barbagiovanni	Santa Clarita Velo	0
21	14374	Bob Guglielmelli	Central Coast Tire CCT	0
22	50765	Richard Roberson	UC Cyclery/JW Flooring	0
23	47262	Dale Luedtke	UC Cyclery/JW Flooring	0
24	47255	Michael Birditt	Swami's Cycling Club	0
25	230085	Albert Shorts	Velo Allegro	0
26	95649	Ken Burns	Southern California Velo	0
27	61193	John Wagenaar	UC Cyclery/JW Flooring	0
28	15625	Demi Hechanova	Southern California Velo	0
29	269972	Fred Haim	Herbalife LaGrange	0
30	46255	Alex Collins	Canyon Velo	0
31	245777	Steven Borer	ACQUA AL 2/SDBC	0
32	273411	Paul Anderson	South Bay Wheelmen	0
33	195618	Stephen Horine	UC Cyclery/JW Flooring	0
34	170892	Fernan Lozano	Sho-air/Sonance	0
35	66553	John Sinz	Canyon Velo	0