2011 TOUR DE MURRIETA 55+ RACE

Story by Mike Birditt/Edited by John McKee

This interesting story is from the view of Mike about himself and his
Swami's teammates at the  2011 Tour de Murrieta and CBR #4.

Tour de Murrieta
Friday(3/11/11)- TT
We have Gary Shuey, Dale Luedtke, and myself.

As has been noted it was a mostly flat TT with a 1 plus mile climb
most of which is on dirt. Pre rode the course and that created as many
questions as it answered. Bottom line was we opted for our normal road
bikes. Turned out to not be the correct decision in hindsight. We had
hoped that Gary would kill it but when you miss your start time(15 to 30 secs)
it's difficult to compete against guys like Kenny Fuller and Malcolm Hill
(Yeah Gary I threw you under the bus...but we still love ya). I did
not do much better, came up on my 30 second guy in the dirt and washed
out a front tire and down I went (Fred move). Scooped up a good amount
of dirt rash, checked the bike and continued. Dale, maybe the only
smart one of our group just rode a nice steady TT, no drama.

Tour de Murrieta TT  (Rank 0.0)
Masters 55+
Place	License	Name	Team	Time	SoCal Points
1	46765	Kenny Fuller	Cycles Veloce	11:20.88	0
2	156650	Malcolm Hill	Breakaway-UBS Elite Masters	11:27.06	0
3	69952	Robert Willcox	UC Cyclery/JW Flooring	11:53.25	0
4	44197	Gary Shuey	Swami's Cycling Club	12:15.13	0
5	54522	Kalman Szkalak	UC Cyclery/JW Flooring	12:29.38	0
6	47255	Michael Birditt	Swami's Cycling Club	12:37.67	0
7	46255	Alex Collins	UC Cyclery/JW Flooring	12:37.75	0
8	15874	Steve Hensler	Team Redlands	12:39.41	0
9	59572	Mark Huffman	Sun Coast Velo	13:07.28	0
10	47262	Dale Luedtke	Swami's Cycling Club	13:08.89	0
11	1254	Mark Ainslie	Ranchos Cycling Club	13:26.24	0
12	95649	Ken Burns	Southern California Velo	14:09.41	0
13	66553	John Sinz	Canyon Velo	15:07.11	0

Tour de Murrieta
Saturday(3/12/11)- Crit

We have Rick Swanson, Gary Shuey, Steve Diamond, and myself. (Dale got
caught out by work)

Same course as last year, I knew it was going to be fast and driven by
the 45's. It was off like a gun, big bang and there were people coming
off right from the start. We had planned to see how it developed and
react from there. After Callville I did not think any 55's would get
away and it would come to a field sprint. With Gary and I only two
points apart it was going to be a stay close to Kenny and Malcolm and
look for a good finish.
I tried several times to test my ability to get to the front. I won't
say it was easy but I did confirm that I could do it when the time
came to move up. I had planned on moving up in increments as the 5 to
go countdown started. Just before then I saw Rick on the sideline having
pulled out. I only saw Gary a couple of times and never did see Steve.
That said it was a technical course and one that requires
concentration or you can go down real quick. They could have been right
next to me the whole race and I would not have known.
5 to go and I start moving up as planned. It really did not get hot
until 3 to go. On the bell lap it was crazy with guys trying to cut
corners and make jumps they could not hold. The last two corners were
all out, bars banging and shoulders hitting, my kind of race !! The
finishing straight is longer than it looks and many just hit it too
hard too early. I had Malcolm and Kenny in sight. Just sitting in
looking for that "window". It opened about 250 from the line on
Kenny's right, no hesitation, I gassed it and passed them both. Bad
thing is you have no idea how you did because we are mixed with the
45's. I knew I was up there but where. My wife was there and said she
did not see any other "yellow" background numbers in front of me.
Ralph soon announced that I had won the crit. After yesterday it felt
good.

Tour de Murrieta GP  (Rank 0.0)
Masters 55+
Place	License	Name	Team	SoCal Points
1	47255	Michael Birditt	Swami's Cycling Club	0
2	46765	Kenny Fuller	Cycles Veloce	0
3	156650	Malcolm Hill	Breakaway-UBS Elite Masters	0
4	46255	Alex Collins	UC Cyclery/JW Flooring	0
5	54522	Kalman Szkalak		0
6	126351	Steve Bernede	Team Werks	0
7	59572	Mark Huffman	Sun Coast Velo	0
8	61193	John Wagenaar	UC Cyclery/JW Flooring	0
9	69952	Robert Willcox	UC Cyclery/JW Flooring	0
10	46688	Michael Mueller	UC Cyclery/JW Flooring	0
11	15874	Steve Hensler	Team Redlands	0
12	44197	Gary Shuey	Swami's Cycling Club	0
13	66553	John Sinz	Canyon Velo	0
14	204365	Cameron Phillips	Cycles Veloce	0
15	95649	Ken Burns	Southern California Velo	0

Sunday(3/13/11) - double duty !!

Dale, Steve, Mike

CBR #4

Dale and I had decided that there was enough time to hit CBR for the
55/60 race then jam to TOM. So here we are at 5:00 am heading to the
new CBR course. Goal today is to get Dale the win. We get there and it
is foggy. Can't wear your glasses kind of foggy. Water dripping from
your helmet foggy. But the ground was dry. Off we go on time for 40
minutes. A slow parade lap so we all see the course. It's undulating
and maybe actually easier to do at speed than if you go easy. My only
job was a lead-out at the end of the race. There were a few moves that
were brought back and it looked like a field sprint for sure. I heard
one announcement for a free entry prime and could not resist. Jumped
away and grabbed it.
Last lap and everyone want Dales wheel. Coming up the little bump to
the last turn we gas it and bring him around the corner, he cuts
underneath and takes off for the win, I fade to the outside and turn
off the gas as 2 others get by before I cross the line. Grabbed our
winnings and off to TOM.
Dale 1st
Mike 4th
Steve 8th

Tour de Murrieta
Sunday Circuit Race

Today we have Rick Swanson, Dale Luedtke, Gary Shuey, Steve Diamond
and myself.

It was all about trying to protect my place on GC, I was currently in
3rd. I have not had good luck with this course. Last year I got spit
out so fast I wanted a refund. I was wondering how I would hold up
this year. Same objective as yesterday, watch Kenny and Malcolm. I
really doubted anyone would let anyone escape from the 55's. It was
drilled from the start and like yesterday people were popping from the
get go. I sat in at the back and felt pretty comfortable. Nothing much
happened until we got toward the end. With two laps to go we were
neutralized while the 35+ passed us. That was not a good thing. We are
now on the bell lap and I'm moving up. Back side of the course and I'm
on Malcolm's wheel and can see Kenny just ahead. I'm thinking this is
good. Right spot at the right time of the race. On the last little
bump, the one that starts out wide and closes in, well they all
squeeze in and a donkey panics and comes across my wheel. Puts his
derailleur into my front wheels spokes. I don't go down (damn close)
but lose all my speed and at least 20 positions. Oh, this is not good.
Now the gas is on and moving up is not easy. Dale comes up and I grab
his wheel, I swear he hit warp factor 10 and off we go. He pulled like
a monster and we got back some places but in the end I finished 6th.
Now for the interesting thing. It seems that if one reads the official
race flyer they posted a points format to be followed, They in fact
did follow the posted points format for the Pro/1 and Cat 2's but did
not follow it for the other cats. That has an impact on my final
placing. According to their results I was first listed as 3rd. They reworked the
points and I ended up tied in points but placed 4th because Kal finished
higher in the last race of the Ominium(tiebreaker). If they had followed their race
flyer points system I would still be 3rd. Another finish mess. In the
big picture it matters not, a whole $4 and 2 SoCal Points. (Below the days
race results are the GC overall results)

Tour de Murrieta CR  (Rank 0.0)
Masters 55+
Place	License	Name	Team	SoCal Points
1	46765	Kenny Fuller	Cycles Veloce	0
2	156650	Malcolm Hill	Breakaway-UBS Elite Masters	0
3	54522	Kalman Szkalak		0
4	15874	Steve Hensler	Team Redlands	0
5	59572	Mark Huffman	Sun Coast Velo	0
6	47255	Michael Birditt	Swami's Cycling Club	0
7	47262	Dale Luedtke	Swami's Cycling Club	0
8	162650	Jim Parkhurst	Team Simple Green/Bike Religion	0
9	46255	Alex Collins	UC Cyclery/JW Flooring	0
10	61193	John Wagenaar	UC Cyclery/JW Flooring	0
11	46688	Michael Mueller	UC Cyclery/JW Flooring	0
12	1254	Mark Ainslie	Ranchos Cycling Club	0
13	69952	Robert Willcox	UC Cyclery/JW Flooring	0
14	202041	Mark Planellas	Southern California Velo	0
15	126351	Steve Bernede	Team Werks	0
16	48760	John Rubcic	Sun Coast Velo	0
17	50765	Richard Roberson	Sun Coast Velo	0
18	204365	Cameron Phillips	Cycles Veloce	0
19	170892	Fernon Lozano	Team Velosport Club	0
20	250331	Peter Dufour	ACQUA AL 2/SDBC	0
21	222523	Rick Carrera	Team Simple Green/Bike Religion	0
22	178495	Steve Diamond	Swami's Cycling Club	0
23	151059	Joseph Mastro	Team Velocity	0
24	95649	Ken Burns	Southern California Velo	0
25	51005	Timothy Nicholson	Berkeley Bicycle Club (BBC)	0

Tour de Murrieta GC  (Rank 2.0)
Masters 55+
Place	License	Name	Team	SoCal Points
1	46765	Kenny Fuller	Cycles Veloce	28
2	156650	Malcolm Hill	Breakaway-UBS Elite Masters	22
3	54522	Kalman Szkalak		20
4	47255	Michael Birditt	Swami's Cycling Club	18
5	46255	Alex Collins	UC Cyclery/JW Flooring	16
6	59572	Mark Huffman	Sun Coast Velo	14
7	15874	Steve Hensler	Team Redlands	12
8	69952	Robert Willcox	UC Cyclery/JW Flooring	10
9	44197	Gary Shuey	Swami's Cycling Club	8
10	47262	Dale Luedtke	Swami's Cycling Club	6
11	61193	John Wagenaar	UC Cyclery/JW Flooring	4
12	46688	Michael Mueller	UC Cyclery/JW Flooring	2
13	126351	Steve Bernede	Team Werks	0
14	1254	Mark Ainslie	Ranchos Cycling Club	0
15	66553	John Sinz	Canyon Velo	0
16	162650	Jim Parkhurst	Team Simple Green/Bike Religion	0
17	202041	Mark Planellas	Southern California Velo	0
18	204365	Cameron Phillips	Cycles Veloce	0
19	95649	Ken Burns	Southern California Velo	0