REILLY SOLOS IN/MAROTTA CONTINUES HOT RIDE@CHUCK PONTIUS

By John McKee

It is April 24th, 2011 and the Chuck Pontius Criterium is scheduled on the calendar. Santa Clarita Velo produces a weekend of racing starting with the Devil's Punchbowl RR on Saturday. It has a lot of punch to it. I can attest to that. The Saturday race had a record number of 597 enteries. It was bedlam near the start finish/line but that is another race and story. You already have read Jim Morehouse's account of the 55/60+ race in his blog http://400000milesandcounting.blogspot.com/.

55+ and 60+ racers line up for the Chuck Pontius Criterium

Sunday Santa Clarita Velo brought the racing community the Chuck Pontius Criterium. The course is fairly standard but a good racing course. It is .8 miles with a slight uphill section on the back side and a lump on the 3rd leg just before the last corner. From the last corner to home it is slightly downhill. It is a lot like the Brea Valentine's course. The flyer says there is good pavement. Maybe 5 years ago or so. Lol. After the start finish line are some real bad spots that you better have your butt lose on the saddle and take the jarring with your arms and legs. Near the center line was murder.

Early action with the peleton coming around turn 4

The 55/60+ race was 2nd in the lineup at Chuck Pontius and scheduled to go off at 7:45 am. 20 55s and 12 60s showed up on Easter Sunday. I am sure the date held down the field size. There were no glitches and no holdups so we were off near the start time and were to race for 40 minutes. Alex Collins started the race rollin' and the action came often with breaks and prime killing.

Early break action with Fred Hoblit, Glenn Baldwin and Ricky Shorts

There were a number of active riders in the race including Fred Hoblit and Tom Reilly from the host club, Alex Collins from UCC, Glenn Baldwin(60+) from a club in SLO that he sponsors with his gym and rehab facility. Also active were Ricky Shorts of Velo Allegro and Mike Crystal(60+) with his new black Trek. Pretty sure it is a Trek. Mike rode a purple Trek for a LONGGGG time. Don't know how many miles it had on it but Mike got his money's worth on that one.
The early breaks were chased down but the break that looked the most dangerous was about half way through the race. Alex Collins, Fred Hoblit,  and Dale Luedtke

Race winding down with Kal on Dale and VA's Don  & Ricky following

were in it and not only was the group strong but had a key grouping of clubs that wouldn't chase. They got a bit of a gap and I was thinking this could work. Velo Allegro didn't have anyone in the group and on the backside Ricky Shorty started a chase or was trying to get across to the group. Ricky got about half way and ran out of gas but got the pack reved up. John Huber of Velo Avanti took his turn and started out on his own. Mike Birditt got on him and brought everyone with him. John also ran out of gas but got the pack so close to the break group that the whole race came back together. A short time after the pack got together  Tom Reilly of the host club took off on his own. Breaks late in a race can be dangerous unless the teams with numbers don't pay attention unless they aren't racing for 1st place in 55+. The pace eased a bit and Kal was marking Dale with Don Denegal on his wheel. No one was chasing. At one point with about 3 laps to go the pack got pretty close to Tom but he kept applying the pressure and got some more distance between himself and the peleton. He knew the sprint would close some distance so he had to go all in. The pace was moderate coming into 2 laps to go and then Mike Birditt jumped hard solo. Alex Collins was pulling hard in a chase. UCC wasn't going to let Mike get away if they could help it. Alex got the group so close that Mike threw in the towel and was going to wait for the sprint to use the rest of his energy.

55+ podium- Birditt, Reilly, & Szkalak

One lap to go and Tom Reilly is out there and the pace is starting to heat up. Rounding turn 2 Doug Knox hit it hard up the right side. John Edwards of UCC knew he was going to do this and tried to follow. Mike Marotta saw this and came over the top of the peleton and got on Doug. Mike Birditt saw this as a perfect way to get an escort to the line. The small group was ahead of everyone and Doug shuts down temporarily and hits it again and swings wide at turn 3. After they rounded the corner Doug is gassed and Mike soft pedals it. So much for Mike's escort.
Ahead of everyone still is Tom Reilly and no one is catching him. Tom has tried this move I don't know how many times but it worked this year at Pontius. Nice job, Tom. 1st place in 55+. Back in the pack Mike Birditt decides it's now or never and swings down from left to right and was going to try and solo it in. Mike Marotta got it going again and tried to get on Mike Birditt. Dale Luedtke was winding it wide where the pavement was better and would give a fast clean shot past the last turn. Kal was on his wheel. Monty Pettus of Paramount was also in this lineup. I tried to take an inside line at turn 3 but got chopped and had to brake. Bad deal for me and then when I was on John Huber, John came out of his pedal. I had to go around fight my way to the finish line on my own with little mo going for me.

Pettus, missing Marotta(Claude Rains) & McKee

Mike Birditt saw Dale winding it up wide and got to turn 4 first and clicked up a gear and hit it as hard as he could. Dale's group took the corner faster and were smoking it home. Mike held them off for 2nd with Kal over taking Dale for 3rd and Dale 4th. Mike Marotta is riding very strong this year and was right behind these guys for 1st place in 60+. Mike must have been in a hurry because he didn't stay for the podium or pick up his envelop of cash.  Monty Pettus was in another finish pod for 2nd place in 60+. I was in the next finish pod for 3rd in 60+ with Glenn Baldwin close by for 4th place.
This was a good clean race that had some action and ended with a solo 55+ winner which doesn't often happen. Complete results below. Photos are courtesy of Alicia McKee as is the video I have inserted.  That's all for now folks! Train hard and race safe!

Chuck Pontius  (Rank 1.0)
Masters 60+
Place	License	Name	Team	SoCal Points
1	72880	Mike Marotta	Action Sports/Simply Fit	14
2	219074	Leo Pettus	Paramount Racing	11
3	180386	John McKee	Paramount Racing	10
4	45047	Glenn Baldwin	SLO Nexus-Gym One	9
5	39024	Bob Wright	Santa Clarita Velo	8
6	107852	David Lang	DARE	7
7	61278	Mario Seri	Herbalife LaGrange	6
8	45763	Robert Paganini	Pasadena Athletic Assoc (PAA)	5
9	8283	Michael Crystal	METALMTN Cycling	4
10	46547	John Edwards	UC Cyclery/JW Flooring	3
11	50406	Michael Edwards	Herbalife LaGrange	2

Chuck Pontius  (Rank 1.0)
Masters 55+
Place	License	Name	Team	SoCal Points
1	155459	Thomas Reilly	Santa Clarita Velo	14
2	47255	Michael Birditt	Swami's Cycling Club	11
3	54522	Kalman Szkalak	UC Cyclery/JW Flooring	10
4	47262	Dale Luedtke	Swami's Cycling Club	9
5	16360	Fred Hoblit	Santa Clarita Velo	8
6	93812	Donald Denegal	Velo Allegro	7
7	46255	Alex Collins	UC Cyclery/JW Flooring	6
8	107559	Rodney Malloy		5
9	288193	Ronald Carlson	METALMTN Cycling	4
10	49110	Rino Barbagiovanni	Santa Clarita Velo	3
11	206734	John Huber	Velo Avanti Cycling Team	2
12	222764	Thomas Buescher	South Bay Wheelmen	1
13	66553	John Sinz	Canyon Velo	0
14	12354	Kirk Freeman	Santa Clarita Velo	0
15		Mark Rice	SCVelo	0
16	52251	Ricky Shorts	Velo Allegro	0
17	9271	Pete Dern	Herbalife LaGrange	0
18	47314	Gary Prideaux	Lightning Velo	0
19	186482	Rick Skalak	Santa Clarita Velo	0
20	174212	Brian Carrico	PAA/REMAX	0

SWAMI'S PULLS OUT ANOTHER ARROW/PARAMOUNT 3 IN A ROW

By John McKee

55/60+ racers to the start line @ LACR

The LA Circuit Race was April 17th, 2011. 36 riders lined up to race the 55/60+ categories at the crack of dawn. 7 am start. It was tight getting there and getting ready to race at 7. There was one worker at registration and that made a tight schedule even tougher. Shorter warm up. The weather was quite warm for this time of year being in the low 60s. Few riders used arm warmers and almost no one used knee warmers. Some riders choose to not come because of the early start but this has been our cross to bear for years since we don't have large fields. The LA Circuit Race races distance and not time. The 55/60+ race was scheduled for 20 miles.

Mike Gourley solo

Most teams had trimmed squads except Velo Allegro. I am pretty sure they had a full group. Swami's has been dominant this year and would line up a very strong squad of 3. Santa Clarita Velo had a good showing of team members. UC Cyclery had a trimmed squad with 3. One quarter of what they had the prior Sunday at the Cyclo Vets Criterium.
The race started on time and saw Swami's Dale Luedtke take off up the left side. Dale woke everyone up right away and got the attention of the peleton. It was a harbinger of things to come. Swami's and Santa Clarita Velo would be very aggressive and Velo Allegro and UCC would be on the defensive. No sooner had Dale been caught that Mike Gourley hits it and goes solo. This is still on the first lap though each lap is 4 miles. Mike takes it hard after the first turn. I didn't think much of the move but guys started to chase hard and I was thinking...who is this guy that is holding off such a hard chase. As we got closer a light came on. It's Mike Gourley. The "Monster From Santa Clarita". No wonder. Mike was caught but the attempts at escape kept coming. The next move was by Kim Bleth of Swami's and Rino B. of Santa Clarita Velo. Nice try but didn't last long.

Glenn Baldwin, Dale Luedtke and Fred Hoblit

Steve Borer, Kim Bleth,& Rino Barbagiovanni

Kim Bleth jumps hard on the inside to fly solo

The most dangerous move yet included Dale Luedtke, Fred Hoblit, and Glenn Baldwin. The 3 worked together well with Glenn probably working the least but Glenn is 60+. The group started about 2 and 1/2 laps into the race. After one lap away Steve Hensler put in a hard pull and did some damage to the distance that the break group was away. Then Kal Szkalak jumped. He probably wasn't trying to bring them back but get across the gap to make the break group stronger and increase his chances of winning or at least finish ahead of Mike Birditt. Mike was right on his move as was just about everybody. That brought the break group even closer. After the last turn for home and the finish of the 4th lap, the break group was caught. Kim Bleth almost immediately countered off the left side and Steve Borer and Rino B. jumped aboard. They had a decent gap by the time they got to the start/finish line and the bell was rung for the final 4 mile lap. The group worked together for a little over 2 miles but coming opposite the start/finish line and less than 2 miles to go, Kim jumped hard on the inside. Kim caught Rino and Steve by surprise as he attacked from the back position. Kim was now off solo with Rino and Steve to try and work together and get home ahead of the pack or catch Kim if he faltered.
Back in the pack Mike Gourley was at the lead with Mike Birditt following and myself on Mike. Mike Gourley was setting a good tempo but not hard enough to chase down the break group which included his teammate. Mike Birditt also had a man in the break. UCC and Velo Allegro choose to sit back and wait and hope that the break would fall apart or get caught in a fast sprint or they were there to race for 4th place.

Kim Bleth's victory salute

Kim Bleth turned for home and could see the pack and certainly thought he had a chance to hold everyone off. He buried himself to one goal. Victory for himself and Swami's. The pack rounded the last corner and Mike Gourley was still in the front. Kal moved forward and I gave up Mike's wheel to him. I was still in 4th position but has we edged toward home Gourley kept a steady pace and guys started to move forward. Dale Luedtke started to move up on the right side with a number of riders moving up on the left. I was getting swarmed and frustrated as I now saw 4 or 5 60+ riders ahead of me plus countless 55s.
Further ahead Kim Bleth worked his magic and finished off the race with the great feeling of a solo victory salute! Great job by Kim! Another arrow out of the Swami's quiver.

Dale leading pack in with Alex Collins and Don Denegal close behind

Steve Borer and Rino were still trying to work home for 2nd and 3rd but just behind them Dale Luedtke was winding it up on the right side of the pack near the curb while on the other side Rod Mallory was heating it up with his Velo Allegro teammate Ricky Shorts on his wheel. Quite a bit late for VA if they were racing for 1st place. 2nd place was still possible. Mike Birditt had started his sprint and Kal came around to his left to try his hand for a podium spot. Alex Collins was in the pack but ready to pounce as was Monty Pettus(60+). As these guys started for home, holes opened up and I started my own move for home. Picking off riders and moving forward. Ricky came around his lead out man and was sprinting for home. Mike Birditt decided to jump for cover and got behind Ricky and Kal got back on Mike. Fred Hoblit was starting his sprint on the left side and David Lang(60+) was coming up the right side near the curb.

Dale in full flight with Al Shorts, Alex, Don D, Ricky, Steve Hensler and Mike B also putting max power to the pedals

With 150 meters to go Steve Borer and Rino B. were swallowed up. Nice try guys. Dale Luedtke was now in the lead with a full head of steam. The sprint was into the wind and after a downhill section the last 150 meters was a false flat. It was slightly uphill. Alex Collins was working off of Dale's wheel with Don Denegal of Velo Allegro tight on Alex. Don was about to pass his teammate Ricky who was in the wind. Mike Birditt left Ricky's wheel on the left and was sprinting in a way low position. I don't think even Mark "Racer Boy" Cavenish gets lower than Mike. What an aero position and with the power in his legs, no wonder he goes so fast. Steve Henlser was coming up on Ricky's wheel and Monty was not far away. I found a hole to the left of Fred Hoblit and got out of the saddle for max speed. I train hard for this. Might as well race what I train.

 

60+ sprint unfolding- Monty leading by 2 bike lengths over David Lang(over Monty's shoulder) & myself(even with David)-20 meters to go

 Dale Luedtke wasn't going to be passed. Dale won the bunch sprint for 2nd place. Alex Collins was 3rd and the last podium spot. Mike Birditt was 4th with Ricky Shorts over taking his teammate Don Denegal for 5th and Don 6th. Al Shorts coming off knee surgery did well at 7th followed by Steve Hensler and Fred Hoblit. Fred prefers a fast lead up to the sprint and we certainly didn't have that. As aggressive as Santa Clarita Velo was they didn't have anything to show for it. The race just didn't work out for them. As poorly as Velo Allegro seem to ride with all their troops ended up pretty good with 5,6,7 & 10. Of course Swami's got 1,2 & 4.
In 60+ Monty Pettus hung on in the last 20 meters to win his 3rd LA Circuit Race in a row. I was smoking by the time I hit the line and placed 2nd about a bike length ahead of David Lang. I hit 36.3 mph. I thought Fred Hoblit might have been Bob Wright. They are both thin and look similar from behind though I know Bob is taller. I threw my bike to get by Bob but it was Fred so it didn't matter and don't know if I was ahead or not. Didn't matter. Great showing also for Paramount with 1 and 2 in 60+. Bob Wright did come across the line behind David for 4th. Bob was followed by Richard Stahlberg, Mike Fleming, John Edwards(John thought he placed way up in the placings and I was questioning later whether I was 2nd before the results came out but John was way off), Glenn Baldwin and Richard Rodriguez. There was a 60+ racer that pushed Mario Seri and almost knocked him down in the sprint. Someone on the other side of Mario pushed him back upright. Mario was plenty upset afterward and complained to the officials. I don't know the side of the story of the accused person. The officials relegated this person to last place.
The average speed of the race was around 25 mph which was 1.7 mph slower than the 45+ race but in that section going away from the start/finish area and toward the last turn we hit over 34 mph twice. Must have been during chases. In the 45+ they didn't get above 32 mph in the same section any time in the race. Below are the podiums and complete results. I want to thank the promoter Brad House and Back on Track Productions for including the 55s AND the 60s and paying cash to both categories. Much appreciated. Also thanks to Jodie Borer for the great action photographs. That's all for now folks! Train hard and race safe!

From left to right- Ricky Shorts, Dale Luedtke, Kim Bleth, Alex Collins(without his team colors) & Mike Birditt

60+ Podium- From left to right- John McKee, Monty Pettus & David Lang

LA Circuit Race  (Rank 1.5)
Masters 60+
Place	License	Name	Team	SoCal Points
1	219074	Leo Pettus	Paramount Racing	21
2	180386	John McKee	Paramount Racing	17
3	107852	David Lang	DARE	15
4	39024	Bob Wright	Santa Clarita Velo	13
5	50911	Richard Stahlberg	Ironfly	12
6	129293	Michael Fleming	South Bay Wheelmen	10
7	46547	John Edwards	UC Cyclery/JW Flooring	9
8	45047	Glenn Baldwin	SLO Nexus-Gym One	7
9	50498	Richard Rodriguez	Pacific Sunset Velo/Pac Sun Velo	6
10	257503	Philip Walters	Encino Velo Cycling Club	4
11	61278	Mario Seri	Herbalife LaGrange	3
12	45763	Robert Paganini	Pasadena Athletic Assoc (PAA)	2
13	269972	Fred Haim	Herbalife LaGrange	0
14	189814	Leo Longo	South Bay Wheelmen	0
15	195498	Donald Kimper	ACQUA AL 2/SDBC	0
16	203244	Cary Alpert	South Bay Wheelmen	0
17	3793	Raphael Gomez	Rage Cycling	0

LA Circuit Race  (Rank 1.5)
Masters 55+
Place	License	Name	Team	SoCal Points
1	49191	Kim Bleth	Swami's Cycling Club	21
2	47262	Dale Luedtke	Swami's Cycling Club	17
3	46255	Alex Collins	UC Cyclery/JW Flooring	15
4	47255	Michael Birditt	Swami's Cycling Club	13
5	52251	Ricky Shorts	Velo Allegro	12
6	93812	Don Denegal	EXPIRED LICENSE	10
7	230085	Albert Shorts	Velo Allegro	9
8	15874	Steve Hensler	Team Redlands	7
9	16360	Fred Hoblit	Santa Clarita Velo	6
10	271566	Alex Gonzalez		4
11	222764	Thomas Buescher	South Bay Wheelmen	3
12	54522	Kalman Szkalak	UC Cyclery/JW Flooring	2
13	13802	Michael Gourley	Santa Clarita Velo	0
14	245777	Steven Borer	ACQUA AL 2/SDBC	0
15	49110	Rino Barbagiovanni	Santa Clarita Velo	0
16	107559	Rodney Malloy		0
17	66553	John Sinz	Canyon Velo	0
18	186482	Rick Skalak	Santa Clarita Velo	0
19	301372	Tom Herman	South Bay Wheelmen	0

2011 CYCLO VETS SUPER MASTERS CRITERIUM SCNCA CHAMPIONSHIPS

By John McKee

It was April 10th, 2011 and the date on the race calendar for the Cyclo Vets Criterium. This race was chosen to host the Super Masters SCNCA Criterium Championship for men & women.The men's

Women lined up to race- That's Trish "The Dish" on the left

categories were- 65+,70+, 75+, 80+ and 90+ just for Gordy Shields. Gordy has a very impressive resume which includes 3 Natz titles and 3 top 10 World races. Gordy holds the national time trial record for 20k in 80+, 85+ and 90+. Gordy is 93 years young this year on April 20th. Gordy was not only the oldest rider but the only entrant in 90+. There wasn't even anyone 85+ racing although Link Linquist is 84 this year and plans on competing until he is a 100 or.... but he definitely plans on making it to 100. You should see him skip rope. Damn.  Definitely better than Rocky. The women's categories were 40+(skipped 45+ which will be July 17th), 50+, 55+, 60+,65+ and 70+.
The 60+ men racers would be racing at the same time as the Super Masters and scored separately for $200 cash and no championship. Their championship will be with the rest of the masters categories at the Paramount race on July 17th, 2011. The women's championship races started at 7 am. The rain that has plagued or threatened to  damper earlier SCNCA races was no where to be seen. Clear skies and cool temps although it felt like it was warming up quickly.
The women had 11 racers total for the 6 categories. All the gals looked fit and rode well. The 2nd oldest in the group was Trish Kimper and she had no problem keeping up eventhough she was giving up possible 25 years. Nice job by all the women. I know there are other fit women riders out there these ages but getting them to race is near impossible. Paramount has had several but..... The word criterium strikes fear in so many riders from its reputation but I know from reality that training rides are where the worst accidents happen. Complete results for the women are below. 6 champ jerseys can be purchased but some of our women have so many that they may not bother.

Hylton leading the field around

Following the women were the 60+ men's race along with the 65+ group and up. Racing at 7:45 am for 40 minutes. The race was off on time and of course Hylton Murphy(60+) tried to jump ship like Claudette Colbert in "It Happened One Night". Everyone knew he would and in fact he told me he would Friday by message and wanted me to follow. I got on his wheel and another rider who I can't identify got on me.  I had a target on my back. Everyone knows me and figured I was the favorite in 65+ so it was always the green light for a full on chase. I caught Hylton soon after he started his move with the other rider on my tail and we had a little gap and Hylton was really laying the wood down. My tongue was hanging out and I couldn't pull through yet but it didn't matter because everyone else got on us quickly. I later asked who was chasing me because there were 2 other escape attempts by myself and the answer was "EVERYONE". LOL.

Phil Richards drilling it and leading the field

Phil Richards(60+) is riding quite strong and he attempted a solo effort half way through the race and I tried to come across to form a twosome but when I got near Phil everyone else was very close so I quit. Phil was tired as well. Hylton later tried another escape attempt soon after John Magnanti(65+) had made his move off the front with about 10 laps to go(See pic). John was not that far away to begin with so I thought to leave him there but he added to the distance and Hylton started to close on him and this looked very dangerous because Mags is 65+. I couldn't let this go so I put in a super chase and got everyone else close and went back to recover. When Hylton got to John he was pretty much out of gas so Hylton didn't want to burn too many matches trying too hard or try to get away again because he was John Rubcic's(60+) lead out man. They have done this so many times they could be napping and connect up out there and their strengths play perfectly to a long lead out by Hylton and sprint for home by JR. JR gets a super draft and you might imagine by looking at the podium pic. In the old days Hylton use to lead out and hang on for 2nd while JR got first. Hylton almost did as well here but that's later.

Mags off the front with Hylton ready to team up

The pace actually hadn't been that bad or slow  as far as I was concerned but my legs felt the 3 efforts but had plenty left for a finish. Once the lap card went to 5 laps to go it was slow city. Hylton wasn't going to jump and the 65s were going to sit in for a bunch sprint which usually is my thing but not in a slow build up. I am better in a fast build up. I know there were some guys trying to keep the pace up like Don Kimper but there wasn't enough of this. Counting down from 2 laps to go Phil Richards thought he would steal the show and jumped hard on the back side. Fred Nicolet jumped on his wheel and I was 4th wheel and we were going fast. Once we turned for home Phil threw in the towel and of course no one wanted to give themselves up so the pace went WAY down. Riders were coming around me on both sides. I should have used a tip that Mike Birditt gave me but I went brain dead. JR was lining up on Hylton and I couldn't get to them. I tried to back out and get to the first corner on the inside and move way up. Once around the corner it is all over because the riders go back to the curb. I didn't make it in time and got caught in the inside tar pit. I always like to race from the outside here and at most places but especially here. Mike Duck of Paramount and Monty lined up on JR. They weren't "given" their wheels but they got them anyway. This was the move that mattered. Fritz Tomasello was in the middle somewhere and Mario Seri also was stuck on the inside but ahead of me.

Pettus, Edwards, Lapped 80+ rider, Lang, Rubcic and McKee

Most of the riders in this event do one race a year like one this so it was chaotic in the bunch. When the pressure was put on riders were going backward left and right. Most riders left in the pack were 60s and 65s with a few 70s and 75s. Most 70+ and over had been off the back from the beginning. Thankfully no one went down and I don't remember anyone going down in this race which usually finishes off the Cyclo Vets Ominium over the years.
The 60+ racers were now driving the last lap. Hylton took JR around the last turn and started to slow and John went into his patented sprint that made him look like he hadn't missed a race although this was only his 3rd race and really his 2nd competitive race of 2011. John won 60+ going away by a long shot. Monty had been on Mike Duck's wheel and shouted for Mike to go after rounding the last corner. Monty came off Mike's wheel to finish 2nd by a long ways in 60+. Mike Duck was the 3rd person across the line and the winner of the 65+ race. This was Mike's first race this year and was an underdog but Mike has been training at the Encino Velodrome and his track training showed. Good job by another Paramount member. Hylton Murphy rolled across for 3rd in 60+ followed by David Lang for 4th in 60+.
I finally found my way to the outside near the second to the last turn. Way too late but I started to sprint anyway. I went way wide to pass lots of riders and was coming for home and saw Mario Seri coming in on the far left side. I was shooting to pass Mario and had Fritz Tomasello on my right. Fritz and I have raced many a races together and I hadn't beaten him many of those. Fritz and I were running up on 2 60+ riders that were going "backward" near the finish. They were trying but Fritz and I were gaining on them. We tried to squeeze between them but couldn't catch Mario. Mario Seri was 2nd in 65+ and Fritz was 3rd. I finished 4th. In 70+ David Benner won the race and is a Cyclo Vets member but lives in Virginia so the SCNCA champion was Jacobo Melcer. The 75+ champion is Robert Paganini, the ageless one. The 80+ cat was won by Jack Palmer who just aged up this year. He beat out Link Linquist who was 84. Link will be alone in 85+ next year. Gordy Shields of course won the 90+ category. There is a good video below of the finish of the 60+/Super Masters race. Compliments of Alicia McKee. Thanks, hon!
The Cyclo Vets always put on a great event and this year was a limited program but they did a nice job none the less. Gary DeVoss was the race director and asked for some advice from this 55/60+ bike racing guru(many months ago) that writes a blog and has promoted the Paramount race many times. He was glad to help if he did. Complete results for the 60+ and all the women and men's championship races are below. Podium pics for the men's super masters championships are below except 70+ plus 60+. Unfortunately no podium pics of the women were available before I published. There was great confusion at the time of the 70+ podium so I didn't take a picture.

The 55+ race followed the 60+/Super Masters and it was fire works from the start. There was always riders off the front and UCC had 11 riders out there. In the end Mark Helvie and Kim Bleth stayed off the front to the end with Mark taking the sprint for 1st place. Mike Birditt won the field sprint for 3rd. Complete results for 55+ are at the bottom of the page.
Going to finish with a non bike racing item. Reading the LA Times on Monday I saw something I had to share. Tues. April 12th, 2011 is the 50th anniversary of the first human orbiting the earth. After his flight, Yuri Gagarin made this statement "Circling the Earth in my orbital spaceship, I marveled at the beauty of our planet. People of the world, let us safeguard and enhance this beauty-not destroy it." That's all for now folks! Train hard and race safe!

80+ Podium- John Sanmartini, Jack Palmer, Link Linquist

75+ Podium- Kurt Steiner, Robert Paganini, Stuewe Hurst -between 75 & 80 guys have trouble with podium salutes

65+ Podium- Fritz Tomasello, Mike Duck, Mario Seri

60+ Podium- Hylton (Long legs) Murphy, John Rubcic, Monty Pettus

Super Masters Criterium  (Rank 3.0)
Women 40+
Place	License	Name	Team	SoCal Points
1	334358	Therese Ellsworth	CALCOAST Bikes San Diego	0
2	271884	Anne Lorenzana	CALCOAST Bikes San Diego	0
3	203336	Michelle Rhea		0

 

Super Masters Criterium  (Rank 3.0)
Women 50+
Place	License	Name	Team	SoCal Points
1	271515	Jane Faulkner	Team Cycles Brixton	0
2	171362	Alexandra Tabata	Team Redlands	0
3	214038	Julie Hamilton	SD Cyclovets	0

Super Masters Criterium  (Rank 3.0)
Women 55+
Place	License	Name	Team	SoCal Points
1	141377	Suzanne Bowers	San Diego Cyclo Vets	0

Super Masters Criterium  (Rank 3.0)
Women 60+
Place	License	Name	Team	SoCal Points
1	51985	Vickie VanOsdol-Castaldi	Ironfly	0
2	193139	Sherry Newsham	San Diego Cyclo Vets	0

Super Masters Criterium  (Rank 3.0)
Women 65+
Place	License	Name	Team	SoCal Points
1	202346	Patricia Kimper	ACQUA AL 2/SDBC	0

Super Masters Criterium  (Rank 3.0)
Women 70+
Place	License	Name	Team	SoCal Points
1	235409	Patricia Baker	Cal-Pacific Export Packers / LV	0

 

Super Masters Criterium  (Rank 3.0)
Men 65+
Place	License	Name	Team	SoCal Points
1	58170	Sydney Duck	OCW/Paramount Racing	0
2	61278	Mario Seri	Herbalife LaGrange	0
3	177453	P (Fritz) Tomasello	Pinnaclife Racing Team	0
4	180386	John McKee	Paramount Racing	0
5	57571	Dale Harless	Cycle U	0
6	71812	John Magnanti		0
7	198617	Roger Springer	San Diego Cyclo Vets	0
8	171652	Stephen Whitsitt	South Bay Wheelmen	0
9	186694	Butch Richardson	San Diego Cyclo Vets	0
10	138501	Thomas Gardner	San Diego Cyclo Vets	0

Super Masters Criterium  (Rank 3.0)
Men 70+
Place	License	Name	Team	SoCal Points
1	18933	Robert Kenner(Out of State)	National Capital Velo Club/UnitedHealthcare	0
2	207024	Jacobo Melcer(SCNCA Champ)	San Diego Cyclo Vets	0
3	46904	Daniel Wulbert	UC Cyclery/JW Flooring	0
4	one day	Ed Renger		0
5	99513	Edward Camarena	Veloce Santiago	0

Super Masters Criterium  (Rank 3.0)
Men 75+
Place	License	Name	Team	SoCal Points
1	45763	Robert Paganini	Pasadena Athletic Assoc (PAA)	0
2	one day	Stuewe Hurst	Pasadena Cycling	0
3	261008	Kurt Steiner	San Diego Cyclo Vets	0

 

Super Masters Criterium  (Rank 3.0)
Men 80+
Place	License	Name	Team	SoCal Points
1	55524	Jack Palmer	San Diego Cyclo Vets	0
2	235545	Link Lindquist	Team Velosport Club	0
3	50695	John Sanmartini	Velo Avanti Cycling Team	0

Super Masters Criterium  (Rank 3.0)
Men 90+
Place	License	Name	Team	SoCal Points
1	46810	Gordon Shields	San Diego Cyclo Vets	0

CycloVets Criterium  (Rank 1.0)
Masters 55+
Place	License	Name	Team	SoCal Points
1	15760	Mark Helvie	Sun Coast Velo	14
2	49191	Kim Bleth	Swami's Cycling Club	11
3	47255	Michael Birditt	Swami's Cycling Club	10
4	54522	Kalman Szkalak	UC Cyclery/JW Flooring	9
5	48760	John Rubcic	UC Cyclery/JW Flooring	8
6	13802	Michael Gourley	Santa Clarita Velo	7
7	46255	Alex Collins	UC Cyclery/JW Flooring	6
8	58847	Paul Rodriguez	UC Cyclery/JW Flooring	5
9	45403	Steve Grossman	Team Bicycles Plus	4
10	46688	Michael Mueller	UC Cyclery/JW Flooring	3
11	125061	Michael Hines	Ranchos Cycling Club	2
12	204724	Steve Cahill	Celo Pacific	1
13	1254	Mark Ainslie	Ranchos Cycling Club	0
14	178495	Steve Diamond	Swami's Cycling Club	0
15	23055	Reed Mayne	Swami's Cycling Club	0
16	171362	Alexandra Tabata	Team Redlands	0
17	271515	Jane Faulkner	Team Cycles Brixton	0
18	61353	Reed Moore	UC Cyclery/JW Flooring	0
19	312566	Steven Turner		0
20	303394	Fred Provence	San Diego Cyclo Vets	0
21	61504	Andrzej Fidelus	Ranchos Cycling Club	0
22	180041	Angela Wimberly	CALCOAST Bikes San Diego	0
23	225555	Michael Holcomb	San Diego Cyclo Vets	0
24	238828	Phillip Richards	Citrus Valley Velo	0
25	45763	Robert Paganini	Pasadena Athletic Assoc (PAA)	0
26	51026	Theodore Lee	San Diego Bicycle Club	0
27	55591	Mitchell Weinstock	UC Cyclery/JW Flooring	0
28	61193	John Wagenaar	UC Cyclery/JW Flooring	0
29	46547	John Edwards	UC Cyclery/JW Flooring	0
30	126668	Joey Valdivia	UC Cyclery/JW Flooring	0