2011 ONTARIO GP #5 "EXTREMELY" FAST IN 55/60+

By John McKee

In honor of Paul Sherwin I used his favorite word in the title but the description was not far off in this race. This was probably the fastest race in 55/60+ that I have seen in quite a while or maybe the fastest ever in these categories. Ray Moreno of Dare and the promoter of the Ontario series had the 55/60+ racers using the Grand Prix course on this hot Sunday- July 3rd, 2011. The last 2 races at Ontario are always hot and this was no exception. I did get a pointer from a SDBC woman racer and former Paramount member. Take some ice and wrap it paper towels and stuff it between the boobs in the bra. She showed me so I know she did it. The problem was I don't wear a bra or have man boobs so this tip was no help to me. She did offer me some ice she pulled out of somewhere else but I don't know where it came from so I declined the offer. Thanks but no thanks.
The 55/60+ racers were to go off at 7:35 am but there was a crash on the last lap of the women's cat 4 race. You will have to check out how this woman was treated vs Kal Szkalak. The first aid crew which is this elderly couple that are very nice and provide very basic first aid. The first time I saw the woman she was on her back. No one wanted to move her. Suspected broken collarbone. We waited and waited for the paramedics to come but it took 20 to 30 minutes to get there. Ray said there was a miscommunication. Ray was over across from turn one with an Ontario police officer. They were trying to work with a tenant that was having an event and cone off some of our race course. Ray thought the first aid couple was going to phone for help but they didn't. Finally the paramedics got there. They took a long time before they took her away and in the end she didn't have a broken bone. Her shoulder was just bruised. I saw her back at the race course later with her arm in a sling. Compare that with Kal. A course marshall tried to badger him to get up and get off the course. Kal had a busted up shoulder, broken ribs and a punctured lung. Kal didn't want emergency aid which of course he should have taken. The race he was in wasn't stopped or shortened. Too bad, Kal. Just get out of the way.

Strongmen Keith Ketterer and Malcolm Hill of UBS/Breakaway from Cancer

Swami's speedsters- Mike Birditt and Dale Luedtke

After all was said and done the 55/60+ race was delayed between 50 and 60 minutes. We had a great turnout at somewhere between 45 and 50 racers. Most were 55+. When we all finally lined up we were told we were going to get 30 minutes to race vs the 40 we usually get there. There were a lot of strong 55+ riders  so everyone had better put on their seatbelts because they were in for a barn burner.
Swami's had their full race contingent. UBS/Breakaway from Cancer returned Keith Ketterer and Malcolm Hill from MBGP. No UC Cyclery riders were there. Fred Hoblit of Santa Clarita Velo was there with Kirk Freeman, Tom Reilly,  and Rino B. to support him. Ricky Shorts of Velo Allegro was there with Alex Gonzalez and Don Denegal to support him. With several shorts solo 55s in Steve Hensler and Steve Cahill the field was loaded with talent and fast riders. In 60+ the field wasn't quite as strong with the top 3 finishers from MBGP not in the field. Monty Pettus, John McKee, David Lang and Bob Wright looked to be the strongest 60+ riders in the field.
The race was off about 8:30 am. It started fast and kept up fast until the last 2 laps. Malcolm Hill and Keith Ketterer would tag team it with attacks off the front. Swami's would cover with Mike Birditt, Kim Bleth, Rick Swanson or Gary Shuey. A number of guys jumped in and there were quite a few small groups of riders that got not that far off the front. None of them seemed to have the right combination of riders to make a break work. There was one very strong group that fell apart about 1/3 the way through the race. KK, Mike Birditt, Fred Hoblit and Ricky Shorts got together. One of the riders wasn't pulling through and KK pulled the plug. The group stayed a short distance off the front and a number of riders were coming across the gap. At one point there were 7 or 8 riders off and in the end Fred Hoblit tried to take off with Mike Birditt but it was all back together shortly. The pace was almost always high. Coming around the last corner the speed was usually 30 to 32 mph with the sling shot dip at the last corner.
They don't have much in the way of prime sprints at Ontario but the Ontario series points prime sprint can be important. David Lang was in a commanding lead so I didn't try and contest him this time in 60+ and he took the prime sprint uncontested. Rick Swanson took the 55+ series primes points so Swami's is looking good there.
The final laps came up quickly with the shortened race. I heard 4 laps to go and we were all together. I was mostly up front and didn't see many of the 60+ racers. Monty was going to take it easy and move up later in the race because he had done a long training ride in Davis, Ca.. on Sat. and then drove over 7 hours to get home. He wasn't the only one a little tired. Malcolm Hill had done a 6 hour training ride on Sat. Malcolm is pointing toward Natz and Worlds. Malcolm was going to do the 55, 50 and 45 races at Ontario for training.
With the 4 laps to go Keith Ketterer went off the front solo. This is a very dangerous period for each race because solo riders don't want to use their energy to chase down someone because that would effect their finish. You would have thought Swami's would have brought some troops forward to put the chase on KK so that Mike and Dale could sprint for 1st place. KK didn't get that far away but he stayed there. It came down to 1 lap to go and KK was still out there. Gary Shuey went to the front to pace somewhere before the 1 lap to go card. He was pulling pretty good but not strong enough to eat into Keith's lead. Going into turn 2 of the 7 turns Gary was thinking, why am I doing this. I want to have a good finish as well. Mike Birditt had been right up there and I was on Mike and looking good if the pace stayed high the whole last lap but NO.... Once Gary turned it off all hell broke loose and this happens a lot in our races. I was getting swarmed and I was going to have to fight to stay in position. There were a lot of good 55s here plus David Lang, Bob Wright and Monty in 60+. I saw Monty move in good position and Bob Wright went by me so I grabbed onto his wheel. Should have raced against the field rather than specific 60+ riders but that's what I did. Dale moved up near Mike. With 3 corners to go it wasn't that fast.
KK is ahead and going to win. No one is going fast enough to catch him. Keith was actually looking to work on his field sprint but you take a win however it comes. Nice job, Keith. His teammate Malcolm as tired as he was had enough left to lead it out around the last 2 corners. Mike and Dale were playing off each other perfectly. They came by Malcolm with about 100 meters to go with Dale taking the field sprint for 2nd place and Mike taking 3rd place overall.
Monty Pettus had gotten himself in good position and finished very strong. Monty didn't get out of the saddle but finished after Mike for 4th overall and the first 60+ spot. Nice win for Monty. Ricky Shorts, Malcolm Hill, Steve Hensler and Fred Hoblit followed in. I would have thought Fred would have taken a flyer on the last lap like he did at MBGP but he didn't.
I was on Bob Wright and went wide around the last corner to come around his group and try and finish as high as possible. Monty was too far ahead but thought about another Paramount 1/2 finish. I went too wide
on the last corner and threw Kirk Freeman and Gary Shuey way off. Sorry guys.
I was coming home pretty good but wasn't paying close enough attention and saw a 55+ racer at the last second right in front of me and I tapped my brakes to keep from hitting him. Right then David Lang(2nd place) jumped hard and flew by me and Bob Wright(3rd place) did as well. Oh well. I finished 4th and behind me were Don Kimper, Phil Richards(Phil did some work on the last fews laps so didn't have a lot left in him), and Jim Swigart in 60+. Mike Fleming had done some pacing on the last few laps and didn't finish as didn't a few other 60+ riders.
The overall pace was over 26 mph. Gary Shuey had 26.5 on his Garmin GPS 500 computer. The fastest I have ever heard of here. Maybe not quite as hard as the previous week at MBGP but pretty close except on the last few laps. That was the standard treadmill mama bear speed. No crashes so that was great. Complete results below. Remember the Paramount Masters champ race is July 17th. $500 for 60+ and $1,000 for 55+. If anyone wants to contribute money or product for prime prizes, please contact me(ajmckee@sbcglobal.net). That's all for now folks! Train hard and race safe!

Ontario Grand Prix  (Rank 1.5)
Masters 55+
Place	License	Name	Team	SoCal Points
1	48434	Keith Ketterer	Breakaway-UBS Elite Masters	21
2	47262	Dale Luedtke	Swami's Cycling Club	17
3	47255	Michael Birditt	Swami's Cycling Club	15
4	52251	Ricky Shorts	Velo Allegro	13
5	156650	Malcolm Hill	Breakaway-UBS Elite Masters	12
6	15874	Steve Hensler	Team Redlands	10
7	16360	Fred Hoblit	Santa Clarita Velo	9
8	52086	Cyril Hunte		7
9	206734	John Huber	Velo Avanti Cycling Team	6
10	18156	Craig Jones	Velo Avanti Cycling Team	4
11	30596	Wayne Rosenkrantz	Pinnaclife Racing Team	3
12	21364	Jonathan Livesay	Montrose Cycling Club	2
13	44197	Gary Shuey	Swami's Cycling Club	0
14	250331	Peter Dufour	ACQUA AL 2/SDBC	0
15	66553	John Sinz	Canyon Velo	0
16	47314	Gary Prideaux	Lightning Velo	0
17	277180	John Roest	Rock N' Road Cyclery	0
18	155459	Thomas Reilly	Santa Clarita Velo	0
19	34753	Rick Swanson	Swami's Cycling Club	0
20	93812	Donald Denegal		0
21	49191	Kim Bleth	Swami's Cycling Club	0
22	178495	Steve Diamond	Swami's Cycling Club	0
23	186482	Rick Skalak	Santa Clarita Velo	0
24	271566	Alex Gonzalez		0
25	174212	Brian Carrico	PAA/REMAX	0
26	9271	Pete Dern	Herbalife LaGrange	0
27	61504	Andrzej Fidelus	Ranchos Cycling Club	0
28	167453	Bob Estupinan	Citrus Valley Velo	0
29	245777	Steven Borer	ACQUA AL 2/SDBC	0
30	12354	Kirk Freeman	Santa Clarita Velo	0
31	204724	Steve Cahill	Celo Pacific	0
32	49110	Rino Barbagiovanni	Santa Clarita Velo	0

Ontario Grand Prix  (Rank 1.5)
Masters 60+
Place	License	Name	Team	SoCal Points
1	219074	Leo Pettus	Paramount Racing	21
2	107852	David Lang	DARE	17
3	39024	Bob Wright	Santa Clarita Velo	15
4	180386	John McKee	Paramount Racing	13
5	195498	Donald Kimper	ACQUA AL 2/SDBC	12
6	238828	Phillip Richards	Citrus Valley Velo	10
7	228631	James Swigart	ACQUA AL 2/SDBC	9
8	50498	Richard Rodriguez	Pacific Sunset Velo/Pac Sun Velo	7
9	45763	Robert Paganini	PAA/REMAX	6
10	45342	Domenick Forte	PAA/REMAX	4