Wednesday, May 30, 2012

CRASH MARS FAST 55/60+ 2012 BARRY WOLFE GRAND PRIX

By John McKee

the 55/60+ riders getting ready to race
The Barry Wolfe Grand Prix was scheduled for May 27th, 2012. BWGP is produced by Conejo Cycling for Health and Wellness. BWGP was moved from the former site at Warner Center to Westlake Village. A one mile, flat, 4 corner, wide street,  fast course. It could be the fastest course we do all year. The organizers had taken the 55/60+ group out of their event about 5 years ago and that was fine with me. The old course was dangerous with the next to the last leg downhill making the last corner too fast and sketchy. The organizers did this really old thing of giving the 55s money and the 60s "medals" like they use to do at Ontario. Even the medals that were on the flyer were most elusive.

35 to 40 55/60+ riders showed up on a beautiful day for bike race. Only 10 were 60+. The race director did a great job in many ways but didn't have enough vols for registration early on. I got there early so I didn't have a problem but many racers waited in a line 20 or so long. The field in 55+ was loaded. Mike Birditt is still laid up with a bad back and Mike was a big part of the 55+ racing scene the last couple of years. Wishing Mike a speedy recovery. Mike can be that Hoffy slayer. There were most of the top 55+ riders in Chris Black, Keith Ketterer(KK) and his teammate Ed Morris(Ed is mainly a tt specialist), Mark Hoffenberg, Dan Nicolette, Ricky Shorts, Cyril Hunte(Cyril had his brand new black aluminium Cannondale-Didn't look quite as new after the race. Lol.), Fred Hoblit and many others. In 60+ the Paramount 60+ trio was there along with Mike Marotta and Mike Fleming. The 60+ group included former Olympic track racer, Tim Mountford. Tim was a national champion on the track in 1969. Tim turned pro in 1970 and raced for Team Raleigh. Tim did a number of 6 day races and one of them was in Los Angeles in 1973 at the LA Sports Arena. Tim placed 2nd. Tim is 66 this year(same racing age as myself).
Tim Mountford in action in the late 60s- Looks like a national champ jersey he has on
Racers from L to R- McKee, Freeman, Mountford and Denegal(a track rider at the highest level in his day as well)

The racers were off a little later than the scheduled 8:05 am scheduled start time. 40 minutes were promised more or less. I was ready for a hot start but it didn't happen as quickly as I thought. There was a lot of probing going on. Chris Black was the most active. Chris would start most of the break efforts and work his tail off, get chased and caught by the field and then fall back through the pack. He would be back again doing the same thing. Small break efforts formed but didn't last long. Too much firepower to bring everything back together. The 1st 5 miles was done at 25.5 mph with a max speed for myself of 32.9. Monty got over 34. There were lots of primes and this always keeps the pace high and discourages breaks. Riders aren't necessarily chasing but trying to win "stuff" and the pace picks up near the end of a lap.
Chris Black leads the race out and really gets it going
Everyone is lined out and the pace is over 30 mph

The 2nd 5 miles was done at the same average speed of 25.5 mph with a lower max. 10 miles takes us into the 2nd half of the race and Chris Black went all in on a solo break like at Chuck Ponitus. Would he win again on a solo? With no teammates and a strong field. Probably not but he went out there and got a 20 second gap and the pace wasn't slow though it felt like it. A fast course will do that. Chris hung out there for lap after lap. Chris eventually got caught because of the primes and hard chases by KK, Kim Bleth and several others. He could have gotten tired and slowed as well but it was a great effort. Amazing speed by himself.  The 3rd 5 mile segment was the fastest of the race at 26.5 mph. It was in this segment that Chris was caught. He was flying.
Squirrel taking advantage of a lull in the race action
Chris Black on a solo break effort- He is really motoring

The chase of Chris Black is on with KK leading the charge
 Unfortunately Chris got caught too early. In the pro races the catches are made as late as possible to keep the field from bunching up and increasing the danger. The last 5 laps didn't feel hard. I am pretty sure the pace was relatively high but no team had a strategy for a bunchy group late other than chase anyone that tried to get away. A bunch sprint was a sure thing now. Chris couldn't have enough to get away again and would be marked anyway.I would have thought KK might try something here. If he got a gap, well... it would be hard to bring him back. KK was heavily marked.
The lap cards started to count down. Monty was marking Mike Marotta and I stayed near Monty. Howard Miller wasn't far away from me. The Paramount trio knew that Marotta was a tough nut to crack but we figured Monty could out sprint him if he was near Mike. My job was to get Monty near MM if he couldn't do it otherwise. Sho Air was looking to bring Henry Schepf forward to lead there train. Kal and Dale were on their own. I don't know what Santa Clarita Velo and Velo Allegro had in mind but they looked disorganized.
The lap card showed 1 lap to go. The bell lap. It was bunchy and very edgy. It was like one big beehive. There didn't seem to be much movement on the sides. Everyone was pretty close together. A powder keg waiting to go off. The spark that set off bike carnage was a missed shift by a rider in a green and white kit. An honest mistake but his bike didn't track true or smooth and another rider with a brand new Cannondale hit him. The Cannondale wouldn't be new anymore. The carnage started. Monty T boned the unattached rider. Ricky Shorts came into it and his bike flew ahead 20 feet. Landing on the shifters. I put on the brakes but there were riders left, right and center on the ground. I fell on someones bike. Mike Fleming went down and got his arm chewed up in someone's bike. Mario Seri's front wheel looked like it exploded. Henry Schepf's bike was tacoed. Busted. Gone! At least 12 riders went down. None were hurt seriously as far as I know. All but 3 of the small 60+ field were down including all of the Paramount 60+ trio.  Mike Marotta, Tom Herman and Tim Mountford were still upright and riding. Mike was just left of the crash and lucky for sure. Tom and Tim were far enough back that they were able to go aound.
I think most of the riders still riding were in shock now. There is no sound as nasty to me as bikes grinding on the pavement. The pack stayed together after the first turn. Someone had to act. Chris Black came forward and started to set a fast pace. It was a long ways from turn one to the next to the last turn. Chris rounded that next to the last corner in the lead. Dan Nicolette was on his wheel with his teammate Mark Hoffenberg next. Kal Szkalak and Dale Luedtke were vying for Mark's wheel. A prize possession for sure.
Chris ran out of gas before the last turn. Dan was now in the lead. Dan rounded the last corner 1st. Mark took the last corner wide. If everyone stayed near him, his teammate would win. Dale jumped hard. Mark got back on Dale coming down the stretch. Mark came off of Dale's wheel as everyone was closing on Dan. Dan had gotten an amazing gap after the corner but it was coming down fast! Mark passed Dan before the line making it a 1/2 finish for Sho Air. Nelson "Tailgunner" Alaan came out of nowhere to finish ahead of Dale. Kal was 5th followed in by Mike Cicchi and KK. The 60+ race was no contest for Mike Marotta. Tom Herman came in with the pack for 2nd in 60+. Tim Mountford was at the very back of the group finishing and as I saw it 3rd but the officials missed him. A number of the 60s got up and got going again with Mike Fleming given 3rd. Monty was 4th, myself 5th and Howard 7th.
It was a fast race on a very good course. Great field of 55s. The 60 fields are really flat. Club rides seem to be more popular to many of the guys.  The photos are courtesy of Peter Carlson except for the 2 old photos of Tim Mountford.That's all for now folks! Train hard and race safe!
Mark Hoffenberg(blocked out) 1st, Dan Nicolette 2nd and Nelson "Tailgunner" Alaan 3rd
Dale Luedtke 4th, Kal 5th

Mike Marotta was the 1st 60+ rider across the line

Thursday, May 24, 2012

SCNCA SOCAL CUP MID SEASON STANDINGS FOR 55+ AND 60+

By John McKee

It is about mid season so I thought I would post and publish the Socal Cup standings for the top 30 riders in 60+ and top 40 riders in 55+.

SoCal Cup Standings For 2012
Masters 60+
Place Name License # Team Name SoCal Points
1 Leo Pettus 219074 Paramount Racing 244
2 John McKee 180386 Paramount Racing 194
3 Howard Miller 49424 Paramount Racing 175
4 Donald Kimper 195498 UC Cyclery/JW Floors 152
5 Steven Borer 245777 UC Cyclery/JW Floors 147
6 Mike Marotta 72880 Spy-Swami's Cycling Team 142
7 John Rubcic 48760 UC Cyclery/JW Floors 109
8 James Swigart 228631 ACQUA AL 2/SDBC 103
9 John Wagenaar 61193 UC Cyclery/JW Floors 102
10 Kenny Fuller 46765 Team Simple Green/Bike Religion 84
11 Steve Bernede 126351 Team Werks 84
12 Donald Davidson 48278 Citrus Valley Velo 78
13 Michael Fleming 129293 South Bay Wheelmen 77
14 Fred Nicolet 26089 ACQUA AL 2/SDBC 72
15 Jean Villiot 59805 CA Pools / CFS Mortgage 70
16 Donald Williams 38334 Cynergy Cycles Racing 64
17 Fred Haim 269972 Velo Club LaGrange 48
18 Robert Paganini 45763 PAA/REMAX 46
19 Josef Lemire 46799 SHO-AIR/ SERT 44
20 Bruce DePriester 259387 Sho-air/Rock 'n Road 42
21 Raphael Gomez 3793 Rage Cycling 42
22 Bruce Steele 236498 South Bay Wheelmen 41
23 Mario Seri 61278 Velo Club LaGrange 41
24 Leo Longo 189814 Bike Palace 38
25 Jon Miller 167489 Platinum Performance Cycling Team 28
26 Richard Stahlberg 50911 Ironfly 27
27 William Carvin 101582 25
28 Hans Jorgensen 222120 Canyon Velo 24
29 David Lang 107852 DARE 24
30 James Morehouse 283640 FFKR Architects Racing 22

SoCal Cup Standings For 2012
Masters 55+
Place Name License # Team Name SoCal Points
1 Mark Hoffenberg 45461 Sho-air/Rock 'n Road 324
2 Michael Birditt 47255 Spy-Swami's Cycling Team 258
3 Dale Luedtke 47262 Spy-Swami's Cycling Team 126
4 Michael Mueller 46688 UC Cyclery/JW Floors 125
5 mark huffman 59572 UC Cyclery/JW Floors 121
6 Nelson Alaan 64439 Cal-Pacific Export Packers / LV 106
7 Malcolm Hill 156650 Breakaway from Cancer Masters 98
8 Kalman Szkalak 54522 UC Cyclery/JW Floors 93
9 Ricky Shorts 52251 Velo Allegro 91
10 Robert Willcox 69952 UC Cyclery/JW Floors 90
11 Jeffrey Moreton 25023 PAA/REMAX 88
12 Bob Pellkofer 47652 Sho-air/Rock 'n Road 81
13 Daniel Nicolette 26090 Sho-air/Rock 'n Road 76
14 Alex Collins 46255 UC Cyclery/JW Floors 70
15 Steve Cahill 204724 Celo Pacific 70
16 Chuck Thompson 193819 Polli Veloce 67
17 Paul Rodriguez 58847 UC Cyclery/JW Floors 66
18 Albert Shorts 230085 Velo Allegro 63
19 Mark Ainslie 1254 58
20 Steve Hensler 15874 UC Cyclery/JW Floors 58
21 Michael Hines 125061 UC Cyclery/JW Floors 56
22 cyril hunte 52086 54
23 Chris Black 3814 Morgan Stanley /Specialized 47
24 Joel Sothern 236630 42
25 John Luke 21803 Santa Clarita Velo 42
26 Victor Miera 280155 Harmony Homes.com Cycling Team 42
27 Fred Hoblit 16360 Santa Clarita Velo 41
28 daniel yeager 203308 Spy-Swami's Cycling Team 39
29 Donald Denegal 93812 Velo Allegro 38
30 Eddie Morris 49080 Breakaway from Cancer Masters 35
31 deogracias asuncion 50532 South Bay Wheelmen 32
32 Lee Romans 110259 Velo Allegro 32
33 Kim Bleth 49191 Spy-Swami's Cycling Team 31
34 Henry Schnepf 70853 Sho-air/Rock 'n Road 30
35 Bruce Hartley 45431 Pinnaclife Racing Team 30
36 Wayne Stetina 34063 Breakaway from Cancer Masters 28
37 wayne hermes 272891 Cycles Veloce 26
38 Daniel Swietlik 60602 OTR Racing 24
39 Owen Thomas 341568 20
40 Scotty Bohlman 352540 Jessup Auto Plaza p/b P.S. Cyclery 20

Friday, May 18, 2012

ARCO CRITERIUM SEES 1ST TIME WINNER IN 55+ SAMEO FOR 60+

By John McKee

The ARCO Criterium produced by Velo Allegro was scheduled for May 13th, 2012. Mother's Day for 2012 and death to all bike races. Moms get more play than dads or maybe dads get to chose to race and moms can't say anything on his day. The pre registration looked light but the early fields didn't look too bad at Velo Allegro home race course which is called the "Hughes" course. The "Hughes" course is near the intersection of the 405 and the 710 freeways in north Long Beach. The course is a wide open thing with very wides streets that make the turns easy. The distance is about a mile. Velo Allegro did this old thing of a common purse for everyone and scored separate for Socal points between the 55s and 60s. Come on! That is way old hat. CBR doesn't even do that any more. The 60s pay the same entry fee but have to race down so to speak to get to the 55+ purse. Lousy set up.
The pre reg for the 55s was low and really low for the 60s. The hitters from Spy Swami's and Sho Air were not there and of course UC Cyclery was riding light with a race so far north of SD County like in Long Beach. Santa Clarita Velo had a good squad going in and of course Velo Allegro would have all their racers. Paramount would have 4 racers and all of their 60+ trifecta. I did say Sho Air didn't have their hitters here but was represented by Dan Nicolette. All of the 55+ Sho Air riders are really good so Dan riding by himself would still be someone to reckon with.
Rick Lilliberg moved down from Washington about 8 or 9 years ago and won his 1st SCNCA race that he did in Glendale in front of Dreamworks studio. Rick was on fire for a number of years and won 60+ Socal Cup in his first year. Rick hasn't raced with us in years but decided to come out and give it a try again. Nice to see Rick out there.
We came to the line as the 3rd race of the day which did show some respect. We are usually the 1st or 2nd race of the day. It was about 8:20 am when we came to the line and the race officials was giving us the pre race instructions and mocking us for not being with our mothers on Mother's Day. I pointed out to the official that many if not most of us don't have our mothers with us any more. Of course most of our wives are mothers that needed tending on their day as well. The early race would give us a chance to do that. I would like to say belatedly Happy Mother's day to all the 55/60+ mothers that are still with us and a remembrance to all moms that are not with any more except in our memories like my mother, Alta Faye Wright McKee.
Alta Wright(McKee) from Bucksnort, Alabama (early 40s)
Our bike race did start on time and 35 racers were off. 25 55s and 10 60s. It took no time at all for the race to heat up. Fred "energizer bunny" Hoblit teamed up with Dan Nicolette and soon Lee Romans. Lee never gets in break attempts but saw Dan as a real threat and decided to charge off and join the 2 before they got too far. Cleave Law tried to chase on and got close but ran out of gas. Dan, Fred and Lee are 3 strong riders and with Velo Allegro and Santa Clarita Velo having other riders it locked down chasing by the 2 biggest teams. The 3 quickly got a gap and I thought that maybe they were gone. I mean G O N E! Kal Szkalak came to the front. Not to chase but to wave his arm and try and get his troops to chase. There were only 2 other UCC riders in Alex Collins and Bruce Moore. Alex and Bruce started to chase. Not many legs left though the 60s could chase because it was a common purse but fate interceded. Fate in the form  of a rear tire puncture for Lee Romans. We came around turn 2 and Lee was off to the side and I could see his rear tire was way flat. This left the door open for VA to chase and only 2 riders to pull.
55/60+ racers getting the "lowdown" at the ARCO Criterium 2012

The breakers were caught but another group formed almost immediately and Fred was again part of this. Fred really has developed recovery powers. He would be a great points racer on the track. This new group got a gap again and this time the group included Kal Szkalak. There must have been 5 or 6 riders. Alex Collins saw this as an opportunity and came across a 100 meter gap. I got right on his wheel for a tow and Steve Diamond got on my wheel. Once all were together it was a mess and Kal is very particular about who he breaks with. If he doesn't like the mix, he won't work. It didn't take long before everyone was together again. The pace eased a bit with some flare ups though the 2nd 5 miles we averaged 25.1 mph after going 24.8 for the 1st 5. OK speed seeing that this is a fast course but not overpowering.
Early break action- Fred Hoblit, Dan Nicolette & Lee Romans

Mid race action in the 55/60+ categories
The next and last break attempt happened with about 5 to 6 laps to go. Steve Bernede got things going this time. Steve is 60+ and was soon joined by the "energizer bunny", Alex Gonzales, Don Kimper, and Pete Dern. The 5 of them gained a 10 second advantage on the pack. This is a dangerous time of the race because sprint favorites don't like to burn their matches late in the race and not have anything left for their finish. A few riders like Mark Planellas, Alex Collins, Howard Miller and Cleve Law did some work but there were 4 riders pulling hard ahead. This was a radically different mix of riders and 2 of them were 60+ which proved to be the deciding factor later.
Alex Collins chasing with Kirk Freeman riding his wheel

Howard Miller chasing
The 10 second advantage held up as the laps counted down- 4...3...2 and still they were away. Nicolette and Szkalak choose to play a waiting game. Hoping someone else would chase down the break group or maybe the buildup of the finishing sprint would be enough. Monty "Peter Sagan" Pettus wasn't willing to wait. He knew that 2 of the breakers were 60+ and within 200 meters of the finish line with one lap to go put in a very hard attack. Al Shorts got right on him as did almost all the riders. Before Monty pulled off he had closed the gap down. There was still hope for the breakers but on the back stretch next to the 710 freeway the pace picked up to 30+ mph for the chasing field. The "catch" came right after the 4th and last corner. 4 of the 5 breakers threw in the towel. Fred Hoblit somehow rewound himself again and took off. Dan Nicolette charged around the last corner in search of Fred. Ricky Shorts got going but coming home he dropped his chain and Kal Szkalak and Cyril Hunte had to come around. Cyril almost crashed into Ricky. Dan was able to over take Fred and garner his first 55+ win of the season. Nice job, Dan. Fred Hoblit was able to hang on for 2nd. Great performance by Fred. Kal rolled across for 3rd followed in by Alaan, Denegal, Valentin, Hunte and Collins. In 60+ action Monty Pettus rolled the last corner buried in 55+ racers and had to dodge some of the caught riders coming in. I was right on Monty's wheel and we weaved our way toward the finish line. I hit 35 mph 100 meters from the finish but couldn't hold it or even get out of the saddle to sprint because of the congestion. The last rider we went around about 70 meters from the line was Steve Bernede. We went around to his right and veered back left because the entire right side was blocked off by cones for the officials and announcers(Vera was announcing our race). Monty came in strong but I could tell he was feeling the effects of his earlier hard effort going into the last lap. I almost never can get around Monty and neither can most anyone else but if I had a straight line I would have had a chance. I finished with too many bullets left. Monty held on for 1st in 60+. Teammate Howard Miller was all the way on the left side. Howard likes to take a wide turn and the left side works out well for him but he got blocked off a some point as well. Howard and I arrived at the finish line almost in a dead heat. No big deal for 2nd. Chris gave it too Howard. Rick Lilliberg came in for a very respectable 4th place.
The overall pace was about 24.9 mph for the race on a fast course so things weren't pushed like it has been at some races this year. No close calls or any crashes. I am finding out that criteriums are one of the safest forms of bicycle riding. There was a crash at Fiesta Island if you can believe that. All the tangles with automobiles on training rides have been awful this year. I will take a criterium any day. All photos and the video are compliments of Maki Yamazaki. Thank you! That's all for now. Train hard and race safe!



Velo Allegro Crit  (Rank 1.0)
Masters 60+
Place License Name Team SoCal Points
1 219074 Leo Pettus Paramount Racing 14
2 49424 howard miller Paramount Racing 11
3 180386 John McKee Paramount Racing 10
4 64127 Rick Lilleberg South Bay Wheelmen 9
5 126351 Steve Bernede Team Werks 8
6 61278 Mario Seri Velo Club LaGrange 7
7 101582 william carvin
6
8 195498 Donald Kimper UC Cyclery/JW Floors 5
9 203244 Cary Alpert South Bay Wheelmen 4
10 50406 Michael Edwards Velo Club LaGrange 3
 
Velo Allegro Crit  (Rank 1.0)
Masters 55+
Place License Name Team SoCal Points
1 26090 Daniel Nicolette Sho-air/Rock 'n Road 14
2 16360 Fred Hoblit Santa Clarita Velo 11
3 54522 KAL SZKALAK UC Cyclery/JW Floors 10
4 64439 Nelson Alaan Cal-Pacific Export Packers / LV 9
5 93812 Donald Denegal Velo Allegro 8
6 36299 Dan Valentin Citrus Valley Velo 7
7 52086 cyril hunte
6
8 46255 Alex Collins UC Cyclery/JW Floors 5
9 230085 Albert Shorts Velo Allegro 4
10 364856 John Erwin
3
11 49110 Rino Barbagiovanni Santa Clarita Velo 2
12 50532 deogracias asuncion South Bay Wheelmen 1
13 52251 Ricky Shorts Velo Allegro 0
14 202041 mark planellas Southern California Velo 0
15 178495 Steve Diamond Spy-Swami's Cycling Team 0
16 66553 John Sinz OCW/Paramount Racing 0
17 239426 Ted Young
0
18 12354 Kirk Freeman Santa Clarita Velo 0
19 61353 Reed Moore UC Cyclery/JW Floors 0
20 271566 Alex Gonzalez Velo Allegro 0
21 47314 gary prideaux Lightning Velo 0
22 9271 Pete Dern Velo Club LaGrange 0

Saturday, May 12, 2012

UC CYCLERY TURNS 2012 55/60+ BARRIO LOGAN INTO TEAM TT

By John McKee


2012 Brohure
 The 16th annual Barrio Logan Grand Prix is one of the top races on the calendar each year. I can never understand why so many riders from the "northern" teams avoid it. The course is technical and the pavement is rough but not to the point of being unsafe. This year the BLGP had to contend with the behemoth Dana Point Grand Prix on the next day. Tough competition. BLGP use to partner with the SLR road race and that made for a great weekend of racing but the last few years have broken this combo up. Not all the Barrio Logan races have had the 55+ and 60+ categories but have for the last several years. There are a lot of reasons I like the race. SDBC and Ralph Elliot do a great job with the event. Every year they put together a race brohure and that is not done by anyone. The course, area,  payouts($250 in each category), and a number of small intangible elements make this a fun event. The 55/60+ event was scheduled for 7:50 am. Right after the cat 5 racers but before the cat 4s. I suggest the senior riders have put enough time in grade to warrant racing behind the cat 4s and in a better time slot. More riders are likely to drive down having more time to do so.
Another great small thing about this race is they have a "hall of fame" based on everyone that has ever won a race here. Butch Stinton has won more than anyone but John Rubcic is up there in total wins. John has won some pretty darn close races here.


Barrio Logan Hall of Fame
 This year's 16th annual BLGP lined up 30 racers for the 55/60+ race. 12 of the racers were from UC Cyclery. This was the most lopsided showing I have ever seen in a race. Swami's had 3 riders but were missing their ace, Mike Birditt. Mike is out with a bad back and his return is undetermined. Chris Black was there and is a whole team all to himself. 4 of the 12 UCC racers were 60+ leaving 8 at 55+. 6 of the 8 are very strong riders and would dictate the race.


The lineup for the 16th annual BLGP 55/60+ race
The race started on time and like some of the more recent races was fast and hard and averaged over 25 mph for the 1st 5 miles on a course that is not particularly fast. UC Cyclery pushed the pace along with Chris Black and Rick Swanson. Mark Helvie started a solo break early and hung out there for a short time but was caught. Chris Black started riding tempo at the front for 3 or 4 laps. UCC was just waiting and struck not long after the 1st 5 miles were covered. Kal Szkalak, Mark Helvie, John Rubcic of UCC teamed up with Don Davidson and Chris Black. A very strong group and this made the time to chase but Swami's and Paramount didn't come to the front when the punch was needed. To add insult to injury Mike Mueller and Steve Hensler also of UCC got away from the pack and was able to link up with the break group.
Early break including Helvie, Davidson, Szkalak, Rubcic and Black

Rick Swanson chasing the break including lots of UC Cyclery racers
Mark Helvie slipping away from the break group

After Hensler and Mueller joined the break group, Mark Helvie slipped away as you can see in the photo near the start/finish line. This left Chris Black and Don Davidson to do the chasing and work in the main break group. Mark got out there and was doing a great job solo. He was doing over 25 mph by himself.
Back in the pack Alex Collins and Paul Rodiguez were able to slip away and team up for an in between group.
Lap after lap the break group was being lead by Chris Black and Don Davidson but Mark Helvie hung tough. In fact, Don Davidson ran out of gas and couldn't hang with the break group. Don shouldn't have pulled so hard but Don's focus was the ITT being held one week after the BLGP. It was now Chris Black vs Mark Helvie. The pack churned helplessly. 1st and 2nd place was gone in 60+ and lots of 55s were ahead. Dale Luedtke and later Monty Pettus tried kamikaze moves but  you could say at least they tried something. Dale move was before Alex and Paul got away and Paul just sat on Dale until he came back. Monty's effort had a chance of catching Alex and Paul later in the race but Monty also came back to the main pack.
Dale Luedtke trying to come across the gap to the break with Paul Rodiguez on his wheel
Kal Szkalak attacking Chris Black and the break group. I assume he was trying to link up with Mark but couldn't
Mark Helvie going solo late in the race- Great effort
The race got down to a few laps to go and Mark Helvie was still away but not far. Don Davidson was off the back of the lead break/chase group and was just trying to hang on. Alex and Paul were still slightly ahead of the main pack. Chris Black was doing all the work trying to bring back Mark Helvie. The final lap came and Mark was still ahead but precariously close. UCC hit the panic button and thought they needed to start a train to lead out Kal Szkalak. John Rubcic had the 60+ race locked up. They were chasing down their own man. They were afraid that Chris Black would be able to counter off of "the catch". The catch being Mark Helvie. I think this was wrong thinking but that is just my opinion. Chris would have been tired after chasing Mark for so long and the UCC riders would have been fresh having been dragged around for the last half of the race. Mike Mueller started the train and everyone caught Mark at the bottom of the course. What a shame there. The sprint was left to come. John Rubcic was first to the last corner and first across the line to win the 60+ race. Kal Szkalak was the 2nd rider and the 1st 55+ rider across the line. Kal was followed in by Steve Hensler, Mike Mueller and Chris Black. Mark Helvie strolled in for 5th place. Great ride though.
Don Davidson was able to hang on and finish 2nd in 60+. Alex Collins and Paul Rodiguez came in together just ahead of the pack sprint. Monty Pettus won the pack sprint and showed how strong he is riding having jumped from pretty far out and held everyone else off. This was a very lopsided and not so fun  race for everyone but UCC. This was in their backyard and many teams didn't come down which was their loss. Like to see UCC race full strength like this against a full field somewhere north of the San Diego County border. In fact, Dale Luedtke has thrown down a challenge. Come out of your home court and race against a full field stacked with all the 55/60+ teams. With Sho Air, Velo Allegro, and Santa Clarita Velo and Swami's with Mike Birditt back we would see a very exciting, hard and fun race. That's all for now folks! Train hard and race safe! Full results below.
Break sprint finish- Henlser, Black, Mueller, Rubcic, and Szkalak- Rubcic was 1st 60 and Szkalak 1st 55
Right after the sprint looks like Mr. Rubcic needs some oxygen
60+ podium- Nicolette, Davidson, Rubcic, Pettus, & Miller
55+ podium- Helvie, Henlser, Szkalak, Mueller & Rodiguez(Chris Black missing from photo)-Ralph Elliot looking on

Barrio Logan Grand Prix  (Rank 1.0)
Masters 55+
Place License Name Team SoCal Points
1 54522 Kalman Szkalak UC Cyclery/JW Floors 14
2 15874 Steve Hensler UC Cyclery/JW Floors 11
3 46688 Michael Mueller UC Cyclery/JW Floors 10
4 3814 Chris Black Morgan Stanley /Specialized 9
5 15760 Mark Helvie UC Cyclery/JW Floors 8
6 58847 Paul Rodriguez UC Cyclery/JW Floors 7
7 46255 Alex Collins UC Cyclery/JW Floors 6
8 93812 Donald Denegal Velo Allegro 5
9 47262 Dale Luedtke Spy-Swami's Cycling Team 4
10 189931 Kasey Haws Team Redlands 3
11 167453 Bob Estupinan Citrus Valley Velo 2
12 178495 Steve Diamond Spy-Swami's Cycling Team 1
13 177591 Kenneth Caldera CA Pools /CFS Mortgage 0
14 34753 Rick Swanson Spy-Swami's Cycling Team 0
15 50675   0

Barrio Logan Grand Prix  (Rank 1.0)
Masters 60+
Place License Name Team SoCal Points
1 48760 John Rubcic UC Cyclery/JW Floors 14
2 48278 Donald Davidson Citrus Valley Velo 11
3 219074 Leo Pettus Paramount Racing 10
4 61193 John Wagenaar UC Cyclery/JW Floors 9
5 49424 Howard Miller Paramount Racing 8
6 26089 Fred Nicolet ACQUA AL 2/SDBC 7
7 180386 John McKee Paramount Racing 6
8 228631 James Swigart ACQUA AL 2/SDBC 5
9 195498 Donald Kimper UC Cyclery/JW Floors 4
10 245777 Steven Borer UC Cyclery/JW Floors 3