I am going to write about the 2012 65-69 National Championship Criterium race because that was the race I was in but will give credit to all the Socal riders that I can that podiumed on Sunday Sept. 9th, 2012. I must digress a bit. My first National Criterium Championship was in Bakersfield in 2002 in 55-59. Very hard and fast race in blistering hot weather. I finished 26th out of 50 or so starters and next to my soon to be friend and sometimes mentor Bob Barney. That was hard. I didn't come back to Natz until I turned 60 with Fritz Tomasello. Fritz and I were born in the same year and it was also the same birth year of John Elgart. I remember in amazement seeing John Elgart solo to victory in the criterium at a Penn. motor raceway. Went off the front with one other rider who helped him and then was shed or shredded would be a better word. Neither myself, Fritz, Steve Whitsitt, or Mike Duck finished on the podium with Fritz finishing the best.
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| 65-65 criterium riders 10 meters from the line before the race |
I got the bug to train harder and race more and come back and do better. The next 2 years I finished 6th which was one off the podium and I thought I was within the 5 best riders but always missed the right aggressive move that would have put me where I needed to be. When I turned 63 then 64 I finished in the top 10 but never on the podium. John Elgart kept winning. Kenny finally beat JE in the criterium in Indiana when John was 64.
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| 4 riders were called to the line- Bruce Steele, Don Kimper, myself and John Elgart the defending champ |
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| Everyone is called to the line and Dave Towle counts down to the start |
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| Well known announcer Dave Towle(on the left) in the booth with his trail mix |
I did the last races of the year at Ontario, Carson and Dom Hills and did ok but didn't feel like I did early in the season. My top end was good in workouts but the overall strength wasn't there. I had been fixated on Nationals since my second place finish in 2011. I wanted to come back and win. All my feedback from sources were that John Elgart was riding good as I assumed he would be. I didn't know of any major masters stars aging up in 2012. 2013 would be different with John Rubcic and Kenny Fuller moving into the 65-69 ranks.
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| Early action in the back of the pack |
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| Early action with Loren "Michigan" Simons leading the way |
I woke up on Sunday Sept. 9th and the wind was blowing harder than it had any day I had been in Oregon. Bummer. Rode over to the course to warm up and saw the wind was blowing against the riders coming toward the finish line.
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| Again....early action |
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| The pack taking the only left hander on the course |
Natz announcer Dave Towle counted us down and we were off. John Elgart lead it off and went very hard. Lined it out as this is about all this course will take on most of it. Very narrow and technical course with the last curve measured at 14 feet. USAC rules require a minimum width of 7 meters or almost 22 feet. All the entrances to the residential streets were well below 7 meters. Turn 5 was coming off a downhill stretch and difficult to take at speed. Racers that do a lot of criteriums and other experienced racers shouldn't have much of a problem but as we will see it was beyond the skill set of some riders.
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| Riding next to the roundabout |
Bruce Steele took over for John Elgart and the pace was good. Also setting pace was Ron LeBard and Loren "Michigan" Simons. I wasn't feeling that strong so chose to race more "Richard Meeker" style and definitely not "Mark Hoffenberg" style. I watched Richard Meeker win the 50-54 category and he was always 2 to 5 in the order of riders but I never saw him at the front. Maybe he was somewhere else on the course but never near the start/finish line where I watched the race.
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| The pressure is on with Ron LeBard leading. Followed by Elgart and myself. |
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| LeBard leading going into turn 2. Ron later clipped a pedal hard here with me on his wheel. Had me worried! |
After the delay the riders were brought to the line again and because there were other races to go they shortened the race from what would have been 28 laps to go to 18! 10 laps gone! 2 riders had been off the back so they had to start a number of seconds later. The field was getting smaller. This year's field was smaller than 2011 and it was faster overall in 2011 because of that. There were lulls in the pace in 2012 because of the small field and riders like myself.
I pretty much stayed near John Elgart. Looking back I could have set some pace but I didn't want to go into oxygen debt when an attack might come from Elgart or Richard Shields. Richard attacked midway through the race in 2011 and Elgart let him go so I chased him down.
The race was quite uneventful as the laps counted down in 2012. Once we hit 9 laps to go there was to be NO FREE LAPS! Flat tire, mechanical, crash, etc. and you have to chase back on.
4 laps to go and a rider I hadn't seen all day came to the front to set pace. He was in a black and white kit that said Louisville on it. I was surprised to find out later that he is from Colo.
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| Turn one with Steele leading and Elgart following and then myself on JE. See a pattern here. Lol. |
He is a new rider and you can tell that from his license number which was 363xxx. His name is Drew Clark. He set a decent pace and since the laps were winding down, no one else wanted to shoot forward. Drew was followed in a lineup by Ron LeBard, John Elgart, myself and then Richard Shields. After we got the 3 to go Drew rounded turn 5 (remember this is the bad one) and Drew went down. Didn't look like he over cooked it. He went sliding and Ron LeBard went down with him. John Elgart was the next in line and also went down. After all the crashes I have done this year, I wasn't looking to go down again. I knew turn 5 was tricky and also knew with a right turn that the right side would be the bail out area. Everyone would be sliding to the left and into or near the left curb. When I saw all this I swerved to the right and missed Elgart sliding on the ground. Richard Shields who was behind me also piled into the group on the ground.
When all the dust settled there were 4 riders up and together. The few other remaining riders were gapped off by the crash. The 4 riders were Bruce Steele, Don Kimper, Loren "Michigan" Simons and myself. I sized this up quickly and the 3 Socal riders were going to be on the podium and I had a very good chance to win. Bad deal for the guys on the ground. 3 of the best riders were down but that is racing sometimes.
The 4 pack of riders rounded the last corner and were going to get 2 to go but as I looked down the street the chief ref/judge was waving his arms. Another neutral. Damn they figured that out fast. The lead rider that crashed could not get up so they stopped the race again. John Elgart had gotten up quickly and was chasing but if we hadn't gotten waved down, he wouldn't have caught us. Not with Bruce pegging it at the front which he would have done.
There was another long delay. Drew Clark also had a cervical collar put on and we waited another 30 to 40 minutes to start again. I also hope Drew was not seriously injured. How were the officials going to do the restart. I gave my 2 cents worth of opinion to the chief judge. The 4 guys that were away should start solo. No free laps inside 9 right. The 4 guys had a gap and shouldn't be penalized because a rider couldn't get up. The riders that went down and the other gapped riders shouldn't get to start with the lead riders. This is my opinion anyway as you can tell. The chief judge didn't agree with me and everyone except the riders off the back were going to start together and there was going to be 5 laps to go.
Off again. Bruce Steele did some pacing. This time Ron LeBard who had some pretty bad wounds on his arms was on John Elgart and I was following Ron. Going into one lap to go Richard Shields jumped to the front just like he did in 2011. Almost the same lineup as well except LeBard was between Elgart and myself. Rounding turn 2 we could see a rider laying in the street and someone waving their arms. Another crash. The guy was laying right in the middle of the street. I immediately took my foot off the gas. Looked like another delay. There was another guy there near the downed rider and he was waving riders by. Once by the downed rider the racers sped up and it looked like there was going to be a finish???? I was already way pissed and way back. This can't be. Coming to the line everyone was called off.
What had happened was 2 or 3 of the riders that were off the back were given a finish and were warming down. They got there wheels tangled and the rider from Bend, Or. that rides for a Southern Cal. team by the name of Win Team went down. The guy is a doctor and figured he broke his collarbone so he laid there. He was taken off the course much sooner than the other 2.
Now we all came to the line and the chief judge not really knowing what to do threw out a number for the restart. 2 to go? No one said anything so it was 2 to go. I just wanted to get this over with. All the anxiety and stress.
We got going again and this time I had Elgart's wheel. A few other guys wanted it and Ron LeBard wasn't one of them. He was on my wheel but anyway I wasn't giving Elgart's wheel up to anyone at this point. Earn your stripes. Put your time in grade. Place at the national level and you will get more respect from me.
The last lap came and Bruce Steele went to the whip. Bruce picked it up and John Elgart got his wheel. John was followed by myself and then Ron LeBard. Before the race Monty Pettus said I should take the "hole shot". Dive for the last corner but you had to be the first to the last corner.
I thought about that after we rounded turn 6 and coming to the roundabout. I hesitated like I often do and then felt I couldn't make it past Bruce. If I made it next to Elgart and Bruce went wide I would have the "man" trapped and would be the first to sprint for home but if Bruce turned next to the right curb I could be chopped and crash or have to brake. Bruce did turn tight to the right corner. I didn't want to do either so I waited until we rounded the last corner. I had overlapped John Elgart's wheel to the left and he started his sprint. I started as well and felt good to begin with but about half way down toward the finish line Elgart was pulling away. John Elgart came across the line for another victory. Dave Towle saw it coming and was announcing Elgart as the 2012 National Champion as he crossed the line! I still don't like the judge's decision but in the end the strongest and fastest rider won. As they always say... there is next year!
I kept rolling to the line but not full gas and almost got pipped at the line by Ron LeBard but held on for 2nd place. I was further behind John this year. Ron was 3rd. Jerry Shaffer was 4th, Loren Simons was 5th, Richard Shields 6th, Don Kimper was 7th and Bruce Steele was 8th.
The overall title in 65-69 was up for grabs and Shields and Steele tied at 38 points but since Richard beat Bruce in the last race, he won the glass for overall champion.
It was a really strange race with the course being so technical that it was beyond some riders ability to ride safely. My suggestion to USAC is to not turn right at turn 5 but go down one more street to NW Crossing and then turn right. NW Crossing is a slightly wider street and would be safer to turn into to. NW Crossing would take everyone to the roundabout and back to where we were. More homeowners would have to sign off on this idea.
Earlier in 70-74 action, Socal's Dan Wulbert placed 4th in the 70-74 criterium and took the overall in his category. Robert Paganini placed 3rd in 75-79. In the race that started after the 65-69 criterium, John Rubcic placed 2nd. John was in a 4 man break in 60-64 and lost the wheel of the eventually winner on the last lap. Good race by John. He will be moving up to 65-69 next year. Socal's Mike Marotta crashed at turn 5. He went over another rider that was down. Mike broke his collarbone and chipped a bone in his hip. Mike had a great season but this accident will put him off his bike for 3 or 4 months. Very sorry to hear this. Best wishes to a speedy recovery. Socal's Patricia Kimper won the women's 65-69 criterium. Nice going girl! Also long time Socal racer Cindy Morgan finished 2nd in a very close race in women 60-64. All the results are below. That's all for now folks! Train hard and race safe!
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| John Rubcic on the podium in the 60-64 category with the winner where??? |
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| Post podium recreation 65-69- McKee, Elgart and Simon. |
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| Dan Wulbert was 4th in the criterium. Notice how fit all the 70+ guys look. All younger racers take notice. |
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| Robert Paganini- 3rd place on the right |
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| Patricia Kimper wins the women's 65-69 category. |
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| Socal's Cindy Morgan(2nd from the left) placed 2nd in women 60-64. The winner was Kristine Johnson(wife of the USAC president, Steve Johnson. |
| Men - Master - 60--64 | |||||||||
| Place | Points | Name | City, State | Time | USAC # | Bib | Team | ||
 | 1 | 250.14 | Wayne Watson | Denver, CO | 1:23:39 | 50623 | 130 | Natural Grocers Cycling Team | |
 | 2 | 274.57 | John Rubcic | Hemet, CA | 1:23:41 | 48760 | 154 | UC Cyclery/JW Floors/Sun Coast Velo | |
 | 3 | 299.00 | Thomas Officer | Litchfield, CT | 1:23:41 | 45751 | 118 | Cycle Fitness Cycling Club | |
| 4 | 323.43 | Brad Swope | Louisville, KY | 1:23:43 | 47984 | 156 | Kentucky Flyers Cycling Inc | ||
| 5 | 347.86 | George Heagerty | San Antonio, TX | 1:23:53 | 72892 | 162 | Geri Atrix | ||
| 6 | 372.29 | David Hixson | Knoxville, TN | 1:23:53 | 16327 | 141 | Team Gran Fondo/Gran Fondo Racing | ||
| 7 | 396.72 | Ken Louder | Salt Lake City, UT | 1:23:54 | 179491 | 115 | Velosport Racing | ||
| 8 | 421.15 | Gordon Paulson | Cottage Grove, WI | 1:23:54 | 176866 | 119 | Trek Midwest Team | ||
 | 9 | 445.58 | John Wagenaar | La Mesa, CA | 1:23:54 | 61193 | 157 | UC Cyclery/JW Floors/Sun Coast Velo | |
| 10 | 470.01 | Gregory Pautsch | Chippewa Falls, WI | 1:23:55 | 180532 | 163 | Planet Bike | ||
| 11 | 494.44 | Michael Burdo | Kirkland, WA | 1:24:09 | 48373 | 135 | Team Steam | ||
| 12 | 518.87 | Barry Messmer | Fort Collins, CO | 0:00:00 | 51850 | 149 | Boulder Orthopedics | ||
| 13 | 543.30 | Steven Borer | San Diego, CA | 0:00:00 | 245777 | 160 | UC Cyclery/JW Floors/Sun Coast Velo | |
| 14 | 567.73 | Dale Allen | Bend, OR | 0:00:00 | 160097 | 159 | |||
| DNS | Kenny Fuller | Corona Del Mar, CA | 0:00:00 | 46765 | 109 | Team Simple Green/Bike Religion/Cycles Veloce | |||
| DNS | Thomas Zoumaras | Kirksville, MO | 0:00:00 | 65996 | 158 | Michelob Ultra - Big Shark Racing Team/Michelob Ultra - Big Shark Racing | |||
| DNF | James Thompson | Bonners Ferry | 0:00:00 | 188816 | 164 | ||||
| DNF | Bob Guglielmelli | San Luis Obispo, CA | 0:00:00 | 14374 | 161 | Central Coast Tire CCT | |||
| DNF | Douglas Lindsay | Truckee, CA | 0:00:00 | 21257 | 146 | Truckee Bicycle Team | |||
| DNF | Douglas Knox | Santa Barbara, CA | 0:00:00 | 45552 | 165 | Time Factory Team | |||
| DNF | Dwight Hibdon | Park City, UT | 0:00:00 | 16081 | 140 | FFKR Architects Racing/Velosport Racing | |||
| DNF | Mike Marotta | Bakersfield, CA | 0:00:00 | 72880 | 116 | Spy-Swami's Cycling Team/Swami's Cycling Club | |||
| DNF | Morgan Caldwell | Lafayette, CA | 0:00:00 | 55374 | 136 | Morgan Stanley Cycling Team | |||
| DNF | Mike Ambrozewicz | Fair Oaks, CA | 0:00:00 | 358707 | 102 | ||||
| DNF | Leo Pettus | Yorba Linda, CA | 0:00:00 | 219074 | 121 | Paramount Racing/OCW/Paramount Racing | |||
Men - Master - 65--69 | |||||||||
| Place | Points | Name | City, State | Time | USAC # | Bib | Team | ||
| 1 | 299.78 | John Elgart | Sacramento, CA | 1:57:48 | 45071 | 75 | Webcor/Alto Velo/Alto Velo Racing Club | |
| 2 | 322.10 | John McKee | Westminster, CA | 1:57:49 | 180386 | 89 | Paramount Racing/OCW/Paramount Racing | |
| 3 | 344.42 | Ron LeBard | Grass Valley, CA | 1:57:49 | 125445 | 79 | Victory Velo Racing | |
| 4 | 366.74 | Jerry Shafer | Seattle, WA | 1:57:49 | 54693 | 91 | Slalom Consulting Racing | ||
| 5 | 389.06 | Loren Simons | St Johns, MI | 1:57:49 | 47936 | 83 | Team Priority Health | ||
| 6 | 411.38 | Richard Shields | Fremont, CA | 1:57:50 | 140693 | 56 | Hammer Nutrition/Team Hammer Nutrition | ||
| 7 | 433.70 | Donald Kimper | Solana Beach, CA | 1:57:50 | 195498 | 78 | UC Cyclery/JW Floors/Sun Coast Velo | ||
| 8 | 456.02 | Bruce Steele | Redondo Beach, CA | 1:57:50 | 236498 | 58 | South Bay Wheelmen | ||
| 9 | 478.34 | Robert Fernandez | Mount Pleasant, SC | 1:57:50 | 58378 | 77 | Cleveland Clinic Sports Health Regional/Cleveland Clinic Sports Health - RGF pb | ||
| 10 | 500.66 | Gary Simmons | Layton, UT | 1:57:51 | 199407 | 57 | Bountiful Mazda Cycling Team | ||
| 11 | 522.98 | Danny Pierce | Aspen, CO | 1:57:52 | 357836 | 53 | |||
| 12 | 545.30 | Frank Sahlman | Olympic Valley, CA | 1:57:53 | 350176 | 55 | |||
| 13 | 567.62 | Donald Coker | Bend, OR | 1:59:49 | 50869 | 88 | WIN-TEAM RACING/Win-Team Racing | ||
| 14 | 589.94 | Michael McKinney | Huntington Beach, CA | 1:59:50 | 99906 | 90 | Pinnaclife Racing Team/Radsport Cycling Team | ||
| DNS | P Fred Storti | Stillwater, MN | 0:00:00 | 59577 | 84 | St Paul Bicycle Racing Club | |||
| DNS | Gary Westerfield | Orange, CA | 0:00:00 | 48245 | 87 | Cycles Veloce | |||
| DNS | Whitney Fanning | Waco, TX | 0:00:00 | 89401 | 76 | Bicycles Outback p/b Jubilee Mitsubishi | |||
| DNS | Jack Kelso | Pleasanton, CA | 0:00:00 | 202171 | 50 | Hammer Nutrition/Team Hammer Nutrition | |||
| DNF | Robert Phillips | Baltimore, MD | 0:00:00 | 45795 | 80 | Annapolis Bicycle Racing Team | |||
| DNF | Drew Clark | Erie, CO | 0:00:00 | 363986 | 74 | Louisville Velo Club/ Team Louisville Cyclery | |||
| DNF | Dale Harless | Bellevue, WA | 0:00:00 | 57571 | 47 | Cycle U | |||
Men - Master - 70-74 | |||||||||
| Place | Points | Name | City, State | Time | USAC # | Bib | Team | ||
| 1 | 500.76 | Michael Patterson | Old Lyme, CT | 57:45:00 | 180955 | 28 | ||
| 2 | 511.91 | Leonard Pettyjohn | Boulder, CO | 57:45:00 | 235722 | 40 | Boulder Orthopedics | |
| 3 | 523.06 | Lavon Wiseman | Sioux Falls | 57:45:00 | 251647 | 35 | ||
| 4 | 534.21 | Daniel Wulbert | Cardiff, CA | 57:46:00 | 46904 | 36 | UC Cyclery/JW Floors/Sun Coast Velo | ||
| 5 | 545.36 | S Durward Higgins | Chattanooga, TN | 57:46:00 | 46705 | 22 | Scenic City Velo | ||
| 6 | 556.51 | Fran Scannell | Englewood, CO | 58:47:00 | 51612 | 29 | Schwab Cycles Racing Team | ||
| 7 | 567.66 | William Fallis | San Mateo, CA | 58:52:00 | 45315 | 37 | Peninsula Velo Racing/Peninsula Velo Cycling Club | ||
| 8 | 578.81 | Michael Freeman | Martinez, CA | 0:00:00 | 12357 | 62 | Team Hammer Nutrition | ||
| 9 | 589.96 | Joseph Kapp | La Quinta , CA | 0:00:00 | 194019 | 24 | |||
| DNS | Scott Tucker | Golden, CO | 0:00:00 | 71040 | 32 | Schwab Cycles Racing Team | |||
| DNS | Dan Taylor | Alamo, CA | 0:00:00 | 306272 | 31 | Taleo Racing/Lamorinda Cycling Club | |||
| DNS | Thomas Neary | New Meadows, ID | 0:00:00 | 280339 | 27 | Treasure Coast Cycling Association | |||
| DNS | William Chambers | Park City, UT | 0:00:00 | 297698 | 20 | ||||
| DNS | Edward Camarena | Yorba Linda, CA | 0:00:00 | 99513 | 18 | Veloce Santiago | |||
| DNS | Jim Turner | Menlo Park, CA | 0:00:00 | 63449 | 33 | Webcor/Alto Velo/Alto Velo Racing Club | |||
Men - Master - 75--79 | |||||||||
| Place | Points | Name | City, State | Time | USAC # | Bib | Team | ||
| 1 | 441.89 | Frederic Schmid | Waco, TX | 57:59:00 | 109257 | 14 | ||
| 2 | 489.16 | William Meyers | Oak Creek, CO | 58:14:00 | 53368 | 9 | Schwab Cycles Racing Team | |
| 3 | 536.43 | Robert Paganini | Los Angeles, CA | 58:29:00 | 45763 | 63 | PAA/REMAX | |
| 4 | 583.70 | Larry Slotta | Alta, WY | 58:44:00 | 66507 | 15 | |||
| DNS | Nikola Farats | Santa Rosa, CA | 0:00:00 | 384510 | 6 | ||||
| DNS | Richard Reynolds | Tucson, AZ | 0:00:00 | 186922 | 12 | Summit Velo | |||
| DNS | James Sadilek | Carson City, NV | 0:00:00 | 243469 | 73 | Alta Alpina Cycling Club | |||
| DNS | Franz Hammer | Oro Valley, AZ | 0:00:00 | 45423 | 7 | Team Green Choice/Team RPM/Airpark Bikes | |||
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