ROSENA RANCH CIRCUIT RACE IS 55 AND 60+ FRIENDLY- THANK YOU

By John McKee

Feburary 23, 2013 the date for the 1st of 3 Rosena Ranch Circuit Race events. Majestic Cycling got going in 2012 with 2 events on a pretty darn hard 3.74 mile loop with 2 180 turns and sloop as high as 3.7%. The race course is off Glen Helen Pkwy from the I 15 Freeway. Pretty far up there. There is quite a number of new housing developments in the area. The promoter was able to close off this loop on a Saturday which is good for him and racers because Sundays are locked up on the SCNCA calendar. Especially after CBR came aboard. 2012 saw an entry fee of $35 but it was reduced for 2013 to $30. The promoter was to pay BOTH the 55s and 60s $200. No 50% rule as we have seen from some sources. Good fair payout and a challenging course. Something that favors the lighter riders but the strong men can also perform here. The course is not forgiving though. A little out of shape. Maybe a little heavy. Can't draft near as easy here. You get yourself in oxygen debt at the wrong place here and you could fine yourself off the back. 29 55s and 22 60s showed up for a very good turnout of 49. For a venue this far out of the way for many riders this is good.
When I got to the course the wind was blowing pretty good and it felt cold. Colder than I thought it was going to be. I was thankful that the 55/60+ race didn't start until 9:30 am. Cat 5s and juniors went before us. It did warm up a bit and the wind did seem to calm down a little. Locals say it usually blows pretty good most every day in the afternoon. One other thing about this long circuit race is there can be more than one group racing at the same time. Good for the promoter and the racers. Tougher on the officials but they are good. They can do it. The cat 3/4 women were to start 5 minutes after us and we never had to pass them in the time we raced the circuit 6 times. We would gain about 1,000 ft. over the course of the race.

Black dog(Hoffy) White dog(Malcolm) Black dog "He doesn't want to win. Trust me!"

49 55/60+ racers were off close to the start time of 9:30 am. We were to do 6 laps or 22 minutes.No crazy sprint off the line thing. The 1st lap was pretty much under control. Rokform of course would try to dominate the race with almost their full lineup. With some probing on the 1st lap there was a small 50 meter gap that opened up after the 2nd turnaround. Foresaking my pre race strategy of staying with myself and not doing anything extreme, I shot across the gap. Everyone chased me and we were all together again. Last year I did something similar on the 3rd lap and went into oxygen debt and struggled the rest of the race. Lol. I did counsel myself about this indiscretion.
The pace up the end of the 1st lap with the biggest part of the climbing went well. It wasn't that fast. The Rokform team was looking to get multiple riders in the break or to at least match Breakaway from Cancer numbers. If just one BFC rider was in the break then one Rokform but if both of BFC riders were in the break then Rokform wanted at least 2 or they wouldn't work in the pack and would chase behind. There was some mixing and matching on the 2nd lap. The pace in the pack going up the hill at the end of the lap was the slowest it was going to be in this race and most likely slower than any lap last year. At the 1st turnaround on the 3rd lap the last pieces of the break group were being put into place. 9 riders. 7 55s and 2 60s. The 55s were Rokform's Mark Hoffenberg, Bob Pelkofer, and Jeff Moreton, BFC's Malcolm Hill and Witold Czulak(Witold is just getting back into racing. He had a major injury from a crash that kept him off his bike for 2 years), UC Cyclery's Bob Wilcox, and Radsport's Bruce Hartley. The 60s included UC Cyclery's Kal Szkalak and  Cal Pools Kirk Freeman.
The 55s pushed the pace which got to 30 seconds and pretty much held there for most of the race. Bill Ralph of Rokform was in the pack to monitor things but all the major 55+ teams were in the break so no great surge was likely and that proved to be the case. No one was going to get away in the break group without a very strong rider chasing on him. The bell lap came and the 2 60s were nicely tucked in the break group getting a ride. Bruce Hartley had decided to disappear as well on the last few laps. Something different for him. The pace in the pack stayed moderate which was to my advantage. I had no confidence on this course.
The last lap came and Bob Pelkofer went off the front of the break group. This is what Bob is good at. Witold Czulak went to the front to chase and chase he did. He brought Bob back.
The pack picked it up after the 1st turnaround and there was a small 20 meter gap that opened up. I wasn't on the right side of this one and immediately closed it down. This area was flat so no problem for me. The pace in the pack was hearty but comfortable enough for most everyone.
The break group was racing for the complete podium and all the pay spots in 55+. 2 of the podium spots and 2 of the 4 pay spots in 60+ were going to either Kal or Kirk. The break group turned the last turnaround together. Witold went to the front to pace and then Jeff Moreton took over. Mark was sitting in waiting for the right moment to spring for the line. Malcolm certainly was keeping an eye on Mark. No one jumped early like happened last year. 300 meters and someone couldn't wait any longer. Time for Mark Hoffenberg to put it into sprint mode. Sprinting is one of the things Mark does well but is there anything he can't do in cycling. Malcolm gave it everything he had but Mark was 1st to the line. Malcolm Hill was 2nd. Bruce Hartley used that reserve power that he had been storing up the last few laps to make it on the podium with an excellent 3rd place finish. Bruce was followed in by Bob Pelkofer, Bob Wilcox, Jeff Moreton and Witold Czulak.
The peleton also waited fairly late to start the finish sprint. It would be longer than it looks because it is uphill until to get very close to the line. Not sure who lead it out but when everyone went. I went. I was in decent position but wasn't near Mark Huffman who is the person I should have been marking. Mark is very good form right now and just aged up. 4 guys finished a tad ahead of everyone else. Steve Hensler, Mark Huffman and Wayne "The Vet" Rosenkrantz, and Bill Ralph and then Steve Borer, Gary Shuey(nice to see Gary back racing with us as a 60+ rider now) , myself and Don Davidson.
It was a good race and event. Thanks to the promoter for a good purse for us BOTH and a reduced entry fee. The start time was also excellent considering how far it is too travel to the venue.
On Sunday the weather was completely different at Ontario. The weather channel said the wind was 34 mph with gusts to 52 mph. I think it wasn't quite that bad but a number of us decided not to race. I rode one practice lap and decided I wasn't comfortable with the conditions. Dale, Birdy, Kal and a number of others also chose to sit it out. Most riders did race it and there were no crashes which was great. Glad to hear. Mark Hoffenberg won the 55+ cateogory(what a surprise) and "Big" John Roest won the 60+ category. Results are below! That's all for now folks! Train hard and race safe!

55+ Podium at Rosena Ranch- Hill 2, Hoffenberg 1, Hartley 3 with the Hooter gals.

Rosena Ranch 1  (Rank 1.5)
Masters 55+
Place	License	Name	Team	SoCal Points
1	45461	Mark Hoffenberg	Rokform/Rock N' Road	21
2	156650	Malcolm Hill	Breakaway from Cancer Masters	17
3	45431	Bruce Hartley	Radsport Cycling Team	15
4	47652	Bob Pellkofer	Rokform/Rock N' Road	13
5	69952	Robert Willcox	UC Cyclery/JW Floors	12
6	25023	Jeffrey Moreton	Rokform/Rock N' Road	10
7	276778	Witold Czulak	Breakaway from Cancer Masters	9
8	15874	Steve Hensler	UC Cyclery/JW Floors	7
9	125834	William Ralph	Rokform/Rock N' Road	6
10	61353	Reed Moore	UC Cyclery/JW Floors	4
11	36299	Daniel Valentin	Citrus Valley Velo	3
12	16837	Brad House	Big Orange Cycling	2
13	247382	Richard Gentili	Citrus Valley Velo	0
14	120335	Dan DeMuth	Team Redlands	0
15	203308	Daniel Yeager	Swami's Cycling Club	0
16	104199	Mark Parra	Team Redlands	0
17	162650	Jim Parkhurst	Team Simple Green/Bike Religion	0
18	45582	Cleaveran Law	Lightning Velo	0
19	94345	Gary Jones	Citrus Valley Velo	0
20	148853	Dale Raymond	Southern California Velo	0
21	188585	David Van Waldick	Celo Pacific	0
22	167453	Bob Estupinan	Citrus Valley Velo	0
23	49191	Kim Bleth	Rokform/Rock N' Road	0
24	279093	Moshe Ovadya		0
25	222764	Thomas Buescher	South Bay Wheelmen	0

Rosena Ranch 1  (Rank 1.5)
Masters 60+
Place	License	Name	Team	SoCal Points
1	54522	Kalman Szkalak	UC Cyclery/JW Floors	21
2	12354	Kirk Freeman	CA Pools / Primal	17
3	59572	Mark Huffman	UC Cyclery/JW Floors	15
4	30596	Wayne Rosenkrantz	Pinnaclife Racing Team	13
5	44197	Gary Shuey	Swami's Cycling Club	12
6	245777	Steven Borer	UC Cyclery/JW Floors	10
7	180386	John McKee	Paramount Racing	9
8	48278	Donald Davidson	Citrus Valley Velo	7
9	59805	Jean Villiot	CA Pools/Primal	6
10	189814	Leo Longo	Peninsula Cycle Club	4
11	228631	James Swigart	ACQUA AL 2/SDBC	3
12	269972	Fred Haim	Michelob Ultra - La Grange +21	2
13	64127	Richard Lilleberg	South Bay Wheelmen	0
14	366450	Joseph Deem	Citrus Valley Velo	0
15	236498	Bruce Steele	South Bay Wheelmen	0
16	277180	John Roest	Dons Bikes	0
17	50765	Richard Roberson	UC Cyclery/JW Floors	0
18	301372	Tom Herman	South Bay Wheelmen	0
19	203244	Cary Alpert	ironfly	0
20	3793	Raphael Gomez		0
21		Steve Mera		0

Ontario 2  (Rank 1.0) Masters 55+ Place License Name Team SoCal Points 1 45461 Mark Hoffenberg Rokform/Rock N' Road 14 2 38811 Jay Wolkoff Radsport Cycling Team 11 3 36299 Daniel Valentin Citrus Valley Velo 10 4 64439 Nelson Alaan Lightning Velo 9 5 52086 Cyril Hunte 8 6 125834 William Ralph Rokform/Rock N' Road 7 7 34753 Rick Swanson Southern California Velo 6 8 15625 Demi Hechanova Southern California Velo 5 9 23303 Michael McConnell UC Cyclery/JW Floors 4 10 167453 Bob Estupinan Citrus Valley Velo 3 11 148853 Dale Raymond Southern California Velo 2 12 95649 Ken Burns Southern California Velo 1 13 202041 Mark Planellas Southern California Velo 0 14 51400 Mark Rich Southern California Velo 0 15 396304 Noel Leos 0 16 94345 Gary Jones Citrus Valley Velo 0
Ontario 2  (Rank 1.0) Masters 60+ Place License Name Team SoCal Points 1 277180 John Roest Dons Bikes 14 2 30596 Wayne Rosenkrantz Pinnaclife Racing Team 11 3 366450 Joseph Deem Citrus Valley Velo 10 4 9271 Pete Dern Montrose Bike Shop- CW Builders 9 5 243425 mark wisnosky ACQUA AL 2/SDBC 8 6 254258 Hugh Lothrop 7 7 7677 Jim Cooke CA Pools / Primal 6 8 129293 Michael Fleming South Bay Wheelmen 5 9 45763 Robert Paganini PAA/REMAX 4

LET'S CELEBRATE 77 YEARS OF GOOD HEALTH TO ROBERT PAGANINI

By John McKee

I had to keep telling myself to stay positive. Stay positive when writing my new story about CBR # 2. There was a controversy about payout with guess who. They broke the mold when they made Mr. Chris Lotts. I still love him for some reason. Chris comes over to me before the 55/60+ race with a big smile and pats me on the back. Says something bland that didn't make a lot of sense but that is Chris. The energy level this guy maintains on race day is amazing. If you could harness it to a electric power grid, you could light up the city of Los Angeles for days.
The positive element of my story is going to be about my friend and fellow racer. Robert Paganini turned 77 on Saturday March 16th. Robert has obviously lived a long life and has many more great years to come. Robert was born in France and lived in Paris during the Nazi occupation. Robert started racing at a fairly early age and was racing at a fairly high level in the early 50s. Robert raced with and against Jacque Anquetil in 1952. I have some great pictures of Robert racing in France from the early 50s to 1966. Happy Birthday to Robert and many more to come and many more victories and podiums at the State and National level. Robert has over 20 SCNCA masters championships and 3 USA masters championships.

Robert Paganini in France in the early 50s. Robert use to ride to and from most of his races.

Exhausted after a race on cobblestones?

Robert never liked anything on his arms and legs

Robert racing in France in 1966. A little heavier here. Robert is 2nd in line.

Racing in France in 1966. Robert is 2nd on the far side.

Victory for Robert Paganini at an early age.

Recent picture of Robert racing in Socal. Robert looks so uncomfortable and ill fit to his bike but he makes it work.

February 17th, 2013 and time for CBR #2. We could have been in Imperial and or Brawley to race for vegetables but sadly those races weren't on the calendar in 2013. To compare my contact with the promoter there and Chris. LOL. And I mean a big LOL. Stay positive. Stay positive. 40 racers or "cupcakes/swinging dicks" as Chris likes to say signed up to do the 2nd CBR race in Carson. The Carson course is across Wilmington Ave. from the old Paramount course. Similar profile but maybe a little harder with the power climb slightly steeper and the course a little shorter. We are sandwiched again between the cat 5 races and start at 7:30 am. I understand the 2nd 5 race will be replaced by a 30+ 4/5 category. A common and popular race in CBR. Brad Decker loves this race and being 45 lbs. lighter this year, Brad might do well.
Rokform/Velosport was fully loaded for 55+ race. A stellar line up of "top notch" racers as Ted Knight would say in "Caddyshack". Swami's was without Dale Luedtke and Pinneclife was without Jay Wolkoff. . No Breakaway from Cancer racers. A lopsided field. Mike "wrong side" McConnell was going to be there for UC Cyclery and is proving to be a strong presence in the peleton. He just has to figure out which side the number goes on. Mike needs a little more "seasoning" as they say in baseball.

Rokform/Velosport doing a pre race meeting that might have gone like this "Let's make Mike Birditt's legs scream" or "Does anybody have a hammer so we can 'Tonya Harding' Chris". Photo courtesy of Alex Naddor.

Mike McConnell leading the pack early on. Mike is followed by a new cat 2 rider from Minnesota. The number goes on the right side, Mike! Photo courtesy of Alex Naddor.

I started to hurt early on as the event got going. I think this just meant I was racing again. Lol. I told myself that I didn't want to do another race even though I paid for it. I did anyway. Fighting those negative thoughts is all part of the racing process. The mental side. Rokform was killing it early. Making the race as hard as they could make it and they can make it pretty darn hard.

Mark Hoffenberg killing it at the front. "Wrong side" is chasing with Bruce Hartley bringing the field on. Photo courtesy of Alex Naddor.

It's Bob Pelkofer's turn to shoot off the front for Rokform. Photo courtesy of Alex Naddor.

The race seemed to go by pretty quickly. I was glad there were no cones on the far side of the finish area. This is where I clipped 2 cones and went flying. They set up the officials area further out into the street leaving the far side to ride on which is the way I think it should have been set up all along.
Minor primes were sprinkled in the mix. $20 is always a popular incentive to pick up the pace.We had a "new guy" out there in the name of Gerald Finken from Minnesota. Gerald is a cat 2 rider and did a lot of chasing on Rokform. Bruce Hartley was chasing up a storm as well along with Mike McConnell. Mike Birditt threw down the gauntlet nailing back those Rokform Jack in the Boxes several times. Pelky and Hoffy were doing most of the efforts with Henry Scheff and Jeff Moreton also contributing some leg power. Some pretty tough stuff for everyone to digest.

The "Man of a Thousand Lakes" pulling everyone back to Pelky. Photo courtesy of Alex Naddor.

No group formed that lasted any length of time until the 4 most aggressive riders got together in one foursome. Hoffy, Birdy, Hartley and "Mr. Lakes". I thought this was it. Birdy and Hoffy in one group with 2 other riders that I didn't know at the time. Bruce and Mike thought this was the brass ring. The ticket to finish away from the group but did Hoffy want to sprint straight up with Mike. Mark wasn't pulling as hard as he can from intell I got and was always looking around seeing what was up. Was Mark looking for a teammate to come across the gap. Maybe so. Back in the pack "Wrong side" took a big pull. Mike is pretty strong. Then Kal jumped hard on the outside at turn 3. He wasn't trying to chase down the group. He was trying to get too the group. Chase bells went off in the pack. Everyone was out of the saddle going up the hill chasing the man with the muscles. Kal's effort got everyone so close that a few guys got across the gap but it was doomed.

4 break stars looking to take it home but did Rokform like the grouping?Photo courtesy of Alex Naddor.

You can only see Bruce Hartley's helmet checking out the progress. You can see "Wrong side" pulling the pack. Photo courtesy of Alex Naddor.

Henry Scheff and  Deogracias Asuncion add themselves to the group just before its curtails. Exit right! Photo courtesy of Alex Naddor.

 The race was most assuredly going to come down to a bunch sprint. It was less than 5 to go now. Who was Rokform going to set up for? Mark or Nick? Mark has a winning streak going but Danny is sprinting well lately. Rokform was also thinking of placing 2 on the podium. Taking 2 of the 3 pay spots in the mini purse of $125. Chris is saying a full field is 150 from the flyer which says 75/75. It's actually is a violation of Rule 1H5 USA CYCLING 2013 rulebook. The maximum field size that allows cat 5 racers is 75. Chris 50% rule should come into play with 38 swinging dicks though not all our racers always have dicks to swing. Last year we were getting $250 for the 55s and $100 for the 60s going 5 deep. There were 2 cat 5s in the race. You guys might want to upgrade because Chris could change the field to cats 1-4 and that rule wouldn't apply.
OK. Final lap and the big guy from Minnesota is leading the pack around. Mark, Nick and Birdy are lurking nearby. After turn 3 Mark Hoffenberg hits it. Nicolette and Birditt were following close. I don't know who was on Mike but they dropped the ball. Nelson Alaan had done his own separate solo launch. Nelson likes to launch coming out of turn 3 taking a hard fast turn and flying up the hill.

Sprint picture #1- Does anyone get lower than Mike Birditt....NO! Photo courtesy of Alex Naddor.

Sprint picture #2- pretty close right now. Photo courtesy of Alex Naddor.

 

Sprint picture #3- in 60+ action- I am following Kal with Marotta closing toward the line. Jones is blocked out by "Lakes". Photo courtesy of Alex Naddor.

Sprint picture #4- Nelson Alaan and Cyril Hunte are shown to the right of "Lakes". Photo courtesy of Alex Naddor.

Sprint picture #5- Hoffy 1, Birdy 2, Nick 3 in 55+.  Chris Lotts is near the officials area.

Coming to the last corner Mark Hoffenberg is 1st, Nicolette 2nd and Birditt 3rd. Now the stories vary a bit coming home. The "Swami's" version has Nick easing off a bit to create a small gap. Once around the corner Mike takes his own path to the finish line. Nick comes off Mark wheel but isn't in his favorite sprint gear which is 53 x 11. Pretty big gear but Danny is really strong. Birditt gets by Dan but not Mark. Mark is in really GOOD form. The podium placers were followed in by Alaan, Shorts, Finken and Hunte in 55+.
In 60+ action Craig Jones was the 1st rider to the last corner but hit a bit of a 55+ log jam and put on his brakes whether it was needed or not. Szkalak zoomed in for 1st, Marotta showing a good sprint crossed in 2nd and I crossed in 3rd. Jones was 4th followed in by Miller, Wisnosky, Dern, and Fleming.
Robert Paganini stayed with the pack and finished with the pack after coming off a skiing accident that injured his knee. I say Robert is doing great.
In other races Kal was 7th in 50+ and Jones was 19th. In 45+ Hoffy was 9th. There were just 3 65s that finished with myself 1, Fleming 2 and Pags 3. Robert of course was the oldest racer anywhere around.
The average speed was around 25 mph in 55/60+ and 26.3 in 50+. Good hard safe 55/60+ race.We are not going to win with Chris on the payout issue and if he wants us to race for points only then go ahead and try it and see what happens. The 60s race for NO purse and pay the same entry fee anyway. Fat chance some 60 other than Kal have a chance against the very strong 55s that are racing with the 60s. That's all for now folks! Train hard and race safe!

CBR 2  (Rank 1.0)
Masters 55+
Place	License	Name	Team	SoCal Points
1	45461	Mark Hoffenberg	Rokform/Rock N' Road	14
2	47255	Michael Birditt	SKLZ-Swami's Cycling Team	11
3	26090	Daniel Nicolette	Rokform/Rock N' Road	10
4	64439	Nelson Alaan	Lightning Velo	9
5	52251	Ricky Shorts	Bahati Foundation p/b Major Motion Cycli	8
6	49239	Gerald Finken	St Paul Bicycle Racing Club	7
7	52086	Cyril Hunte		6
8	50532	Deogracias Asuncion	South Bay Wheelmen	5
9	47652	Bob Pellkofer	Rokform/Rock N' Road	4
10	174212	Brian Carrico	PAA/REMAX	3
11	54084	Lothar Cramer		2
12	107559	Rodney Malloy	Bahati Foundation-CA	1
13	23303	Michael McConnell	UC Cyclery/JW Floors	0
14	25023	Jeffrey Moreton	Rokform/Rock N' Road	0
15	178640	Reginald Jones	Lightning Velo	0
16	72467	Marlon Cortez	South Bay Wheelmen	0
17	393555	Larry Castillo	Velo Allegro	0
18	177283	Eugene Poyorena	Swami's Cycling Club	0
19	46996	Peter Allen	Rokform/Rock N' Road	0
20	93812	Donald Denegal	Velo Allegro	0
21	106988	Guido Quezada	Velo Allegro	0
22	45552	Douglas Knox	TIME - Velo Pasadena Team	0
23	314194	Steve Hernandez	Lightning Velo	0

CBR 2  (Rank 1.0)
Masters 60+
Place	License	Name	Team	SoCal Points
1	54522	Kalman Szkalak	UC Cyclery/JW Floors	14
2	72880	Mike Marotta	Swami's Cycling Club	11
3	180386	John McKee	Paramount Racing	10
4	18156	Craig Jones	Velo Avanti Cycling Team	9
5	49424	Howard Miller	OCW/Paramount Racing	8
6	243425	mark wisnosky	ACQUA AL 2/SDBC	7
7	9271	Pete Dern	Montrose Bike Shop- CW Builders	6
8	129293	Michael Fleming	South Bay Wheelmen	5
9	301372	Tom Herman	South Bay Wheelmen	4
10	257503	Philip Walters	Encino Velo Cycling Club	3
11	45763	Robert Paganini	PAA/REMAX	2