SOCAL CUP TITLES WON BY HOFFENBERG AND PETTUS IN 55 AND 60+

By John McKee

There always seems to be someone that is quite good aging up into the 55+ category and many times in the 60+ category. In 2012 Mark Hoffenberg and Danny Nicolette aged into the 55+ category and both race for the Sho Air team. Mark was strong throughout the year and Danny came on strong from the middle to the end of the season. In 60+ it was a rather light year in aging up but Howard Miller of Paramount aged into this category and raced with added zest.
Mark stayed healthy throughout the season and made every race "hot". Mark has a very aggressive racing style and might as well since he is so strong and can finish a race with the best of them. Former winners Mike Birditt(suffered back problems mid way through the race), Dale Luedtke and Kal Szkalak(Kal was down with an injury as well) raced well but Mark was always in the hunt for the win and placed high if he didn't win. Danny Nicolette came on strong at the end of the year to break into the top 5.
In 60+ Monty Pettus showed his awesome sprint and won many of the 60+ criteriums. Howard Miller raced a lot and was consistently a top placer. Last year's winner Mike Marotta didn't race as often but rode very strong when he did. Former winner in the 55+ and 60+ categories, John Rubcic started racing more toward the end of the season to get ready for Natz and had very good form. I had been number 2 early in the season but also had crash and injury problems and dropped to 5. Actually tied with Steve Borer in points but I guess the tiebreaker is the last race head to head which I bested Steve. If Steve had beaten William Carvin in the last CBR race he would have taken the last spot for the SCNCA podium and payout. The SCNCA pays out to 5 places.
Good year of racing. Pretty good turnout of 55+ racers but fair to poor in 60+ turnouts. I hear all this talk about a 65+ category but the 60+ numbers aren't there. Until both 55 and 60 have large fields, it is going to be a combined race with separate results. Every promoter gives the 60+ group a separate purse but Ontario. Ray is usually behind the times. Even CBR does though there almost never is over 20 racers.
Next season will see new 55+ and a lot of new 60+ racers. In the 55+ group a certain rider that will be aging up from a team that starts with P and is boasting that he will brush everyone aside even Hoffy. Good luck, I say. Lol! I know he is very good on the track but let's see how he does on the road. UC Cyclery will have some new 60+ racers and will look to take away Paramount's lock on this category. Paramount had 3 of the 5 top spots. It should be fun. Hope everyone's winter training is going well and everyone is healing from late injuries and health problems.

In 55+ you can see 3 of the top performers at Natz in Bend, Or.  Mark Hoffenberg, M. Hill, & D. Nicolette.

3 top performers in 60+ - Mike Marotta, Monty Pettus and John McKee

SoCal Cup Standings For 2012

Masters 55+

Place	Name	License #	Team Name	SoCal Points
1	Mark Hoffenberg	45461	Sho-air/Rock 'n Road	492
2	Michael Birditt	47255	Spy-Swami's Cycling Team	350
3	Dale Luedtke	47262	Spy-Swami's Cycling Team	259
4	Kalman Szkalak	54522	UC Cyclery/JW Floors	239
5	Daniel Nicolette	26090	Sho-air/Rock 'n Road	217
6	Michael Mueller	46688	UC Cyclery/JW Floors	194
7	Malcolm Hill	156650	Breakaway from Cancer Masters	193
8	Ricky Shorts	52251	Velo Allegro	159
9	Steve Hensler	15874	UC Cyclery/JW Floors	149
10	Nelson Alaan	64439	Cal-Pacific Export Packers / LV	148
11	Mark Huffman	59572	UC Cyclery/JW Floors	128
12	Alex Collins	46255	UC Cyclery/JW Floors	109
13	Jeffrey Moreton	25023	PAA/REMAX	104
14	cyril hunte	52086		102
15	Robert Willcox	69952	UC Cyclery/JW Floors	101
16	Bob Pellkofer	47652	Sho-air/Rock 'n Road	100
17	Deogracias Asuncion	50532	South Bay Wheelmen	88
18	Donald Denegal	93812	Velo Allegro	82
19	Chuck Thompson	193819	Polli Veloce	77
20	Mark Ainslie	1254		71
21	Steve Cahill	204724	Celo Pacific	70
22	Michael Hines	125061	UC Cyclery/JW Floors	69
23	Albert Shorts	230085	Velo Allegro	69
24	lee romans	110259	Velo Allegro	68
25	Kirk Freeman	12354	Santa Clarita Velo	66
26	Paul Rodriguez	58847	UC Cyclery/JW Floors	66
27	Eddie Morris	49080	Breakaway from Cancer Masters	51
28	wayne hermes	272891	Cycles Veloce	50
29	Chris Black	3814	Morgan Stanley /Specialized	49
30	Fred Hoblit	16360	Santa Clarita Velo	48

SoCal Cup Standings For 2012

Masters 60+

Place	Name	License #	Team Name	SoCal Points
1	Leo Pettus	219074	Paramount Racing	388
2	Howard Miller	49424	Paramount Racing	349
3	Mike Marotta	72880	Spy-Swami's Cycling Team	286
4	John Rubcic	48760	UC Cyclery/JW Floors	248
5	John McKee	180386	Paramount Racing	233
6	Steven Borer	245777	UC Cyclery/JW Floors	233
7	Donald Kimper	195498	UC Cyclery/JW Floors	216
8	Kenny Fuller	46765	Team Simple Green/Bike Religion	184
9	Michael Fleming	129293	South Bay Wheelmen	173
10	Donald Davidson	48278	Citrus Valley Velo	157
11	Steve Bernede	126351	Team Werks	151
12	john wagenaar	61193	UC Cyclery/JW Floors	143
13	James Swigart	228631	ACQUA AL 2/SDBC	103
14	Jean Villiot	59805	CA Pools / CFS Mortgage	98
15	Bruce Steele	236498	South Bay Wheelmen	93
16	Robert Paganini	45763	PAA/REMAX	91
17	Mario Seri	61278	Velo Club LaGrange	89
18	David Lang	107852	DARE	74
19	Fred Nicolet	26089	ACQUA AL 2/SDBC	72
20	Leo Longo	189814	Bike Palace	68
21	Donald Williams	38334	Cynergy Cycles Racing	64
22	Josef Lemire	46799	SHO-AIR/ SERT	62
23	Fred Haim	269972	Velo Club LaGrange	59
24	Raphael Gomez	3793	Rage Cycling	56
25	Richard Stahlberg	50911	Ironfly	54
26	William Carvin	101582		52
27	Richard Lilleberg	64127	South Bay Wheelmen	48
28	Bruce DePriester	259387	Sho-air/Rock 'n Road	47
29	James Morehouse	283640	FFKR Architects Racing	46
30	Jon Miller	167489	Platinum Performance Cycling Team	37