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.
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| 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!
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| 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 | ||
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