DOUBLE DUTY LINEUP

When you hear about a lineup one usually thinks of suspects in a criminal case at a police station or the lineup of the baseball team but this lineup is a group of people that did BOTH the LA Circuit and Redlands Criterium. The group is split between 4 55+ riders and 3 60+ riders. I mentioned their names in one of my stories but here they are again- Mike Birditt, Al Shorts, Dale Luedtke, Kal Szkalak, John McKee, Mike Fleming and Monty Pettus. Great job. This shows dedication to our sport of bike racing and to our categories and teams.

2010 SOCAL POINTS LEADERBOARD

The Socal Points leaders in 55+ and 60+ through 3/28/10 and the Redlands Criterium. . 55+ racers had more races and results were all over the place so this wasn't easy and why there are only 6 places published for this category(If you figure it different, let me know). 

55+ SOCAL POINTS LEADERS

       NAME            POINTS

1-Szkalak                 114

2-Mueller                112

3-Luedtke              107

4-Ketterer               88
5-Huffman               61

6-Collins                   43

  

60+ SOCAL POINTS LEADERS

      

1- McKee                 70

2- Pettus                 64

3- Fuller                  46

4- Gomez, R            44

5- Rubcic                 42

6- Richards             32 

7- Steele                  32
8- Morehouse         28

9- Edwards, J         25

10-Duck                  23

UCC ONE SWAMI'S ONE

By John McKee

March 28th, 2010 and the Redland Criterium was going against the LA Circuit race. If you read the last post about LA Circuit, you know a number of 55+ and 60+ racers did LAC and drove all that way to Redlands to do that race as well. Monty Pettus and I arrived at registration 20 minutes before the start of the race at 10:05 am and got a lot of static about it being closed...blah, blah, blah. They let us in. I had pre reged anyway. There were more total racers than at LAC and the field was stronger. UC Cyclery/JW Flooring had their A team out. They were loaded and were looking for 2 first place finishes in 55+ and 60+ and maybe a sweep of the podium in 55+. They had their work cut out for them but they also had a lot of talent there with lots of experience. There was no clear challenger in 55+ but in 60+ Kenny Fuller was there to avenge last years 2nd place to UCC's John Rubcic. Kenny has 38 Natz titles and defending World champ in the time trial. Kenny was going to drive the race as often as he could and make it hard and try and get away from that pesky little rocket. JR maybe small but he packs a blistering finish. JR has one mantra in a race. Get near the front at the end of a race and sprint as hard as he can. Without any other team with any numbers it was up to UCC to control the race. They had the ability to do it but they HAD TO DO IT IN THE RACE!

After the pro women started their last day of their stage race the 55/60+ racers lined up. Over 40 guys were there. No gals. I looked around and knew this was going to be a serious suffer fest. It was going to be hard and fast and the you knew the call was out "Take no prisoners"! The head ref was Velo Avanti's Ed Keck. Ed gave clear instructions but from questions I heard afterward, not everyone was listening.

They had a count down clock on the upper left side of the structure that went across the race and the lap counter was going to be electronic and be in the same area. We were listed at 40 minutes of racing.

The whistle went off and everyone kind of looked around but once the shyness wore off the guns started blazing. The course was very technical, difficult, dangerous and fun. All at the same time. I felt more comfortable on the course this year and I have to compliment everyone for racing SAFE! Attacks were more prominent on the uphill section going toward and away from the start/finish line. Another popular spot to attack was near the top of the course before the 120 degree turn. If you could get a jump by yourself or with a small group you could go faster in the downhill technical section than in the pack which might have to brake now and then.

Lap after lap the race got harder and harder. The better riders started moving forward and some of the others starting falling off little by little. Michael Mueller coming off his awesome victory at San Dimas did some important leg work early in the race. JR was a little too far back and it was hard to move forward with the pressure on so much. MM escorted JR up to Kenny. Teamwork.

I know Kenny was attacking often but from where I was I couldn't see who else was driving the action. Al and Ricky Shorts are always in the action. Al is coming off 2 crashes on his bike in training and is just starting to feel comfortable again out there. Gary Shuey coming off a great finish at San Dimas was in the action at the front. Gary a former mountain biker is taking to the road racing in style. A little shaky with his bike handling but super strong. He is getting better though. Steve Cahill of Swami's is also strong and was surely in the action. Mark Huffman and Mitch Weinstock of UCC were mixing it up as well. Steve Bernede of Simple Green loves to make things hard at the front. What a field. Mike Birditt of Swami's isn't well known YET but is a very fast finisher. Mike was hanging out in the pack and very much imitiating the UCC rope a dope. Conserving energy until it is needed. John Edwards and Phil Richards made the mistake of using their energy stores and got in bad oxygen debt. They had to let others go around them. They never made it back. Phil and Don(Everly Brothers) Davidson of Citrus Valley Velo were expected to be strong in 60+ at this course. DD has in the past lapped the field in a small break group. It wasn't their day. 60+ racing with such fast 55+ riders is about survival first but everyone has their style of racing. Nothing wrong with aggressive riding but one can't ride himself into the ground because someone young guy is going to attack you when you are hurting. If you aren't racing with a little reserve, you can get hurt bad unless you recover quickly and that is tougher as you age.

I was watching the clock and when it said 23 minutes to go I was thinking this is really hard for me and I don't feel as strong or comfortable as I did earlier. Was I going to blow up like I saw others. About this time the pace subsidied. I catch a break but I have learned one thing out there. If you are hurting, someone else is huring too and maybe many others.

The race got down to 15 minutes and 2 small groups were away. Of course Kenny was in the lead group with maybe 3 other racers and a small group of 4 were just behind them but couldn't close the gap. Carlos Cruz was in the second group and my antenna went up. The podium was ahead of me. Damn! JR was surely near Kenny.

Al Shorts starting pulling the pack but couldn't close the gap. Dale Luedtke was there but wouldn't lend a hand. He had teammates ahead and was conversing energy. Monty Pettus decided to do a solo effort to close the gap and he made it. That was impressive. About the time Monty got there the groups gave up working together and the bunch was all together again but at Redlands it always strings out on the downhill portion. 5 laps to go came up on the electronic board and it just got harder and faster. Some 60+ riders were going backward or dropping off. I told myself that since I hung in this long no reason to quit now.

I swear I saw the 3 laps to go twice but my brain was major oxygen deprived. Kenny put in a major attack with 2 laps to go and Paul Rodiguez, Dale Luedtke, and Kal Szkalak came along with Mike Birditt and of course John Rubcic. Bob Guglielmelli was in the mix and was on his best behavior. Bob made an ass of himself in Santa Barbara 6 years ago and those that were there probably haven't forgotten it. I know one thing though is Bob didn't listen to the chief ref at the beginning. Bob asked me after the race where the lap counter was. Doh!

The race was lined out and one lap to go came and Paul Rodiguez went to the front to put the pedal to the floor. Kal, Dale and JR were tucked in but Mike Birditt was hanging in there and is good in a fast tight group. Was Mike going to spoil the UCC post game party?? It was going to be a UCC sweep. Right.

Paul Rodiguez took the last corner wide and came toward the line near the rail. Mike Birditt took it up the middle as did Dale Luedtke. Kal was on the rail and JR was very near Dale. Paul showed super human strength to hang in this long but the last 20 meters, Mike came on to edge Paul by about 2/3s of a wheel(Complete vid at bottom). Kal took the last podium spot over Dale by 4 inches. JR was right there. After a little lull the next pod came across with Kenny Fuller in it taking 2nd place in 60+. After a few more riders Monty Pettus came across for the last podium spot for 60+. Half the podium finishers were at LAC earlier. Race nuts!

I have done a lot of racing the last 10 years in 55+ and 60+ and this was what racing was all about. Hard, fast, tough, no crazy moves, and technical. Sorry to say but this was too hard for some 60+ racers. 5 to 10 years at this age makes a lot of difference. Thanks to all that came out and made this a successful event. 60+ official finishers were(complete):

1-Rubcic

2-Fuller

3-Pettus

4-McKee

5-Kerklaan

6-Gomez, R
7-Cruz

8-Davidson

9-Richards

10-Carvin

11-Rider Unknown

12-Edwards, J

13-Stephens

14-Fleming

15-Mirazoff

The 55+ official finishers were(14 of the 22):

1-Birditt

2-Rodriguez

3-Szkalak

4-Luedtke

5-Bob G

6-Gates

7-Cahill

8-Shuey

9-Mueller

10-Bernede

11-Huffman

12-Shorts, A

13-Miller

14-Swanson

That's all for now folks! Train hard and race safe!

BUNCHIE AT THE CIRCUIT

By John McKee

Sunday March 28th, 2010 saw 55/60+ along with many of the other cats with a dilemma. Do you race LA Circuit or Redlands?? OR do you do the LAC and book it down the freeway and do Redlands as well. There were a number of us that did both and I want to say great job to all those that did and supported 55/60+ racing. Those that did both were Dale Luedtke, Kal Szkalak, Mike Birditt, Monty Pettus, Mike Fleming, Al Shorts and myself. Splitting like that can make us look naked but there was a decent turnout at both events. The 55/60+ racers were to lead off the show at LA Circuit which is usually a very popular event. I believe there were almost 500 pre regs and thats a lot. When I got to the event area it didn't look possible that the races were going to start at 7 am with our group. One person was in reg and the officials shack just arrived. Auto traffic was still running on the course. At least the porta toilets were in place. They are always delivered on Friday and picked up on Monday. Somehow everything started to happen quickly. Vols showed up. Reg started to come together. Streets got blocked off. The course as most of you know is a 4 mile loop with 2 180 degree turns. One mile from the last turn to the start/finish line. There was a breeze blowing in an eastly direction which was going to make the finish hard. I heard that the direction would change quickly as the sun came up and the finish would have the wind at racers backs but for our race the wind stayed true to what we felt during the warmup loops. On the first lap going toward the last turnaround and going uphill the pace hit over 32 mph so the wind was definitely a factor.

7 am came around and it was time to race and everything looked ready for the 55/60+ racers to start. There were 37 starters and would be 36 finishers.  21 55s and 16 60s. This was the first race that the 60s got a separate and equal(this really is equality unlike in the South in the 50s when separate and equal meant something quite different) payout and I was disappointed that we didn't have a better turnout there. There were mostly familar faces with a few new riders lining up. The race was for distance rather than time. 5 laps or 20 miles.

The racers were off and Alex Collins takes to the front to pull us for a while. As is the norm for a race like this the jocking is endless. Kal Szkalak had a charge off the front on the first lap but once he got pulled back Kal went into the UCC rope a dope mode. Muhammad Ali perfected the rope a dope in Zaire against George Foreman. Its an energy conservation program. Dale and Kal are good at this. Only use the energy needed to stay alive and spring forward at the end. On the second lap Monty Pettus of Paramount jumps off the front for some reason and Dale Luedtke also jumped to catch him but once they were together they folded and Dale also went in the UCC rope a dope. The next move was made by Mike Cicchi of Fast Fridays. Not sure what a Fast Friday is. I always thought Fridays were slow because the weekend was beckoning and the clock looked stalled out. Mike got a decent gap of maybe 150 meters and stayed there. For the next 2 laps Mike and the pack maintained a fairly even pace. Mike was reeled back in and the lap counter hit one. It sounds like the race is short in time when you heard the bell but this is like 5 laps to go at Ontario. A lot can happen. No one wanted to lead, pull or kick it hard expect for 2 UCC/JW Flooring team members. That was Steve Horine and Reid Moore. They did their best to keep the pace up but Steve and Reid are climbers and power riding on the flats is not their bag. It got nervous approaching the last turn.

Remember there is still a mile to go to the finish and though there is a downhill section its into the wind. Once the turn was made everyone looked for shelter. Bunchie is an Aussie term for bunch sprint like you couldn't figure that out. Everyone was in like a giant ball. Jockeying endlessly. Richard Stahlberg couldn't stand this and just took over at the front. Richard always stays at the front and I think Richard's patience ran out and decided to not duck and cover(in the 50s and later many school kids were taught the duck and cover. When a nuclear bomb hits in your neighborhood just duck and cover. Get under your desk and get in a fetal position. This was taught by the govment to generations of school kids but not me. Good thing the Ruskies didn't drop one in my neighborhood). The pace kept picking up and and the sprint started up front. Amgen's speedster Wiford Crzlak was totally marking Dale Luedtke. Kal, Mike Birditt, Alex Collins and Monty Pettus were in the mix. The course flatens out and even rises a bit going toward the finish line and it was into the wind but coming out of the ball of riders the speed was high. Wiford beat Dale by a bike length followed by Mike, Kal, Alex and Monty. I was in the mix of riders and started weaving my way through the bunch. I saw Bruce Steele and went by him on the right and then saw Mike Fleming ahead of me and saw a hole to our left moved by him and finished next with a bit of a gap to the lead sprinters. Al Levi of SBW was next across followed by everyone else. In 55+ action Rino Bagiovanni was 6th and Peter Boberg was 7th. In 60+ action Mike Fleming in his 2010 comeback placed a very respectable 3rd followed by Rider Unknown, Mike Duck, Richard Rodiguez, Bruce Steele, George Chester, Barney Feigenbaum, Dom Forte, Mario Seri, and Glen Baldwin.

The race was clean, rather uneventful, and predictable. I want to thank promoter Brad House of Back on Track Productions for giving 55s AND 60s a racing opportunity and a purse. The checks were given shortly so the few could race down the freeway to Redlands. Nice pics of the 55+ UCC sprinting duo and the Paramount 60+ sprinting twosome. Complete 60+ results:

LA Circuit Race  (Rank 1.5)
Masters 60+
Place	License	Name	Team	SoCal Points
1	219074	Leo Pettus	OCW/Paramount Racing	21
2	180386	John McKee	Paramount Racing	17
3	129293	Michael Fleming	Coates Cyclery Cycling Club	15
4		Rider Unknown		13
5	58170	Sydney Duck		12
6	50498	Richard Rodriguez	Pacific Sunset Velo/Pac Sun Velo	10
7	236498	Bruce Steele	South Bay Wheelmen	9
8	196820	George Chester	LIVESTRONG Army KC / Midwest Cancer Care	7
9	48063	Barnett Feigenbaum	ironfly	6
10	45342	Domenick Forte	Pasadena Athletic Assoc (PAA)	4
11	61278	Mario Seri	Herbalife LaGrange	3
12	45047	Glenn Baldwin	SLO Nexus Cycling Club	2
13	45763	Robert Paganini	Pasadena Athletic Assoc (PAA)	0
14	50911	Richard Stahlberg	Ironfly	0
15	17063	Richard Hughes	Unattached	0
16	171652	Stephen Whitsitt	South Bay Wheelmen	0

Complete 55+ results are:

LA Circuit Race  (Rank 1.5)
Masters 55+
Place	License	Name	Team	SoCal Points
1	276778	Witold Czulak	Amgen-UBS Elite Masters	21
2	47262	Dale Luedtke	UC Cyclery/JW Flooring	17
3	47255	Michael Birditt	Swami's Cycling Club	15
4	54522	Kalman Szkalak	UC Cyclery/JW Flooring	13
5	46255	Alex Collins	Canyon Velo	12
6	195876	Alain Levi	South Bay Wheelmen	10
7	49110	Rino Barbagiovanni	Santa Clarita Velo	9
8	275439	Peter Boberg	Platinum Performance Cycling Team	7
9	107559	Rodney Malloy	Velo Allegro	6
10	287291	Randy Drusen	Judgement Velo/ TBOV	4
11	180531	Randi Perkins	METALMTN Cycling	3
12	269972	Fred Haim	Herbalife LaGrange	2
13	49080	Eddie Morris	Amgen-UBS Elite Masters	0
14	55459	tom reilly		0
15	61353	Reed Moore	UC Cyclery/JW Flooring	0
16	273411	Paul Anderson	South Bay Wheelmen	0
17	67633	Gerald Lafferty	Central Coast Velo	0
18	280887	Mike Cicchi	Fast Friday	0
19		Robert Donaldson		0
20	195618	Stephen Horine	UC Cyclery/JW Flooring	0

That's all for now folks! Train hard and race safe!