FAST PONTIUS 2012 CRITERIUM-SOLO BREAK-JUNGLE BALL LAST LAP

By John McKee

Santa Clarita Velo has developed a reputation for producing good cycling races. On Saturday they always bring us the tough Devils Punchbowl out in hell and gone. On Sunday they produce the Chuck Pontius Criterium in Santa Clarita/Valencia. A new upscale community that reminds me of Irvine. The criterium is set like almost all crits in an industrial park. The crit is on a 4 corner course that is very wide with a small riser prior to the last corner. The downside to the course is the very rough pavement before and after the start finish line. I thought Barrio Logan would always take the cake for the roughest pavement but Chuck Pontius has decided to dual it out for this dubious honor. The turnout was fairly standard at 37 finishers compared to other Pontius races over the last 5 years except for the 2010 bubble when we had 48. That was the "Wacky" and "Shooter" affair if anyone remembers that. Who would have thought that "Wacky" would morph into the "perfect" candidate for president. Of course that was her term for herself. The voters weren't that excited and chose others over her like Mitt "Swiss bank account" Romney, Herman "666... no that's 999" Cain,  Rick "I can't remember" Perry or even Rick "anti contraception" Santorum. "Shooter" wisely stayed out of the 2012 race but did move a few streets down from where my daughter lived in AZ. One of these people will square off against the "Marx channeling demon" later this year in the general election.

John "Rick Perry" McKee is checking something out but can't remember what

Ricky Shorts is at the line meditating

Oh yea. There was a bike race in Santa Clarita. Right. 37 racers. 25 of them 55. 12 60s. Anybody want to comment on why the 60s have fallen off the last few years. The field had some very strong riders and the winner of both the 55 and 60+ races wasn't a given before the race like it is sometimes. The 55+ field had Mark Hoffenberg, Lee Romans, Ricky Shorts, Chris Black, Kal Szkalak, Dale Luedtke,  and Cyril Hunte. The 55+ field was missing Mike "Oh my aching back" Birditt and Mike "I do one event a year" Gourley. Both riders would have made for additional firepower to an already strong field. The defending champion from the prior year and I bet 95% of you wouldn't know that Tom Reilly won last year on a late solo breakaway. The 60+ field was light but strong with Mike Marotta, John Rubcic, the Paramount trifecta, Don Kimper and Mike Fleming.
What kind of race would this be. Mark Hoffenberg has shown to be one of the strongest 55s we have seen in a while and he would have a lot to say about the type of race this would be.  Mark would be racing without any teammates.

Mike Marotta is checking out his competition. He should actually be looking behind him. The "Rocket" is lurking

Steve Borer is going so fast at the front  he is just a blur- photo courtesy of Maki Yamizaki

Rino B. of the host team lining it out early in the race

Chris Black is leading Mark Hoffenberg and Doug Knox early in the blistering start of the Chuck Pontius Criterium- Photo courtesy of Peter Carlson

The Paramount trifecta in chase of 60+ racer Mike Marotta who was chasing the guys in the picture above(Black, Hoffy, Knox, etc.)- photo courtesy of Peter Carlson

The race started on time for 40 minutes of racing and it didn't take long to figure out that the racing was going to be a barn burner. Fast from the get go. I mean real fast. The 1st 5 miles was done at 25.9 mph with a max of 31.9 mph somewhere in there. Hoffy, Chris Black, Pedro "Club less" Ordaz, Fred Hoblit, Kal Szkalak, Doug Knox and Ricky Shorts were very active among others. It took about 11 and 1/2 minutes to do the 1st 5 miles and then everyone was so tired that it was time for a short fiesta but not much of one. The next 5 miles were done at 25.5 mph with a max of 31.2 mph for myself. The numbers are from my Garmin 500. There was a small break group that formed early and was joined by another small group but they weren't that far away and all  got chased down.

The 4 break riders have been left by Chris Black- Pedro(wheel only), Tom, Ricky and Doug

Somewhere before half way through the race a small group formed off the front. Chris Black, Tom Reilly, and Ricky Shorts got together somehow and started working it. Pedro Ordaz and Doug Knox joined them at some point and there were 5. The 2 major 55+ teams in the race were Velo Allegro and the host team of Santa Clarita Velo each with a rider in the break so no chase there. The mix was right. After several laps together, Chris Black decided to venture off on his own. This was bold thinking. There was about 10 or so laps to go. Doug tried to get onto Chris but trailed a short distance for about a lap but fell back to the other 3. Ricky thought that the riders left could tempo it and catch back on to Chris but no. Wrong thinking. Chris was riding strong and the collective fire power of the remaining riders seem to dissipate a bit. John "Chaser supreme" Roest all but chased this group down by himself. John did 90% of the work over 8 laps.  The 4 riders were caught. Ricky was quite frustrated. Pedro tried some kind of solo thing but that was doomed. When I saw the 4 riders I thought everyone was back but Chris was still out there. I don't know what everyone else was thinking but Mark Hoffenberg knew he was out there as must have Velo Allegro and Santa Clarita Velo because their riders had just come back and knew Chris was away.
The lap card countdown started at 7 laps to go. Chris was riding at what was said to be a 8 second gap. Upon review of the last 5 laps of the race on video, the gap was more than that(12 secs with 2 laps to go/10.5 with 1 to go). Usually Ralph Elliot makes a bigger deal about someone being away and he did mention it because I heard it on the video but I didn't hear it during the race. Chris was 55+ so it didn't directly affect the 60+ race but certainly did affect the race in general that included the 60+ racers. The laps are counting down and guess who is at the front of the pack and working hard to chase Chris. John Roest, of course! John wasn't making much headway and I didn't see much out of the 2 largest teams in 55+.
The race came down to 2 laps to go. Chris is still looking very good off the front but could be seen on the long straight aways. Our races can often be deceiving because riders get lapped all the time and seeing someone ahead doesn't always mean someone is away. On the back side of the course Mark Hoffenberg hits it real hard. I mean lung searing leg burning type effort. I assumed he was trying to get away from the pack early on well before the sprint would start. Actually Mark was trying to get everyone close to Chris Black and then let the teams take over that would be leading out their own riders and ramping up the speed. Mark hoped that once Chris was caught he could then sprint for the win vs 2nd place. The problem with Mark's idea was once his effort stopped and that was at the start/finish line with one lap to go the pace slowed way down. No one would go to the front and pull. No team work was apparent. I would call this "jungle ball". Every man for himself. I had been riding very near the front and had been on my teammate's wheel, Monty Pettus. Once the pace slowed the front was swarmed and I didn't come out well. Howard Miller, John Rubcic, Steve Borer were able to get themselves in great position near Mike Marotta. I got buried. Monty did a little better than I. 55+ racers Mark Hoffenberg, Cyril "Club less too" Hunte, Ricky Shorts, Lee Romans were able to position themselves in good position on the last lap for the final sprint.
The pace picked up on the final lap on the backside about half  way to the next to the last corner. The effort between turn 3 and 4 is near an all out effort going into the rise. Mike Marotta had gone to the front to pull and showed amazing sustained power to the line.
Chris Black crossed the line with a well deserved win. Nice job, Chris. The pack rounded the corner with the finish line in sight. A slight downhill sprint to the line. 2nd place was available for 55+ but the win in 60+ was still in play. John Rubcic made short work of that and was the 1st person across the line. Mike Marotta having pulled for a while came in 2nd overall in the bunch and the 2nd 60+ rider. 60+ riders kicked butt here. Mark Hoffenberg followed in for 2nd in 55+. Cyril Hunte on his dated racing machine finished 3rd. His best finish in 55+ racing. Nice job, Cyril. Monty Pettus was the next 60+ rider across for the last podium spot.
The race was quite hard and lively. The overall pace was 25.5 mph with the race getting to or above 30 mph 12 times. The Santa Clarita Velo did another nice job in producing this race. I always look forward to it. Complete results are below as are finish photos and podium photos. The video is courtesy of Maki Yamizaki. That's all for now folks! Train hard and race safe!

Chris Black winning in a solo breakaway- Photo courtesy of Peter Carlson

Bunch finish- Rubcic, Marotta, Hoffenberg, Hunte & Shorts, R.- Photo courtesy of Peter Carlson

Finishers- Hunte, Shorts, R., & Alaan- Photo courtesy of Peter Carlson

Luedtke and Romans fighting for 5th place in 55+- Photo courtesy of Peter Carlson

55+ podium at Chuck Pontius- Hoffenberg 2, Black 1, Hunte 3

60+ podium at Chuck Pontius- Miller 4, Pettus 3, Rubcic 1, Marotta 2, & McKee 5

Chuck Pontius  (Rank 1.0)
Masters 55+
Place	License	Name	Team	SoCal Points
1	3814	Chris Black	Morgan Stanley /Specialized	14
2	45461	Mark Hoffenberg	Sho-air/Rock 'n Road	11
3	52086	cyril hunte		10
4	52251	Ricky Shorts	Velo Allegro	9
5	64439	Nelson Alaan	Cal-Pacific Export Packers / LV	8
6	110259	Lee Romans	Velo Allegro	7
7	47262	Dale Luedtke	Spy-Swami's Cycling Team	6
8	54522	KAL SZKALAK	UC Cyclery/JW Floors	5
9	93812	Donald Denegal	Velo Allegro	4
10	107559	rodney malloy	Velo Allegro	3
11	177958	Kevin Ryan	METALMTN Cycling	2
12	49110	Rino Barbagiovanni	Santa Clarita Velo	1
13	1491	David Alva	Santa Clarita Velo	0
14	12354	Kirk Freeman	Santa Clarita Velo	0
15	45552	Douglas Knox	Time Factory Team	0
16	178495	Steve Diamond	Spy-Swami's Cycling Team	0
17	222764	thomas buescher	South Bay Wheelmen	0
18	66553	John Sinz	OCW/Paramount Racing	0
19	277180	John Roest	Team CF-Club	0
20	155459	Thomas Reilly	Santa Clarita Velo	0
21	9271	Pete Dern	Velo Club LaGrange	0
22	271566	Alex Gonzalez	Velo Allegro	0
23	288193	Ron Carlson	METALMTN Cycling	0
24	55635	Pedro Ordaz		0
25	16360	Fred Hoblit	Santa Clarita Velo	0

 

Chuck Pontius  (Rank 1.0)
Masters 60+
Place	License	Name	Team	SoCal Points
1	48760	John Rubcic	UC Cyclery/JW Floors	14
2	72880	mike marotta	Spy-Swami's Cycling Team	11
3	219074	Leo Pettus	Paramount Racing	10
4	49424	howard miller	Paramount Racing	9
5	180386	John McKee	Paramount Racing	8
6	129293	Michael Fleming	South Bay Wheelmen	7
7	195498	Donald Kimper	UC Cyclery/JW Floors	6
8	61278	Mario Seri	Velo Club LaGrange	5
9	3793	Raphael Gomez	Rage Cycling	4
10	245777	Steven Borer	UC Cyclery/JW Floors	3
11	203244	cary alpert	South Bay Wheelmen	2
12	301372	Tom Herman	South Bay Wheelmen	1

THIS IS EASY...MAYBE FOR THEM @ 2012 LA CIRCUIT 55/60+ RACE

By John McKee

The LA Circuit race has moved around on the calendar over the years and had to go up against the Redlands Criterium for several years but got a solo date in 2011 and also had a solo date in 2012 at April 22nd. This is all good but Brad "Ron Paul" House always puts us first on the schedule and even ahead of the juniors. 7 am start is pretty early. There was another wrinkle in 2012 as the flyer was incorrectly showing a cutoff date for mail in registration. No date was given on the flyer for online reg but the rumor had it that the cutoff was the 15th or the Sunday before the race. I messaged Brad with a protest and he messaged back that the flyer was incorrect and that the date was for the prior year. He said that online registration would be available until Thurs. prior to the race. Attendance seem to peak in 2009 and has been declining into this year. 2009 the total was 40, 2010 was 36, 2011 was also 36 finishers. 2012 had 31 finishers.

55/60+ racers @ LA Circuit- photo courtesy of TruCycling

At LA Circuit the race is distance rather than time. The 55/60+ racers were allotted 20 miles. 5 laps of the 4 mile course with 2 180 turnaround. The last one a mile from the finish so there was plenty of time to set up once you made the last turn. All the racers were off on time or nearly so. 7 am is early for everyone. It didn't take long to see the Swami's strategy. Send Kim Bleth off the front looking to mix in the "right" break group. Kim won in 2011 using a similar strategy and got away solo late to win. Kim was willing to work with most anyone except Ricky "Motor Game" Shorts(Ricky always does well in Roger Young's motor game on Tues. and Thurs. evenings at the Dom. Hills velodrome). Ricky has a quick sprint and no one has forgotten this. Ricky would like to recreate himself as a breaker/chaser but if he does get in a break group he would have the best chance of winning. Velo Allegro was there to neutralize any attacks. Rod Mallory, Alex Gonzalez, Al and Ricky Shorts all took turns chasing. I didn't see them take to the offensive though.
Chris Black of Morgan Stanley was a new addition to the lineup at LA Circuit. Chris aged up to 55 this year and is from Northern California. Morgan Stanley is a well known team on NorCal. Chris is a cat 1 racer so has a strong pedigree. Chris showed through the race that he was strong and knew what he was doing. The 2nd lap was a prime lap and Chris tapped Mike Birditt to go for the prime. Mike got on Chris but let Chris crossed the line 1st to win the prime. Mike figured that Chris did all the work and he should get the stuff, what ever that was. Brad "Ron Paul" House has a reputation for some unusually prizes.
There were times in the race that it was hard but overall the pace wasn't. In fact the race turned out to be the slowest race of the year and 1 mph slower than 2011. 24 vs 25 mph. The 4th lap was also a prime lap. Kim jumped early half way from the turnaround to the finish. Chris Black jumped to get across the gap but Velo Allegro was all over him. Chris knew Mike Birditt from prior races and pretty much was riding for him and his team. Chris saw what was happening and shut the chase down but VA went around to continue the chase of Kim. Mike Birditt figured enough was enough and jumped off a VA rider and used those "Schwarzenegger" legs to rev up his bike and smoke everyone at the line for the prime. That left one lap to go. The bell lap. All the riders were together but a dangerous part of the race when a solo rider might be able to get away. You knew Kim Bleth was going to try. We make the 1st turn with 3 miles to go and despite some efforts all is well and together. The pack gets really slow. This often happens without large teams to volunteer a rider or two to get the pace up and make the race safer for everyone. A faster pace strings things out keeping edgy riders from bunching up. We went by the start finish area going out toward the final turn. There was 2 miles to go and the pace was awful. Someone jumped and Mike Birditt chased them down quickly on the right side. Mike set tempo for a bit and then his teammate Kim Bleth jumped on the left side of the course. Who would chase him down? Well it was Fred Hoblit. Pretty sure Fred was looking to combine with Kim and bring it home. VA would have none of this and shut this down. We turned the last corner all together. Mike and Dale were on the right side of the course with Chris Black. I moved up to near the front of the group on the left side very near Deogracias Asuncion of SBW.
Kim Bleth opened it up not long after we turned the corner but Kim didn't have much left in the tank. Kim was quickly chased down and things settled down a bit before the final move would be made. Steve Borer seemed to be stuck at the front of the pack doing tempo before the storm struck.  Who would blink? Who couldn't wait. Who would basically give it up to start the sprint. There must have been 500 meters or more to go and Asuncion opened it up in the middle. I was surprised it started it so far out. I was near him and started my own sprint and quickly saw that I was getting little draft off the Deogracias. Deogracias is on the small size.
Chris Black opened it up on the right side. Mike Birditt let Dale Luedtke get on Chris and Mike lined up on Dale. Mike waited as long as he felt he could and jumped off of Dale and started to rev it up. The sprint was moving slightly from right to left because of the cones near the finish. Al Shorts had to double clutch to let Mike clear and started his own sprint. The previous week's winner Nelson Alaan was doing his best to dunk the basketball and had his sights set on Birditt but Mike looked back after he had taken the lead and could tell that no one was going to contest him at the line. This was easy! Mike was followed in by Alaan, Luedtke, Shorts, A., Black, Hoblit, Asuncion, Bohlman, Shorts, R.(Ricky came near me at the end and complained that they started the sprint without him. How unfair was that! Ricky was too far back).

Max effort by everyone but looks like Birditt is already pulling in his stinger- photo courtesy of Trucycling

Birditt is not even at the line but is starting his celebration-photo courtesy of Trucycling

In 60+ action I was bogging down a bit having lost Asuncion's wheel. Monty came by me on my left and I looked at him but had nothing left in my legs to respond. Monty said he was going about 95%. He made it look easy. I should have gotten on his wheel but limped home and was pipped at the line by that pesky Don Kimper. Don finished 15th the year before but Don is a renewed rider this year and loves to come around me at the end. I didn't even feel him to my right and eased a bit coming to the line there is Don. Doh! 4th went to Howard Miller for a Paramount 1, 3 & 4th place finish in 60+. Howard was followed in by Borer(Steve looked good out there in the sprint. It took me a while to get by Steve), Fleming, Swigart and Longo.

You can see 60+ riders Kimper, Borer,  Miller, McKee and Fleming. Pettus has already finished- photo courtesy of Jodie Borer

Overall it was a good clean race. Not very fast or that exciting but there were only 31 racers and only 2 big teams in 55+. Some of the proceeds from the race went to the Rashaan Bahati foundation. "The mission of the Foundation is to support inner city youth in under-served communities through inspirational speaking engagements and cycling outreach programs. These are designed to motivate and empower kids toward higher achievement in education, music and sports." Complete results below. That's all for now folks! Train hard and race safe!

The 55+ podium- Luedtke(Kim Bleth standing in for his teammate) 3, Birditt 1, & Alaan 2

Rahsaan Bahati, McKee 3, Pettus 1(with the cool race winner's jersey), & Kimper 2

LA Circuit Race  (Rank 1.5)
Masters 55+
Place	License	Name	Team	SoCal Points
1	47255	Michael Birditt	Spy-Swami's Cycling Team	21
2	64439	Nelson Alaan	Cal-Pacific Export Packers / LV	17
3	47262	Dale Luedtke	Spy-Swami's Cycling Team	15
4	230085	Albert Shorts	Velo Allegro	13
5	3814	Chris Black	Morgan Stanley /Specialized	12
6	16360	Fred Hoblit	Santa Clarita Velo	10
7	50532	Deogracias Asuncion	South Bay Wheelmen	9
8	352540	Scotty Bohlman	Jessup Auto Plaza p/b P.S. Cyclery	7
9	52251	Ricky Shorts	Velo Allegro	6
10	107559	Rodney Malloy	Velo Allegro	4
11	222764	Thomas Buescher	South Bay Wheelmen	3
12		John Frankman		2
13	140826	Robert Mosier		0
14	271566	Alex Gonzalez	Velo Allegro	0
15	49191	Kim Bleth	Spy-Swami's Cycling Team	0

 

LA Circuit Race  (Rank 1.5)
Masters 60+
Place	License	Name	Team	SoCal Points
1	219074	Leo Pettus	Paramount Racing	21
2	195498	Donald Kimper	UC Cyclery/JW Floors	17
3	180386	John McKee	Paramount Racing	15
4	49424	Howard Miller	Paramount Racing	13
5	245777	Steven Borer	UC Cyclery/JW Floors	12
6	129293	Michael Fleming	South Bay Wheelmen	10
7	228631	James Swigart	ACQUA AL 2/SDBC	9
8	189814	Leo Longo	Bike Palace	7
9	45763	Robert Paganini	PAA/REMAX	6
10	62271	Louie Rivera	ADOBO VELO	4
11	61278	Mario Seri	Velo Club LaGrange	3
12	3793	Raphael Gomez	Rage Cycling	2
13	257503	Philip Walters	Encino Velo Cycling Club	0
14	301372	Tom Herman	South Bay Wheelmen	0
15	301363	Mick Iwadare	South Bay Wheelmen	0
16	203244	Cary Alpert	South Bay Wheelmen	0

GENTLEMAN'S TEAM LOOKS SHARP IN FIRST AND ONLY RACE EFFORT

By John McKee

I got to the Home Depot Center Velodrome on Sat. April 21st, 2012 and found out my pursuit team was named the "Gentleman's Team". I had to smile to myself. Made me think of all the strip clubs that are called Gentleman's Club. Not that I would know anything about strip clubs or at least recently. Lol. Use to go with some work friends to Laker games and then hit a few "clubs" in the area afterward. That was a  long time ago though. I can't even remember if the gals took all their clothes off but they must have because you couldn't buy alcohol.

The "Gentleman's Team"- John McKee, Jerry McDonald, Alan Wignall, & Monty Pettus(post race pic)

The story of the "Gentleman's Team" goes back a few months. Alan Wignall was trying to build a 60+ pursuit team for 2012. He had heard about Monty Pettus and myself from his friend and Paramount member, Howard Miller. Both Monty and I were a go. We figured this would be fun and would make us stronger road riders. Monty wanted to go back to Bend, Or. for national road champions  a stronger rider and be more competitive in 60-64 and I wanted to move up from 2 to 1 in the criterium in 65-69. I wanted that red, white and blue jersey put on me at a podium in September 2012. Tall order for me but those were our long range goals. Alan had been on a team in 2011 and had been training almost exclusively at the track and was getting very strong. The search for a 4th person came upon Alan's friend, Jerry McDonald. Jerry is a long time trackie and very savvy about riding at the track and as I learned, very strong as well. The 4 of us starting working together under the tutelage of Roger Young and everything was going great. We were committed to state and natz. About 3 weeks ago we learned that USA Cycling was shaking up their categories and 60+ would not be one of them. 55-64 would be one and 65+ would be another as I understand it. Since Monty is 63 and Alan is 64 this year, they would not be in the same age cat as Jerry(65) or myself(66). Jerry and I would have to find 2 new partners and Monty and Alan would also have to find 2 new partners but for the 1st local LAVRA time trial the original guys would do it together for the 1 and only time. We had trained all aspects of the 3 k pursuit- starts, exchanges, the finish, cornering, riding tight, etc. I wasn't very good at much of this I have to admit.
The event at the Home Depot Center was going to start at 9 am. The 2nd event would be the pursuit and our team was 2nd up. I got to the venue at around 7:15 am and started setting up on the top level of the velodrome with the trainer, road bike, track bike, & bike bag. I set up with my team and other riders overlooking the track. There was a door behind us that we could walk out the back of the building, down a stairs and in the back door to the infield area of the track. Most of the infield is taken up by volleyball courts that is filled all hours of  weeknights and all day on the weekends with teenage girls on expensive volleyball club teams. I must admit that they train and practice hard.Their are always parents in the stands looking out for their investment.
The track was open to warm up from 8 to 9 am. We went down and did some warmup laps and a few 3 lap accelerations. Back up to our road bikes on the trainer. Keep the heart rate up. Everyone that didn't have their race bike in the proper gears made the change to the prescribed gear ratio of 92 inches. I had a combo of a 14 tooth cog in the back and a 48 chainring in the front. Back down to the infield and went up on the apron of the track near the start and watched the first group. They were thrown together just before the start and they looked it. One rider was dropped half way through the race and the 3rd who is the timed person fell off on the last lap. That was my biggest fear, getting dropped or how about not getting on at the start and chasing. Yikes.
Our turn came and we set up like we had in practice. Jerry McDonald was 1st on the track. Just above him was Alan Wignall and then Monty and myself. We were slightly staggered with myself the greatest distance from the pursuit line(center of the track) which is different than the sprint line. All being held by volunteers but Jerry. He was in the start machine.

McKee(can barely see on left), Pettus, Wignall and McDonald at the start- photo courtesy of Pat Benson

The start is a highly involved technique that I never even thought about when I committed to the team and I soon found out I was terrible at it. You get on the outside of your time trial bars and when you get the go you lock out your arms, thrust your hips forward, look up and push down on the pedals as hard as you can. As you get going you bring your eyes down and get in a more sprinter type position and each person drops behind the person in front of him after starting straight out. I would be the last to drop in. Roger was great working with us on this but also Johnny Walsh helped me a great deal with my start because I was so lame. Johnny is very knowledgeable about all track techniques and track protocol. Don't break protocol in front of Johnny or you will hear about it.

Wignall, Pettus, McKee & McDonald- looks like Jerry is getting a good draft off of me- photo courtesy of Pat Benson

McDonald, Wignall, Pettus & McKee at the start/finish line- Photo courtesy of Pat Benson

I can see Monty is already starting to drift a bit to do his exchange and I am thinkng of coming through for my pull- Photo courtesy of Pat Benson

My daughter Amanda with Jonathan-  50th anniversary edition of Go,Dog,Go!

OK, the countdown comes. The anxiety...five, four, three, two, one, go! Go Dog Go!! "Go Dog Go" is an old Dr. Seuss book that my daughter Amanda loved when she was a child that she is now reading to her son, Jonathan. Off we go. I get off without falling. Good there. I push to the max and go forward. I finally drop in at the corner and yell "Aller". That is go faster in French because I am on. 3 words to communicate on the track are Aller(go faster), Woo(go slower) and Up(move up the track and get the hell out of the way). Our main goal was to do the entire race together and look good doing it. 2nd was to do the lowest time possible. Our first lap taken out by Jerry was 23.7 and over a second slower than we had done in practice but we were tight which we hadn't always been in practice because of me. Our target was 19 second laps(per Roger) which wasn't super fast but we figured we could do that and finish the race. We had done shorter distances at much faster times and done 20 second laps for a long time but figured that 19 seconds would be right for us. Alan did his 1st lap at 18.5. Good time. Alan always is pumped up and this was no surprise. Monty did the 3rd lap and his 1st lap in the lead at 19.4. I was a little surprised at this. I followed with an exact 19.4. I was pretty happy to have copied Monty's time. Our exchanges were going well. Jerry followed with a 19.7.   I was really surprised here because Jerry has been so sharp but it turned out he was over cooked for the race. The prior Sunday he did 18 flying sprints chasing "Big" Mikael Weitze at the track plus Roger's grueling workouts on Tuesday and Thursday. The times after this are a blur but they were all in the low 19s. My 2nd time was 19.3. My legs were starting to load up. 4 laps to go and I needed to recover from my lap pull and have enough stuff to lead our team home on the last lap. That I have done well in practice but not after 12 laps. Monty did his last pull and I came through. My legs were loaded with lactic acid! I went to the max with my effort. Breathing really hard. Brain to engine. Go Dog Go! I wasn't getting the response I wanted. Not bad but not good. After the last corner I was too drift above the red line and Jerry who was right behind me would fly above me and to my right. Alan who was the 3rd man was too stay on the black pole line and come underneath me. Monty would come over the top if he could since he had just made the pull prior to the last lap.
I was coming toward home and had almost nothing. Really out of gas. Alan came by me underneath and then Jerry on my right. Alan was 1st to the line and then Monty came out of no where to finish 2nd. How did he do that?? Lol. Most of you know what a good finisher Monty is on the road. Jerry was 3rd. We were all very close at the end and we definitely got good style points for that. I think we got a 2 second deduction in our time for style. Our official time was 3:59:13. Not great but the first time we had done the whole thing for real. I was really happy. Finished it and didn't screw up!! My lap times were right there with everyone else and my last lap time was actually faster than my other 2. I felt great. Done! Over! What a relief!!
Looking back on the race there is not much we could have done different except go faster here or there like our start and overall our effort got an A grade. It is sad we have to break up for the SCNCA and Natz but onward and upward. We shall see what the future brings. Thanks to my teammates for showing support and encouragement and thanks to Roger for his help. It has been a great experience. Hard but really fun! I had never ridden at the track in tt bars and it isn't all that easy at speed doing the turns and staying tight on the person in front of me. You are suppose to stay 3 to 4 inches from the wheel in front of you and I definitely don't have that down but better than the pictures show. Thanks again to Pat Benson for the great action photos. The post race picture was taken on my Nikon camera and crafted by Gerald Agnew. Gerald will be joining Jerry and and I on our 65+ team. Ricky Shorts will be joining Monty and Alan for their pursuit team. That's all for now folks! Train hard and race safe!

LAST TO FIRST/FIRST TO FIRST-BOTH WORK @ CBR#4 55/60+ RACE

By John McKee

April 15th, 2012 and time for CBR # 4 at the Carson course. The Carson course is very similar to the Paramount course on the other side of Wilmington but a little more difficult. The power climb between turn 3 and 4 is slightly harder. The turnout of 55/60+ racers was 48(finishers counted only) compared to #1-63, #2 -50, #3 -57. Good turnout but you can see some trending downward. Many of the fields are seeing this. Midseason slump. We see this every year.
The weather was good for the scheduled start time of 8:15 am. Mid 50s. The teams for 55+ looked strong for the most part and the competition was expected to be high. Sho Air, Spy/Swami, Santa Clarita Velo, and Velo Allegro would seem to be the leading teams but UC Cyclery and PAA would give the competition some juice. In 60+ Paramount(Pettus, McKee & Miller) would certainly be the strongest team but Mike Marotta of Spy/Swami's, Mike Fleming of SBW, Don Kimper of UCC, & Jim Swigart of SDBC would look to challenge.

The race started out on time but the initial pace wasn't quite as fast as the #2 race at the same course. That race Sho Air lit it up from the start. They had a slightly different opening strategy for #4. First off Mark Hoffenberg got to the venue late and didn't get a chance to warm up so he choose to sit in and warm up in the race. He was going to leave most of the active work in the race to his 2 top dogs- Bob Pelkofer and Dan Nicolette.

Early action shows riders cruising in the back of the pack- Notice Nelson Alaan back there. Photo courtesy of Maki Yamazaki

Santa Clarita Velo's Tom Reilly heating up the action. Photo courtesy of Maki Yamizaki

There were few lulls in the action but this must have been one with Pelky and Danno behind me. Photo courtesy of Maki Yamazaki

There was a lot of churning and attempted breaks, solo efforts(Mark Ainsle and Fred Hoblit) and the like but nothing was sticking this race. The pace was slightly higher than previous CBR 55/60+ races but with fewer riders. That makes for a harder race and a higher heart rate. Didn't seem like there were many primes during the race but there were a few. Primes can be a launch pad for moves either group or solo. Nothing was working through the race. It pretty much came down to the last 5 laps for some real action to take hold.
Jeff Moreton of PAA, Gene Poyorena of SCV, and Mike Marotta of Spy/Swami's got quietly away. Jeff and Gene are 55+ and Mike is 60+. Bob Pelkofer took note quicker than anyone and took up solo chase.  4 laps to go and Pelky has made it across as has Alex Collins of UCC. Rod Mallory of Velo Allegro looked like he was trying to get across or chasing and got isolated. Ricky Shorts was just off the front of the pack in no man's land burning valuable energy.
It is now down to 3 laps to go and things are changing every lap. The 5 breakers are still away but are being chased by a threesome- Ricky Shorts, Dan Nicolette and Deogracias Asuncion. Ricky gets tired of chasing and pulls over. Cleaveran Law is doing a hard chase and just off the front of the pack. Kal Szkalak of UCC is in the front of the pack. Nelson Alaan is still in the very back of the pack.
2 laps to go and Danno and Deogracias have gotten across but the lead now is very  small. Most of the breakers look like they want to throw in the towel but Pelky is trying to spur them on. Mark Hoffenberg thought that if 2 members in the break group were good why not 3. Hoffy tries to go across and has Mike Birditt with him. Doug Knox is at the front of the pack trying to do a late charge across but has Kal right behind him pulling the pack along.
With one lap to go and the bell ringing the break group is gone. Absorbed. Now at the front is a Sho Air train of Pelky, Danno, and Hoffy. Mike Marotta is trying to work his way into the train. Kal is marking Hoffy. Nelson Alaan is now about in 20th place. Monty, myself and Howard were about 15 back from the front so a long ways from Marotta, the top 60+ rider. I was feeling the effects of the prior day's road race and track pursuit training.
Hardly anyone knows Nelson Alaan and what he can do. I have mentioned before how quite he seems in a race. You never see him and then he ends up as one of the top finishers. CBR #4 would be no exception. Nelson hung out in the back the entire race and took advantage of the slight lull when the break was caught to move forward. He still wasn't that far forward with 1 to go but after 2 corners had moved way up. Nelson likes the Carson course and likes to launch with 2 corners to go. Charge up the hill as fast as he can and try and hang on to whatever advantage he has.

Nelson Alaan making the winning move in 55/60+ at CBR #4. Photo courtesy of jurbanphotos.com

You can clearly see in the photo provided by jurbanphotos.com(Other action photos available at his website) that with 2 corners to go, Nelson has amassed quite a lead. In the background in the front of the pack you can see Asuncion, Marotta and Nicolette with Hoffy on Danno's wheel. Nelson was able to hold on at the end to a very nice victory in 55+.
Mike Marotta was challenged near the line by Monty Pettus but hung on for 1st place in 60+. Hoffenberg was the next 55+ racer followed in by Birditt, Nicolette, & Romans. 4 of the 1st 5 places are 55 this year. New blood at the front. Next in were Kal, Luedtke, Asuncion, Luke and Hoblit. In 60+ action Pettus was followed in by Miller, Fleming, Kimper, myself and Swigart. I tried to sprint after the last corner but had nothing.
The overall pace of the race was 25.2 mph. Faster by about .2 mph in a leaner field. No crashes so all good there. In the 50+ race John Luke went down and broke some bones. Good luck to John getting back. Full results below. Video courtesy of Maki Yamazaki. That's all for now folks! Train hard and race safe!

SoCal Cup Crit Series 4  (Rank 1.0)
Masters 55+
Place	License	Name	Team	SoCal Points
1	64439	Nelson Alaan	Cal-Pacific Export Packers / LV	14
2	45461	Mark Hoffenberg	Sho-air/Rock 'n Road	11
3	47255	Michael Birditt	Spy-Swami's Cycling Team	10
4	26090	Daniel Nicolette	Sho-air/Rock 'n Road	9
5	110259	Lee Romans	Velo Allegro	8
6	54522	Kalman Szkalak	UC Cyclery/JW Floors	7
7	47262	Dale Luedtke	Spy-Swami's Cycling Team	6
8	50532	Deogracias Asuncion	South Bay Wheelmen	5
9	21803	John Luke	Santa Clarita Velo	4
10	16360	Fred Hoblit	Santa Clarita Velo	3
11	93812	Donald Denegal	Velo Allegro	2
12	1254	Mark Ainslie		1
13	49110	Rino Barbagiovanni	Santa Clarita Velo	0
14	195285	Kenneth Neumeyer		0
15	222523	Rick Carrera	Team Simple Green/Bike Religion	0
16	364856	John Erwin		0
17	230085	Albert Shorts	Velo Allegro	0
18	277180	John Roest	Team CF-Club	0
19	178495	Steve Diamond	Spy-Swami's Cycling Team	0
20	25023	Jeffrey Moreton	PAA/REMAX	0
21	271566	Alex Gonzalez	Velo Allegro	0
22	9271	Pete Dern	Velo Club LaGrange	0
23	222764	Thomas Buescher	South Bay Wheelmen	0
24	155459	Thomas Reilly	Santa Clarita Velo	0
25	52251	Ricky Shorts	Velo Allegro	0
26	177958	Kevin Ryan	METALMTN Cycling	0
27	107559	Rodney Malloy	Velo Allegro	0
28	174212	Brian Carrico	PAA/REMAX	0
29	46255	Alex Collins	UC Cyclery/JW Floors	0
30	206734	John Huber	Velo Allegro	0
31	187428	Michael Evans		0
32	177283	Eugene Poyorena	Santa Clarita Velo	0
33	47652	Bob Pellkofer	Sho-air/Rock 'n Road	0
34	47314	Gary Prideaux	Lightning Velo	0
35	45552	Douglas Knox	Time Factory Team	0
36	236421	Sven Amundsen	Team Redlands	0

SoCal Cup Crit Series 4  (Rank 1.0)
Masters 60+
Place	License	Name	Team	SoCal Points
1	72880	Mike Marotta	Spy-Swami's Cycling Team	14
2	219074	Leo Pettus	Paramount Racing	11
3	49424	Howard Miller	Paramount Racing	10
4	129293	Michael Fleming	South Bay Wheelmen	9
5	195498	Donald Kimper	UC Cyclery/JW Floors	8
6	180386	John McKee	Paramount Racing	7
7	228631	James Swigart	ACQUA AL 2/SDBC	6
8	101582	William Carvin		5
9	301372	Tom Herman	South Bay Wheelmen	4
10	45763	Robert Paganini	PAA/REMAX	3
11	257503	Philip Walters	Encino Velo Cycling Club	2
12	50406	Michael Edwards	Velo Club LaGrange	1