CYCLING : Roller-Coaster Series of Unforeseen Obstacles Drains Northridge’s Halpern of Racer’s Edge

Cyclist Derryl Halpern never trained for the obstacles he has faced at the United States Cycling Federation national championships--stomach flu, rain delays and traveling snafus.

Over the past two weeks, the Northridge teen-ager has spent more time flying between Pennsylvania and Colorado for races than riding his 10-speed bicycle. Despite a hectic travel schedule, Halpern placed 54th out of 144 racers in the USCF national time trial championships Tuesday in Franktown, Colo. Halpern, competing in the junior division, finished the 20-kilometer route in 30 minutes, 12 seconds, 2:21 behind the winner.

Halpern, 17, hopes his best event is still ahead in Saturday’s USCF national road racing championships in Boulder, Colo.

“I’m hoping to get in the top 25 if I’m feeling well and riding up to my best,” he said.

Coming off a bout of the stomach flu, Halpern had a “disappointing” showing at last week’s USCF national track racing championships in Trexlertown, Pa. He failed to place in the 40-lap junior points race Saturday after finishing 31st (13.02 seconds) in the 200-meter matched sprint races Wednesday. Both velodrome events had been rescheduled because of rain delays.

Halpern went to Pennsylvania after competing in last month’s World Junior Trials in Denver, where he qualified for the Olympic National Festival that begins Wednesday in Raleigh, N.C. He will fly to Raleigh after this weekend’s competition concludes.

Olympic cyclist Wayne Stetina has competed worldwide but never in a “hotter” race than last year’s San Fernando Valley Fair pro-am criterion in Northridge.

“It was 95 degrees or more and those last few laps were really hard to finish,” said Stetina, a former Simi Valley resident. “I knew I was winning and that really helped a lot, but I was extremely exhausted at the end.”

Stetina will defend his title in the second pro-am criterion July 19 against other former Olympic cyclists, such as Noel Lilly of Great Britain, who competed in the 1984 Olympics. More than 100 amateur and pro cyclists are scheduled to compete in the 32-mile feature race through the streets of Northridge.

Stetina, 33, leaves Sunday to compete in the United States Cycling Federation senior national road race championships in Boulder. The three-time champion then travels to Utah to defend his USCF road racing title for cyclists aged 30 to 35 before competing in the Northridge race.

In the pro-am criterion, Stetina said he will need to run a tactical race to defend his title.

“If it’s hot enough, that little course is challenging and can be real tricky in the turns,” he said.

Stetina, who lives in Mission Viejo, competed in two consecutive Olympics beginning in 1972 and qualified for the 1980 Olympics that were boycotted by the United States.

USCF junior and senior amateurs will compete in seven races July 19 in the northwest section of Northridge. All races are 16 miles, except for the 40-lap, 32-mile feature race, the only race to include professionals.