SOME PEOPLE are less than thrilled to reveal how old they are, but former World Track Champion Paul Yazolino is proof that age is nothing to be ashamed of. He and a few other former track cycling legends will be showing the young guns how it's done at the Track Cycling Masters Championships at San Jose's Hellyer Park this Saturday and Sunday. Seventy-year-old Yazolino from Alameda has gone from Champion Power Lifter to Track Champion. He has already proven in a training session that he's still got it by beating world records. This year he will be defending his title in the Match Sprints. This weekend's event will have several other track champs and former Olympians participating in events that range from the match sprints to time trials and individual and team pursuits. Seven-time Masters World Champion 50-year old Larry Nolan from Fremont will be the man to beat in the pursuit and points race. But despite the magnitude of this weekend event, it's really only a warm-up of what's to come. The Elite National Qualifiers will be held the following week and serve as an appetizer for the National Track Championships that roll into Hellyer Park for the first time ever for a five-day series starting Sept. 2. Be sure to look for Annabell Holland, 44, from Santa Clara, on the track. Fremont's Parks and Recreation director has placed third in two events in last year's National Track Cycling Championships in Pennsylvania and will be the one to set the pace on the track this year. While the Masters Championships will show the power of experience of 30-year-old-and-over athletes, the Elite Qualifiers and National Championships will be the main course, packed with a compendium of all track stars that will potentially participate with the cream of the crop at the World Championships in Sydney.

2008 NCNCA MASTERS STATE TRACK CHAMPIONSHIPS starts Saturday, Aug. 2, and Sunday, Aug. 3, at Hellyer Park Velodrome, 955 Hellyer Ave., San Jose; warm-up at 8:30am, races start at 10am.  For more information on all these events, go to www.ridethetrack.com.

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