CLOSE-UP : A Real Spokesman, at Work or at Play

Maybe it was a shrewd ploy. Perhaps there was a natural connection. But when Wayne Stetina got his first job in years, he was able to continue what he enjoys most--riding a bicycle.

“I talked my way into riding the Mayor’s Cup Series as part of my job assignment,” says Stetina, with a touch of glee. “I do sales and promotions at bike shops in each city we compete in.”

The series is a 19-city national cycling tour of 35-mile races around half-mile ovals. Stetina, a Simi Valley resident, is a technical adviser and promoter for a large cycling component manufacturer in Chatsworth.

But he really gets down to business when sitting on a bicycle seat.

The 31-year-old amateur has pedaled for three U.S. Olympic teams and to a gold medal at the 1979 Pan American Games. He has won five national cycling titles, the latest on Aug. 4 in the 118-mile United States Cycling Federation National Road Championship in Milwaukee.

That’s quite a list of accomplishments for someone who spends a lot of his time going in circles.

Yet Stetina claims he’d be even better if it wasn’t for that darned job.

“I ride about 200 miles a week in training instead of 500 like I should,” he said. “It’s frustrating. I can see that if I was better prepared, I would win more often.”

Stetina, who is ranked third on the Mayor’s Cup circuit, used a four-day stretch in July in explaining how he juggles work and play.

“I was in a 25-mile race in North Carolina the first day,” he said. “I flew to Philadelphia the next morning and visited four bike shops. That evening, I finished 11th in a 35-mile Mayor’s Cup race, then flew back to North Carolina for another 35-miler the next day.

“On the fourth day, I flew to Pittsburgh and did the bike shop number again, then finished seventh in a Mayor’s Cup race that evening.”

The next two stops for the Mayor’s Cup Series, which is in its 14th week, are San Diego on Sunday and Beverly Hills on Monday.

Bet on Stetina being there. Although old by competitive cycling standards, he keeps rolling along at breakneck speed.

“Competitive cycling is like playing chess at 30 m.p.h. in oxygen debt,” he said. “I can’t get enough.”