CLOSE-UP : An Assault on Sleep, Fat and Reason

Get up at 4 a.m. to go bicycle riding? You’ve got to be kidding.

But that’s exactly what a group that calls itself the Universal Vello racing team does a few times every week.

“Guys put in 20 to 25 hours a week. It’s almost like a job,” said Larry Hoffman, who leads the group on a 37-mile journey from Studio City to Pacific Palisades and back.

But even for these biking fanatics, the pre-dawn wake-up call is not always pleasant. “There are days when I get up and say, ‘Leave it there. I’m going back to sleep,’ ” said Charlie Pattenson, an antique store manager who began riding three years ago. “But it’s a blast. You look at the pretty girls, check out the other bikes. You meet a lot of nice people.”

Pattenson, 26, is one of about a dozen regulars whose ages range from 16 to 55. For some the ride is for fitness alone, but the group also includes David Brinton of the U.S. national team--who will compete in the Goodwill Games next month--and Brad Ganz, who competed in the U.S. Cycling Federation’s Southern California District championships last weekend.

Having competitors such as Brinton and Ganz along for the two hours and 45 minutes helps the less-experienced cyclists to improve. “We draft off of them,” Hoffman said, referring to a maneuver in which a rider conserves energy by closely following the man ahead, who has to pedal harder to cut through the wind. “It gives us incentive. When they’re pouring it on, we have to pour it on. We can’t dog it.”

Hoffman, 41, owns The Pedal Shop on Lankershim Boulevard, where the group meets for what he calls the “just-to-stay-in-shape ride.” The pack rides over Sepulveda Boulevard to Sunset Boulevard, then on to Bundy Drive, San Vincente Boulevard and the beach. The route, with its variety of hills and straightaways, provides good training.

“If it’s in a spot where you’re cruising around, you just talk about pretty girls, the nice scenery,” Hoffman said. “And then all of a sudden, the speed picks up, everyone starts dropping into line and the drafting starts.

“It takes a lot of spirit, a lot of drive. It’s hard to stay motivated. There’s pain involved here. Going up a hill, your lungs feel like bursting, and you wonder, ‘Why am I doing this?’ But if you get up the hill, if you’re lucky enough to be the first one over the hill, it’s exhilarating.”

The ride can become dangerous when the cyclists, riding close together, increase their speed. If one slows down, he can cause others to crash. “It’s very important that you have trust within the pack,” Hoffman said. “If someone in the pack isn’t up to par, either you’ll train the guy or you’ll kick him out.”

The group starts early in the morning to avoid smog and traffic. What’s the motivation? Said Pattenson: “It’s like an escape, just to feel the wind go by you, to be on your own power. You just do your own thing.” Said Shawn Besharty, a 17-year-old high school senior: “It’s better than skateboarding or jumping in the pool.”

Michael Wolgast, 22, has a different perspective. “After a while, it’s not motivation,” he said. “It’s a hunger. You get addicted to it.”