Butterfly Criterium 45/55

Butterfly Crit 45/55
By Larry Broberg

Since breaking my hip in November I decided to make a little change in my training and get the dreaded (by me anyway) power meter and follow Mark’s systematic plan for training which I’ve noticed has helped everyone who has been following his advice. I feel like I’m back to about where I was pre-accident. I did terrible at Wente RR but have felt ok in the Crits I’ve done and did manage to get 3rd in the Sea Otter MTB cross country (60+ cat1) although my time was slower than last year. I rode with Mark and the Boys on their interval training up Buddy Doom last Monday and had my best week of training so far this year. On Saturday, before the Butterfly Crit, I rode terrible but tried not to get too discouraged.

The Butterfly Crit started off fairly quickly and I was riding at my usual place in the back when things started getting strung out because of the hill. I figured people would start getting popped off the back so I moved up toward the middle front where I could see Vlada with Russ being at the very front chasing everything down but the ice cream truck. He must have covered a half dozen breaks and never seems to get tired.

I thought of going up to help him a couple of times but I know what it’s like to stick your nose into the wind so I just tried to stay near the front. Several laps from the end, a guy in front of me started sliding out and I hit my rear brake and started sliding and dabbed my foot to keep from falling. When I regained my composure and sped back up I was now at the back of the pack and was struggling when this hand from above came down and gave me the acceleration to get back to the front (Thanks again Vlada).

The last lap was another big surge and the only 2 (out of 11) 55’s left were both in front of me coming out of the last turn heading up the hill to the finish. I shifted up 2 gears and punched it (even though I was out of gas) and could see I was going to catch Ernie Galardo. Once I got past Ernie, I could see Dave Stockwell in front of me sitting down spinning towards the finish line and I caught and passed him and I was pretty sure I had won.

I didn’t see Russ because he was so far in front of me and he got a hard-fought 5th with a couple of guys off the front (I think). Vlada also rode very strong and has been placing top three in almost every race he’s been doing so congratulations to both of those guys. I got $90 for the win and found out that by being at the front of the 55’s, we had separate Primes and I won 2 of those - $50 in cash and a 20 min massage which I thoroughly enjoyed, plus a bunch of Giant Strawberries and a hat. I haven’t gotten this much booty since the initial days of the Sea Otter. It was fun.

Mt. San Bruno Hill Climb Mstrs 55+ Race Report

San Bruno Hill Climb Masters 55+ Report

By Jim Langley
Photos by Sam Parker, Michael Hernandez and Kevin Kone


Please see Mark Edwards' excellent race coverage below for a complete report of the team's outstanding performance at San Bruno, to kick-off our '09 racing season. Team Bike Trip had 2 racers entered in the 55+ event, myself and Gary Griffin. Unfortunately, our other ace, Larry Broberg was sidelined with a hip fracture suffered while mountain biking (rumor has it he's recovering nicely, though).

We ultrageezers - as Michael Hernandez dubbed us on the NorCal Cycling News blog, rolled out just behind the 45+ group and were quickly strung out on the opening section of the climb, which is one of the steeper parts. For me this meant leap-frogging from small group to small group while I marked Ron LeBard who I thought was my main threat having been so soundly trounced by him last year in the Mt. Diablo Hill Climb. We easily distanced our field and even dropped former San Bruno champ Scott Hennessy, who we found out later was coming back from a bad flu.

Nearing the top (photo), Ron started to slow and I felt good so I pushed it across the line hoping I had won the race. But, as the fog cleared a bit, I could clearly see another 55+ guy standing there and knew he (Mac Carey) had won, putting me in second. Ron finished just behind for 3rd. Gary was only a couple of minutes back, 11th out of the 20 starters (sorry, I couldn't find a photo of Gary to post here).

The highlight for me was getting into the 17-minute club - and feeling like I might have been able to shave a few more seconds had I known a target was hiding ahead in the thick fog. Congratulations to all the Bike Trippers who made this San Bruno Hill Climb the most memorable of the 3 I've attending with the team so far. Awesome job!