A running account of the "race without an entry fee"..... The Tuesday night ride

Tuesday the 1st

Weird Throwdown as the weather turns warm.

We all hope that Mike McG is resting up and will be back on the bike soon. He fell during Sunday’s Bethel race and broke his collarbone.

Tonight was another windy day but the air was humid and warm for once. Eric M and Chris C wasted no time and the sacredness of the “neutral zone” (RT 10) continues to get trampled on. The two had a small gap turning off RT 10 and continued to lay the hammer down on the rain shrunken field of about 30 riders.

The rest of the Keltic crew came up to the front and rode tempo. In a rare sight, the field was actually experiencing some stiff gaps on Brooksvale ave as Peter Petrillo laid it down hard. Turning onto Mount Sanford, the duo was kinda in sight but their gap was going up as some in the peleton started rumors of this being a slow day for the ride.
Turning on to Mountain Rd, Gregg F from Cheshire Cycle and Dillon P were up in the front, trying to move things along, Rondo and Hunter P also were keeping things moving. Team work was not in the cards tonight, and strong pulls from Peter P, Jacob Hacker, and an unknown rider from Dartmouth (name?) would go down as singular efforts without anyone to follow them up. Getting to the light on West Main, Eric M and Chris C were just getting thru and the rest of the field had to stop for a full red light cycle. The duo also had to wait a bit so we could call that one even-steven.
Turning onto Moss Farms Kyle Foley and Chris Butler from Cheshire Cycle (CCR) snuck off the front and started getting a small gap. Other CCR riders came up to the front and perhaps were blocking a bit, but soon pulled thru leading to Rondo and Hunter whipping it up again. In a show or rebelliousness from the youngster, Kyle left Chris going thru the “chicane” (see previous posts) and started out on what would be many strong, singular efforts in the face of teamwork. It took strong riding from Rondo and Peter P to get everyone thru and on the way toward the Industrial Park. Still the duo ( Chris C & Eric M ) had a solid gap of at least 15-20 seconds.
Kyle was caught by Rondo and Peter P. The chasing trio had a gap that they went to work on as they rode down Knotter Dr. Behind them, John Gregory, an unknown rider on an Orbea (?!), Hunter P and the Keltic crew was on the front. Still, teamwork was shotty but the pace was decent. Rondo and Peter P sat up upon turning onto West Johnson, or else the trio might have really torn things apart in the peleton behind them. Still the duo had a gap that was pushing 25-30 seconds now. Kyle kept it going and was caught by a jumping Hunter P, but into the cross wind things were coming back together.
Turning onto Reinhard rd, into the wind, guys were going every which direction. Hunter P jumped hard up the hill to catch a still off-the-front-by-a-little-bit Kyle Foley. Really a surprising ride from the Ceuvas\ACT rider. Great job! Jesse (?) from Keltic also jumped on the hill and another trio was born. The trio had a good gap turning onto Peck Ln but the Smooth-like-sandpaper teamwork and killer headwind made it hard to make any time up on the still-in-sight-duo up the road. The handsome 2, Chris C and Eric M, were working well together.
Going up the hill by Cheshire Park, the chasing trio was caught by a Peter P led field. No one was very eager to work into the wind on RT 10 and this gave Kyle yet another chance to stick his nose up at the peleton and pull off the front by himself. But as usual, things were together for the lights thru the center of town. The headwind took its toll, guys were getting flicked off all down route 10. In the break Chris C gets credit for the win as he out-kicked Eric to West Shepard Ave.