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

Tuesday the 27th

Riders Look for Back-up, it's not there...



On and off rain kept todays ride to a group of about 22 or 23. Some strong faces were missing from the ride. Mike McG, Empire Matt, Peter P, Eric M and a couple of others.
Greg from Keltic (or was it Jesse?) and Guido led things off off route 10. They were caught as the field went thru corners and soon it was just Guido up the road with a surgeon Hacker. Chris C, Todd H and Hunter P kept the gap in check. Hunter P then jumped across right before the turn onto Mountain Rd. and that brought enough attention to the front. The trio were caught pretty quickly. Rondo, Chris C, Todd H, and probably Little T closed that shop down quick smart.

Lots of guys going all over the place on Mountain Rd. Guido had another brief go off the front, John Gregory was cruising, Dave M from CCR racing was up there too. Chris B from CCR put in a little dig toward the end too. But nothing developed, as per usual for this section.

If ever we figure out how to get that light green for us, the fireworks will start to go off on this road...

Onto Moss Farms were Chris B and Hunter P went staight to hard tempo mode. That brought Hacker off the front of the feild and Chris C too. The four had a bit of a gap but everyone was moving fast, so the potential was there and the effort was doing some damage. The smaller peleton was stretched to chasing-maximum. The four worked well for about a half mile, then
Hacker surged off the front. Hunter P chased him down and the 4 was down to 2 by the "chicane". The chase was hard behind them tho. The rain started coming down hard at this point.

Going up the hill to Marion, the 2 were caught by a flying Chris C and company. That led to Hacker staying on the gas past the corner, and riding away with Rondo, Little T and Todd H. Again, the usual speed train that picks up the flicked at this point in the ride just wasnt there and that gave advantage to the break. The new quartet had a gap of about 5 seconds as they gingerly turning into the Industrial Park area.

Chris C, Guido, Hunter P and a couple of others dug deep to keep the gap close. Then Chris B, riding his 21 pound rain bike, flew across the gap and made the connection seem easy. That was pretty much all the group needed and the 5 had horsepower to spare up the road as they turned onto West Johson Ave. The guys that were capable of bringing them back were stretched thin and near redline.

Credit Hacker with the Schoolhouse sprint ( i think ). Behind them, Thompson from Keltic, Chris C, John G, Greg from Keltic, all doing their fair share in the workload.

Onto Peck Ln where it seems Little T and Rondo sat up from the break. (reason?). Undeterred and confident they had completely severed the elastic, the trio of Todd H, Chris C and Hacker went on with out them. It was starting to look like kilo 200 of Paris-Roubaix... Guys all over the place going up Peck Ln. Guido had a hard turn off the front with Hunter P chasing him down. Going over the train tracks, it was Todd H's turn to come off the break. He was soon back into the fold and that left just Chris C and Hackattack off the front.

Going back into Cheshire was a little on the sedate side, traffic lights made sure to kill off any hope of brining back the two escapees. There was opportunity though for Guido to get in one more romp off the front... He is one rider who gets away with not knowing the "rules of engagement".
We will have to hear from our two strong men as to who took the finish, but as the remnants of the chase pulled up to Shepard ave, thru the fog and drizzle, the figure of Chris B could be made out driving alone up to the top of the climb.... Maybe the breakaway wasnt enough training for him. And for that, its long overdue that he be added to the cast.