Its been decided… The ride is better in the winter when no one can talk to each other.
Another good size crowd out for the TWC tonight in the thick August air. The ride got going with Chris C and Dave "Horny" Hartmann blasting tempo off the front, pretty much right from the start. Following was Mike McG, Hunter P, Eric “electric shift” Merrill and Maison C from CCR. Maison has just been chosen to model the CCR 2 thousand &10 kit. So watch for that. The pace was up and down coming up to Mountain rd. There were no real attacks on Mountain as a super long pace line developed 15 riders long. Hitting it twice was Hacker, Ciocci and Eric M and Mike McG. Hell, even Rondo was up there pullin. Little T jumped off the front right before the light and sure enough he got thru the light. Yalie Adam was chasing but didn’t make it. Everyone waited patiently, confident that Little T wasn’t gonna drill it alone off the front for too long.
On Moss Farms, there was a brief gap that developed with Thomaas B, Todd H, Matt Sack from CCR. Also there was the strong new guy with the jersey from New Zealand (?) on a badge less carbon frame. They never got more than 20 yards and heading thru the chicane it was all together. Little T was waiting up the road and went thru the corner first. Behind, hacker and Guido were twisting the throttle and leading everyone through. It all stayed together down Marion with a few guys up there doing work… Mike McG, Silent Steve, Steve Grey and Joe K among them. Maybe a few guys rolled off into the short loop. Sadly, Rondo was one of them….. L Before the peleton got up to route 322 Brian Girard from Stage 1 rolled off the front without protest and made it up to the light by himself.
Into Southington the pace was ok. Midway thru Mount Vernon Rd Guido, Joe K, and a Stage 1er ( Dave H?) moved off the front. The gap was 30 solid yards as the Stage 1 rider was shed, leaving just the 2. That lasted up the tough false flat\uphill section. As they were caught, Hacker attacked and Joe K, not yet finished, got his leather on and stayed on Hacker’s wheel for another go off the front. That group ended up being Joe K, Hacker, Chris C and one other (?). Behind Mike McG jumped hard with Hunter P just as the hill was leveling out and with the added horses the group of 6 rolled off the front. That set off alarms in the front and the peloton went into panic mode. The break was caught in a couple of minutes with help from Steve Grey, Little T and Ciocci. Hunter P and Joe actually stayed off the front for a bit more but called it in seconds later. The pace slowed down as everyone started to remember their date of birth and zip codes. Also everyone was prepping for the assault on Welch road.
Coming up to the hill, Gregg F slipped off the front and quickly got a gap as the others were ok with letting out some leash. Guido then came up and started the chase as Joe K sat on up front in a bid to let Gregg take it. Gregg nearly shocked em all, nearly missing it as Little T came storming around with a healthy amount to share. Joe K gave it the sprint a good shot and was 2nd. Hunter P, Hacker, and Guido were close behind. Mike McG and Crazy Chris jumped up and joined the group after the corner but that group didn’t get far… The West St. breakaway remains an elusive edict for even the strong riders to make.
Heading past the highway, there was some swervy riding going on or something like that and then Little T & Brian K were being unfriendly to each other. Once again, this one is too close to call folks. They are similar in size. The edge Alessio has in strength could be offset by the fact that Koski has worked for Cannondale. And we are pretty sure that once you get a paycheck from them, you have all sorts of imps, goblins and succubus’s ( succubi ? ) at your disposal. In the end, they were just being dramatic with each other but while it was being hashed out, Chris Butler had snuck of the front and was soloing away on his own like only he can. Once everyone started down toward the highway off ramp, the chase got going with Mike McG and Little T up front. Chris was eventually caught after the little riser on Canal St. It was gruppo compacto for the rest of the ride back to into Cheshire and onto Peck lane. Mike McG and Girard were the ones pushing past the cobbles and up onto Sandbank Road. That led to Yalie Adam and Mike getting a real deal gap onto route 10. But that was shut down due to a red light.
The Stop n Shop sprint was all Little T again, but this time he had a good fight come a steppin from Maison who only was a couple of bikes behind the whole way to the light. The ride back into Hamden was normal. Good to see Time Trial Pete hitting it hard on the front for a spell. Same goes for Kyle F who tried his hand at a late sneak away attack. For the last kilo, Mike McG hit it hard early with Hunter P on his six. Hunter hit the front too soon and killed the throttle, making Guido and Little T duke it out till the bitter end. Guido gets this one probably cause his legs are a couple of pounds heavier than Little T’s… It was that close.
Good ride all in all. If your name should be in here somewhere, leave a comment. Throw in some other names if you don’t want to seem the gloat…. On Tuesdays, it’s everyone's chance to get some street cred.
