Nothing like a little positive peer pressure to get out in the miserable stuff.
The Cheshire Cycle trio of Dillon P, Gregg F and Hunter P rolled up to the ride to find a few stalwart souls ready to ride. Ratta, Eric M, Hansel and Zoolander, Bruce, VQ Rob, Cosmo “Sigma Alpha Epsilon” Catalano, and Yahor (?) from CCB. Once the group got going it collected Pescatore, Mountain Man, Mike McG, Koski, Frenzilli, Little T, Jeff “my pick-up truck is cooler then yours” Gelt, and a couple of others. High fives all round to those that made it out. The rain actually didn't hit as hard as it was supposed to and besides being wet, and some tire spray, riding wasn't that bad. The ride got going with Dillon P and Eric M early instigators. Few surprises early on up front. The usual guys up there setting pace. CCB was always ready to push it and Eric M, VQ Rob, Little T and Mike McG were ready to follow. Cosmo would have a good dig once everyone got going on Moss Farms but Pescatore shut it down. Eric M moved up to be in a good spot for the chicane but went over the yellow line to get there, DQ'ing the entire ride..... race..... whatever. Mahoney was the first one up the hill toward Marion but it settled down after that. A few guys peeled off for the short loop bringing the group down to about 15-18. Eric M and CCB kept it quick heading to 322 which, combined with the rizers there, put some guys into the hurt.
CCB, Eric M, and BenJe shot off the front briefly after going over 322, but it was held together by Rattatat and Hunter P. The ride down Mount Vernon was quick and windy with a bunch of different bikes up front doing the work. Heading onto Welch Rd and the turnaround, Cosmo, Mahoney, VQ Rob and Rattatatat rode off the front as Gregg F and Hunter P tried to coral the front. VQ Rob dropped off before the hill, just as Cosmo and MaHoney were upping the bet. After the corner Eric M took over the chase with Hunter P, Mike, and Little T close behind. Cosmo and Mahoney were the last to fall after putting in a solid effort to hang on to it. They got caught with about 125 meters to the sprint, just as Little T jumped fast enough to make everyone look around for a second to try to find the good spirits they all musta just dropped. T ride up and over easily and started working on the descent. Lost a couple of guys thru all that, group down to 8 or 9 as the front came together and started drilling it over I84. Gelt punched it right past the highway and then Mike McG took over with a vengeance. Lights that are usually red were now green and Mike was looking to dig himself and everyone else in a tidy little hole as the last ride went over the last climbing sections of West St. Pace was well good enough to pop a couple more guys. Things calmed down a bit for the section back to and over 322 again. The red light there gave a those couple of guys a chance to get back on.
The ride was standard fare from there on out. Cosmo tried a couple more times off the front, getting his gas money's worth. Heading into Stop n Sprint, Eric M hit the front and set the pace for the final 3\4 kilo coming up to the sprint. Little T got number 2 in a row, adding to his lead in the points competition. Gonna need someone to fill in the blanks for the rest of the ride, but good guess says it ended with some fast guys riding fast.
