Another good ride in the books.
Everyone was greeted by the big white van tonight and that means it was gonna be a good ride. Right off the bat, Aidan and Ben Wolfe were on the gas. Young Suto was up there as well. Little T took an early flyer which added to the pace early on. From there the pace stayed crisp... Nothing too back breaking though. Timothy Ratta was up front a lot, pulling the pace up. He had help from Chris C and Thomaas B, but a flat on North Brooksvale sidelined Crowle and left us all without the spice that comes from ol Krusty's kit on the ride.
Moving onto Mountain Rd, Ratta was still at it with Little T. Things were stretched out nicely to the point of minor gaps opening up. Next up was efforts from Nuemotion, MoMoney, Hunter P, The Wolfester and Eric M and by the second set of risers, a trio of Guido, Hunter P and Larry M were getting some daylight. Yelle!Snoop and the white train kept it close and things were back together soon after. The rest of the ride down Mountain Rd was standard fare. Special Ed put in a monster pull toward to the end of the road, peeling off a gap with him and about 6 others but the light was red and it was all back together.
Moss Farms was uneventful without Hacker and the Yalies. Instead it was the Wolfester causing a general ruckus up front along with Larry M. No one was getting away though. Ratta came back up to the front and led everyone thru the chicane with CCNS taking over after that. Todd H and Wolfester had a gap getting onto Marion and they were joined by Young Suto, Special Ed and Jeremy B. Young Suto rolled off the front brielfy but by the turn off for the short loop it was all together and moving along nicely.
Heading up to the crossover for 322, the light went red a few seconds before the ride got to it. The front 6 went thru ( Aidan, Wolfe, Little T, Todd H, Danbury Audi, Yelle! ) and the rest of the ride held up to wait the 20 seconds or so. The riders up the road slotted in at tempo pace, confident that the field would bring them back soon. It took a little while for the peleton to get organized as initally there were a couple of brief solo efforts off the front. Once onto Mount Vernon proper tho things picked but there were not a lot of willing bodies to hit the wind. The workload fell upon Guido, Tall Dennis, Eric M, Larry M, Ratta, Nuemotion and a couple others. The pace picked up in the break as well but it was understood the ride would bunch back up. That finally happeded right after the false flat. As soon as contact was made, Wolfester took off again and the CCNS seminar on "How to spring a break with your guy in it" started.
Immediate chase to Ben was given by Eric M, Yelle!Snoop, Young Suto, Hunter P and MoMoney. That was enough to draw everyone out and it was all together and fast for the next few hundred meters. As the front of the ride slowed just slightly, the next guy to attack was Aidan. He was joined quickly by a CVC rider and soon after Special Ed and Hunter P bridged up. That pulled another 4 or 5 riders out from the peleton and once the 4 up front saw the field bearing down, Wolfster took off again. Guido and Ratta were with him and the pack let them ride away at first. Little T, sensing something afoot, jumped across the gap and also Tall Dennis came across as peleton re-shuffled and got ready for Welch.
The break hit Welch Rd with 15 seconds or so and it was evident that the sprint points would come from up the road. Once again, that didnt stop Chris johnnycomelately Butler from setting off across the gap. In impressive fashion He would just about make up the distance, but he got there just in time for the fireworks. Up in the break the group was starting to play some cat-n-mouse. Once a certain sprinter who shall remain nameless, missed a turn up front, The Wolfester jumped. As the rest of the break hit the base of the hill, Little T jumped up to leave. Ben had a good gap but maybe for lack of knowledge, didnt scream thru the corner. Little T was bearing down and went thru just a couple of seconds behind him. Those 2 would ride toward the sprint alone as the rest of the break got swallowed up. Little T was able to get the jump on Ben and took the sprint, although Ben would put his head down and hammer away solo right after that in continuance of the youngster's strong ride...
The field stopped for a red light and The Wolfester was gone. The ride back into Cheshire was fast thanks to the tailwind. Chris C made it back to the ride and Joshy G also joined up. CCNS, Ratta, Eric M, Guido and a couple of others up front. Chris C had a flyer coming up to 322 but Aidan kept everyone close. Things got going on the uphill section to Peck. With the Wolfester in sight, Aidan, Chris C and Hunter P got a gap, Joshy G, and Nuemotion also got up to the group. A few guys sat up simultaneously right behind, mid chase, and that let the gap go up. The front group hit route 10 with maybe 10 seconds and despite the gap being slim all the way to Stop n Shop, that core group stayed off the front. One or 2 might have dropped off and one or 2 might have bridged up. The group hit the sprint with more then enough of a gap but no one took advantage. Little T took off from the front of the chase and sprinted the whole way up and thru the group ( Wolfester included ) to take #2 on the night.
The ride back into Hamden was fast with CCNS, Guido, NickG, Joshy G and couple of others pitching in. For the finale, Guido went by the last of the CCNS efforts but had Little T on his 6. T was able to come by and despite a stubborn push from CVC Chris to the very end, stayed in front of all to make it 3 on the night. Up the hill, John Gregory, continued the impressive riding from the 50+ crowd and took another hill finish from Hunter P and the other Shepard Ave regulars.
