The long loop gets a crowded send-off.
The Ride started off slow today, despite a big crowd. It also
started on a downer as Hacker got hit with a flat right away. Mountain Man and Guido jumped off right away on the backroads and were allowed to ride off. The pack
slowly chugged along. Tall John, French Casey tried to get things
going at first. Neumotion also jumped in and then Eric M. But all in
all the opening 4 miles or so were slow.
Coming onto Mountain Rd, the speed was
picking up a bit and the leading 2 had throttled back and were coming
back quickly. They would still stay off the front for a little while
longer on Mountain. Once the catch was made, the speed went back up
nicely all the way to the light. Bike Doctor, The Gopher, IanForth,
The Full Nalini, a new guy on a Fondreist, Chris C and a couple of
others were responsible for the speed. Near the light IanForth jetted
off the front, causing a reaction but it was handled quickly.
Some excitement happened on Moss Farms
when 4 riders went clear right away ( Benje, IanForth, Guido, and Daniel Caridi ? ). Eric M started to bridge the gap, no doubt recognizing
the threat. A couple of guys in the pack ( The Full Nalini, Tall
John, Nuemotion ) responded but mostly everyone stayed at tempo. Eric
M was just about up the the group when they started to slow slightly.
Just then the Gopher, Yelle!Snoop, Nuemotion, Hunter P and the Bike
Doctor charged off the front, leading the whole pack back up to the
group single file. Some traffic in the corner kept the peleton at bay
as the leaders and the chasers sorted out who would charge up the
hill to Marion. Chric C and Joe K came up from the field and led all
thru the corner. They would stay dangling off the front for a little
while. Bike Doctor and Nuemotion, Little T and Hunter P led the rest
up and it was all together heading by the industrial park. The next
one to animate was Yelle!Snoop as he: A) nearly chopped off the
sausage and B) wound it up for the run-in to the light, stretching
things out behind him. As the single file front hit came up to the
light, it was green. The front went thru as it was going yellow and
someone mid way back slammed on the brakes, causing the back half to
stop for the red. Probably just as well, seeing as how it would have
been pretty blatant for the sizable group. Up front Todd H commanded
the front to wait and so the front waited. Once the peleton was back
on, Mike McG moved up and got things going along with Steve Grey,
Tall John & Tall Dennis. From there the pace stayed decent on
Mount Vernon. An effort by Aidan and Chris C nearly broke a small
group free ( Aidan, Chris, Guido, Hunter P ) but instead it just
served to keep the pace high going into the false flat. Nuemotion and
Stevesy got things going up the incline and midway thru, Quadzilla
jumped hard on the left, taking along Hunter P. He hammered out a 75
yard gap for the 2 of them but the pack behind responded at the top
and reeled them in soon after. CXC Chris (?) was there up front after
the reconnect along with Aidan, Mike McG, the Gopher and Nuemotion.
From there the ride settled down a bit as everyone was content to
follow Aidan for half a kilo.
On the lead-in to the corner, IanForth
moved up along with Steve Grey, French Casey a couple of others. Chris C jumped
across the gap and legitimized it. Others were quick to respond and
cover up holes but the very front of the ride was well up the road on
the single-file line of riders going thru the corner. IanForth, after a good lead out from French Casey was
all-in and soon rode off solo toward the hill. Behind, the pace was
steady and there were a lot of riders up front looking to have a go
for this last sprint on the year. IanForth would get caught just on
West St as a huge group of guys moved thru the corner and started
winding it up for the sprint. Steve Grey stayed well up there as the
favorites were 5-7 bikes back. After some last hard pulls from Chris
C, Yelle!Snoop, the Bike Doctor ( on a CX bike YEEEEAAAAAA! ) and
Tall John...... Little T and Hunter P jumped for the sprint... Problem is
that Stevesy was still up there and had jumped a several seconds
earlier, not quite sprinting but flying none-the-less. It went down
to the wire with Little T and Grey with Grey getting the prize on
ballsy points. Hunter P, Chris B and Jacinto close behind in that order.
On the backside, the sprinters seemed
ready to roll on but red lights kept that from happening. Hacker was
able to rejoin the ride. Things settled down for a while and the next
guys off the front were all the way up onto Atwater St when The
Gopher, Dillon P, IanForth, and a new set of calf-muscles in a Stage
1 kit rolled off the front. Yelle!Snoop also joined up and that group
was allowed to roll but once the hill by the overpass bit in, the
group split up just in time to be caught by the pack, led by Hacker, Danny C and Young Suto. Peleton agrupado for the rest of the way
to the light on 322, over the light, onto Peck lane, past Peck ln, up
to Route 10, onto Route 10, up the hill so on and so forth. Tall John and Hacker were trying to pull off gaps at a couple of different points but never made it far. A red
light at the top of the hill slowed everyone down and offered a
reset. Another red light little later on as well. Meanwhile, somehow, Hacker had kept on his onslaught and was off the front and making green lights the whole way. For the Stop n Shop sprint point ( to the
light at the top the hill just before the plaza ) it was Guido, Benje and a couple of others who paved the way for Mike McG and then Little
T, who was able to squeeze past another crowded run-in and get it
over the likes of Yelle!Snoop, Dillon P, Chris B, CXC Chris
(?) and a couple of others.
Besides Hacker off the front of course, but seeing as how he re-joined after his flat, doesn't count, depending on who you talk to.
Besides Hacker off the front of course, but seeing as how he re-joined after his flat, doesn't count, depending on who you talk to.
Going thru Cheshire, IanForth tired to
snooker the group and jetted off. Eric M, Hunter P and Bike Doctor
were there to match. Red lights would kill that effort though. From
there it was uneventful heading back into Hamden. For the finale (
not even gonna mention all the late-to-the-party pack fill who
decides to show up for the last 2k ) the picture perfect trio of
Little T, Mike McG, and Eric M fought for the sit-sprint finish with
T getting it by half a foot length. Up the hill went the usual guys
who like to finish the ride off proper road race style.. On a hill,
up to the top, full sprinting allowed. Hunter P got a head start and
held it over Chris B, Mountain Man, Tall Dennis, Dillon P, C-Dale
Rick and one or 2 others.
