Summer isn’t going down without a fight!
The usual guys were at the ride tonight. Since the short
loop has a bad rap for some reason, the idea was floated to turn soon on Mount
Vernon and create a middle loop. Response was mixed for this idea but with Chris
and Mike McG leading the call, it was agreed upon.
The tail wind helped get the ride going and once again it
was Jordan Lynn taking the reigns along with Guido and other Central Wheel
riders. The ride moved thru to the crap road section with Joe K up front
keeping the pace high. Moving onto North Brooksvale, a small group of riders
went immediately clear and started on a gap. Jordan L, Todd H, Joe K and Rusty
held on to a gap of about 60-75 meters as the ride came up to Mountain Rd. With
some traffic in the intersection, the front riders were slowed and it came back
together soon after with Mike McG
and Chris C leading the charge. The rest of the ride down Mountain was decent
and without incident. More than the usual amount of riders were getting involved
and chipping in.
The ride moved onto Moss Farms and the speed stayed high
thanks to Little T and others. Toward the end of the Moss Farms, Hunter P
rolled off the front and took a small group of guys attentive at the front.
Hacker, Chris C, Jordan L, Hunter P and Nuemotion, who joined up a few moments
after. That group hustled thru the chicane and toward Marion with the rest of
the pack wisely chasing hard. Despite going full gas for a few hundred meters,
the pack would bring them back and Guido used the catch and added some great
timing to be the next to shoot off the front. There were enough riders in
between to make up the gaps and it was all together heading to 322.
Moving past the light and toward Mount Vernon, Rory D,
Jordan L, Hacker, Todd H, Tall John Young Suto and a couple of others all had a
hand in trying to get off the front but everyone seemed to be ready to charge
down the shortened stretch of Mount Vernon. The race for the front continued to
the corner as everyone wanted to prove their sense of geography and be the
first one to the new street. Once there, guys like Gregg F, Joe K, Jordan L,
Chris C, Tall Dennis and Little T were up front and paying attention in case
someone was thinking up mischief. The road offered little by way of challenging
terrain so it stayed together for the brief trip to toward West St and the hard
right to get back on to the regular route. From there the next one to stab at
the major organs of the front of the ride was Guido, who got things going on
Atwater. The Headwind was strong and it served to tamp down most efforts to get
of the front.
Jordan L, Hacker, and Young Suto jumped the front of the
ride coming off the 322 intersection and they went clear right away. Going thru
the 4-way intersection, the main field has a serious case of “ummmm should we
go, should we stop, nah let’s just slow dow really hard, really fast”. That let
the trio work the gap up a little more. Once everyone in the peleton got going
on Peck, Hunter P jumped up to bridge and so did French Casey. Those 2 would by
joined mid-chase by Aidan C, who was riding from the South. The trio held onto
the lead, into the headwind up to the top of the false flat on Peck. The tough
pace was starting to break up the group with Hacker being the one that was
turning the screw mostly. The chase joined up and sped thru with Young Suto
getting stuck in no-man’s land. The renewed break of French Casey, Hutner P,
Hacker, Jordan L, and Aidan C kept the pressure on. Behind in the pack, It was
all-hands on deck for the chase. Sensing the possibility of a strong break
running away with it in the tough headwind, it took some strong riding to keep
the gap manageable. Chris C, Todd H, Guido, Mike McG, Nuemotion, Timmy Hip,
Gatorade rider on a Calfee and others worked the front. The higher speed would
end up shedding a few guys as small gaps quickly become chasms in the headwind.
Up front, the gap continued to go up but Hacker was the proverbial horse
chopping at the bit. The pace was a little hot for some and as a red light or 2
came up the pace-line suffered and that gave the peleton a chance to bring it
back in time for the sprint. Hacker would stay on the gas, riding up the road a
little ways. As guys tried to get into good position in among the break riders,
it gave a good line of wheels for Little T to use to ramp up the speed for the
sprint. He took it ahead of Hacker and way ahead of others. The Full Nalini,
Jacinto, Young Suto, Rusty etc. Red lights in the center of Cheshire rolled
everyone back together for the ride back to Hamden.
Nothing too interesting to report for the ride back. It
played out as usual with a solid 12-15 rider paceline keeping the speed high
all the way back. There were a bunch of guys in a position to get to the last
light first. Surprisingly Little T wasn’t among them. Someone will have to fill
in the blanks as to who got it. Up the hill Chris B rolled away with it early
on over Hunter P.
