A running account of the "race without an entry fee"..... The Tuesday night ride

Tuesday the 27th

Slowly getting up to speed... Week 2

     Larger crowds were out tonight but it was still a bit lower than usual. Good to see regulars like Nuemotion, Joe K, M Frisk, The Full Nalini and Ben Bruce out for the first time. The ride got going under more controlled circumstance this week, but as soon as everyone turned off route 10, Hunter P took off and made it farther than his usual 30 seconds. He got all the way to mid-way through Mountain Rd before being caught. Aidan C, Chris C, Big Red, and BurggieBaby were the ones doing the most work up front.
     From there the ride stayed together thru Moss Farms and into the industrial Park. Dave Hoyle got involved up front, as well as Mike McG, Joe K, Ben Bruce a couple of others. Hunter P jumped off the front again before the turn for West Johnson, but no one went with and he slowly rolled back as Aidan C ramped it up behind him. Aidan chose not to keep the attack going full gas to the sprint, and that gave Nuemotion, Chris C, The Sernyak, Burgster and maybe one or 2 others the chance to slide up and get into position. Bugster once again jumped off te front soon after turning onto Reinhard, but this time, his had less time to build up a gap. Mike McG was a little ways back and gave Little T a great lead-out to the sprint, and Little T had little trouble jumping around and into the front to get to the corner first.
     On the backside, A Burg, Hunter P, and Aidan C were off the front going down hill, but traffic in the corner for Peck Ln slowed the whole bunch down and forced the re-grouping.
     From there, it was quick back to Route 10, Aidan C and Hunter P primarily responsible for driving the pace. A small group of 4 rolled thru the corner first and was holding a slim gap going up the hill by Cheshire Park, but it was all back together after the hill, as Ben Bruce, The Full Nalini, Dave Hoyle a couple of others kept the pace high enough in the chase to keep the gap manageable.
     Heading into the Stop n Sprint, Billy Thompson jumped off the front with about 400 meters to go. He built up a gap but was starting to fade as Hunter P jumped hard from the front of the group. No one challenged that, and Hunter P was able to cruise to the sprint points there. A traffic light slowed the pack down immediately after that, and then a little ways down into Cheshire, another light held up the peleton. That was all Hunter P needed to get away for good, and he rolled back into Hamden alone, ending the ride with about 35 seconds on the chase.

Tuesday the 20th

Season Kick-Off is a Kick in Da Nutz for Most

     After a couple of weeks of crap weather, the SG finally got some dry roads and only slightly bitter temps. So the first throwdown of the year was a bit on the sparse side. Fresh off a block of training, the CCNS contingent was looking fierce. A couple of guys not waiting to get caught out by it were both the Crowells and Little T. They took off right away out of the parking lot and were quickly out of sight down route 10. They kept the hammer down as a trio. Behind in the pack, once the ride got off route 10, Aidan C was straight away at the front setting a hard tempo. BurggieBaby was there for back up, and a couple of pulls and it was a fast intro but everyone was ok with hanging on. Big Red came thru and took a flyer on Mount Sanford and got a minimal gap, Hunter P jumped across it next and took along Burgster, Aidan C, and Rob Dux. A couple of guys were caught in the middle as everyone was going thru the corner for South Brooksvale. Steffen Huber and Tom Krol among them. They chose to hold up a bit and slotted in at the front of the chase. The four guys up the road were off and running though, and the slight hold up due to traffic was more than enough to give them the gap needed.
     That group caught the early trio a couple of streets after, and then Rob Dux was caught out and had to fall back. From there it was a seven man ride up front, 12-15 guys rolling a solid tempo in the back.
     For the sprint points, Burgie took off at the corner for Reinhard and held a gap. Hunter P sprinted up from the chase and was made the gap up but Alan rolls through the intersection first. The gap those two had didn't amount to much once everyone turned on to Peck. Aidan C drilled hard up the slight hill on Peck and made it hard for anyone to come around him. Hunter P put in a dig but was back in the fold by the corner for route 10.
     The lead into Stop n Sprint was anything but gang-busters, Grome put in an effort and Burgster was up there as well. Kyle Crowell jumped hard and was allowed to collect the prize. From there, it was a standard run-in back to Hamden and Little T came up and got the final points on the night, relatively unchallenged, save for Big Red, who is never one to take it easy on himself.

Great ride everyone! A solid open to the 2018 season of madness!