Someone grab the fire extinguisher, the barn is burning.
Solid ride tonight! There were a few new faces which made for a slightly different flavored ride. Kudos to Chris Hong (aka, the Hongster) for getting up there and pushing the pace in a couple of key spots.
The ride's early protagonist was Hunter P, who jumped off the front early on South Brooksvale and kept on going when no one from the peleton responded. He built up a gap that of 30 seconds at its peak and managed to stay off the front all the way to the light on route 68\70. The light was red and the pack was bearing down. All together onto Moss Farms!
No attacks from there but the pace was solid all the way to crossing 322. Once onto Moss Farms, MJ A and the Hongster rolled to the front and put in a couple of efforts. Alan B rolled off the front and he too was allowed a little room at first. He held a gap until the false flat section. Everyone stayed together from there to the corner of Welch.
Hacker had an early dig there, but a few others jumped and responded. The real action started when Chris C took everyone up the hill and thru the corner with determination. Then Gerard O'shea took at the front and put in a good pull. The light at the base of the sprint was red as the pack approached, but it turned green in enough time to wind up the sprint without too much of a disruption. Hunter P jumped first but his chain jumped, taking him and Hacker, who was on his wheel, out of the sprint. Little T was able to scoop it up easily. On the backside, Alan B, the Senryak and Hunter P kept on it and it looked like they may have rolled away but green lights past the highway kept it all together.
The Hongster hit the front and put in a dig, but The Sernyak, Alan B and Hunter responded. Hong was back at it on Atwater but couldn't coax anyone out off the front to make a serious go of it. From there, all the way to the run into the second sprint point, it was calm and steady as everyone was preparing for a hard section up the climb there.
Just as soon as the climb kicked, Hong was off the front a bit. Alan B responded with Hunter P on his wheel. Then The Sernyak took over in chasing the front down. The speed was high enough to give guys 4-6 wheels back a good draft, leading to it all being strong out but together heading up the hill. Chris C waited for a slight slow down and then attacked. He worked up gap for a bit, but was being chased down when he had to pause slightly for the red light at the top of the hill. He stayed up near the front though, and was nearly taken out when Alan B attacked from second wheel. Hunter P was the only one that responded to this final surge and was able to come around Alan with room to spare for the sprint. Chris C hung on tight to roll thru next.
From there, the ride recollected a bit and the pace went back to reasonable for most of the ride back. Kyle C would have a dig a little later. Then Brian Girard on one of the final uphill sections. For the finale, The Sernyak hit the front hard and rolled off with a small gap, but MJ A, Hunter P and a couple of others kept that in check. It came down to a bunch gallop for the line, with LIttle T taking it over Dillon P. Just behind them, there was a near-crash when Steffen H's front wheel made contact with Hackers derail.
For every close call, especially during the final sprint (the most dangerous by far) there will be a neutralized week to balance it off. So no points, no sprint at the end of the ride for next week.
