More Mellow More Smiles
Another large group for today's ride. A couple of big guns were not in attendance so the ride overall was a bit calmer. However, it was great to see some new (and new old) faces out on the ride.
Steve May, Rich Nadeau, Steve Grey-Gray?, Jeff Scala, joined a few new faces from Fairfield County. Also good to see was Hacker, who, like the creators of South Park, has been trying to get canceled for like 3 years now. Either that or he's been waiting responsibly to get his vaccine to get back to Tuesday night action.
He was one of the guys attacking Mountain Rd. Steve B and Dan Smith from CW were up there as well. Aaron B was rolling off the front before that, but he took a corner a bit early and had to chase back on. "Early and eager" is his MO these days (Congratulations Aaron and Goldie!)
An attack by Steve B briefly saw the light of day halfway down Mountain Rd, but it was all together getting up to the light on route 68\70. Hacker was back up at the front, along with Aaron B on Moss Farms, but it stayed together all the way toward the light on route 322. Nic V, Hunter P, Steve May, Scala, and Bill Thompson had a bit of a dig after the corner for Marion, but that was short-lived.
There were no attacks on Mount Vernon. Chris C, like the good and always positive leader he is, raced everyone to be at the front for the corner of Prospect. The pace headed eastward was steady if a bit unimpressive. Scala, Nadeau, Costa Rica John, and Chris C dictated the pace. Next week should be the first week of the full long loop, but you'll have to wait for confirmation on Tuesday for that.
Onto West St and then Atwater. Hunter P surged going under the highway but there were plenty of guys to go with him. Then to West Johnson, where there was more "I don't know where we're going" shenanigans from the Body Over Bike boys. The light crossing route 10 was red, so it wasn't too big a deal.
The next attack came from Evan B, heading up to the corner of East Johnson / Cheshire St. He rode off a gap that lasted close to the base of the greenhouse climb. Then, Scala, Nic V, and Dan Smith rode charged hard off the front. That trio was allowed a small run off the front. Then Aaron B jumped hard. Just Costa Rica John and Hunter P went with him. Behind Black, they got a gap that no one was going to quickly bring back. Aaron attacked again and gapped the others, leaving John to set the pace. The chase was coming up, and Chris C was able to latch on. Black was fading by the top of the climb and the light. This set up Hunter P for an easy sprint, followed by Costa Rica John and a Body over Bike rider (?).
It was altogether heading back into Hamden. Along the way, Nic V attacked, Steve B had another go, Body Over Bike as well, but nothing stuck until Aaron B attacked hard up the Coleman climb. Initially it was just Costa Rica John, Chris C, and Nic V that responded, but soon the entire pack was back on the gas. Up the climb on Tuttle with Aaron B holding his 50-meter gap, Chris C had a coronary on the front when no one would come through, nearly crashing Nic V and a couple of others. That slowed the chase a bit.
Once it got going again, Aaron was diving down the Tuttle descent. Steve B and Erin Rand from CW hit the front hard and brought back some of the gap. Then Mike Williams and S.May rolled thru. On the short risers near the 1K to go mark it was all together. A group of 5 or 6 (CW, Sernyak, Hunter P, Scala, Nic V,) jostled near the front for position heading to the sprint. That was enough to spring a short gap to the rest of the pack. Behind Dillon P timed his finish line run to perfection, coming thru the pack, across the gap, and even thru the front pack without ever leaving his saddle. He cruised across the line at 700w with a few bike lengths to spare.
