The Long Loop!
More new faces out on the ride today and more guys were willing to dip their toes into the deep end. It helped that a big wind from the south pushed all the strong guys into submission on the way home. The ride was going the full long loop today, and it was evident that a few riders were worries about how the legs would fair with the increased effort.
Early prognosticators were once again Wild Bill, Nic V, and the Body Over Bike team. Hacker, Nuemotion, and Little T were up there as well for good measure in the first 10 miles. There was another woman out to do the ride with Patsy and Lisa Lochner, which is tip top in our book.
The pace was solid, with no real attacks in early parts. Steve B took a flyer on Mountain Rd but didn't get too far. Aaron B lifted the pace in a couple of spots. Hacker was looking like he was ready to rumble as well. Hunter P took a flyer into the light on 68/70 along with Wild Bill, but it was red.
Moss Farms was more of the same. Little T took a dig going up to Marion and he had a crew willing to do the same. That led to a small breakaway before getting to the industrial park. Little T, Chris C, Hunter P, Aaron B, Gibertoni, The rider on the orange C-Dale, and Mike Williams from BOB. That group kept it ticking along but by the I84 bridge it was all back together again.
There were no attacks on Mount Vernon worth telling mom about. The pace was steady but no one was willing to overextend themselves with the new turnaround looming. It also didn't help that Nic V got a flat on Mount Vernon. With Curly, Johnny Meyerle, and Costa Rica John all stopping to assist, the rest of the pack immediately had no over-anxious youngsters to worry about.
Into Welch, Steve B attacked again, taking along Hacker this time. Those two build a decent gap but as the corner came up, it fell apart. Hacker stayed on it but as the headwind smacked the front of the group, everyone went into slo-mo mode. Vitaly Kantorovich, and Chris C pulled up front as the group came past Hacker. Then Aaron B got to the front and punched it with several hundred meters to go. He rolled off in front Kantorovich without much response and was able to stick it all the way to the sprint. Behind, Steve B battled it out with Nuemotion for the table scrapes.
On the backside, Kantorovich and Hunter P tried to sneak off into the headwind near the 84 interchange, but a red light brought it all back together. From there, back into Cheshire, it was steady-eddy with nothing too exciting up front. Gibertoni got a good gap heading down Atwater, but the headwind was too tough to overcome.
Fast forward to the greenhouse climb, the headwind made for a super-slow approach to the climb. The early part of the climb was Cat5 like. Vitaly was setting the pace. Scala as well. Rosy made an appearance near the top. Going thru the light, Turner French moved past Chris C to take a dig, but Aaron B and Hunter P were queuing up behind. Aaron launched it hard with 300 meters to go was able to stay in front of Hunter at the line by a wheel or two. After that, the rest of the pack hit a reset for the ride back into Hamden.
The rider on the Orange C-Dale (Name???) had an attack up Coleman. Then Alex D' Souza attacked up Boulder. Then Steve B attacked going into the downhill on Tuttle, which finally riled his CW teammates up, as well as everyone else who wanted to be up front for the final kilometer.
It was a fast run into the end, with Kevin Mullaly and Erin Rand challenging Sernyak and the usual sprinters for position. The final was all Little T and Aaron B though, and Little T was able to edge it out to get the points.
Good ride everyone. Next week will be another good one!
