Tuesday the 5th

 SGR stays Habenero Hot for Week 3

It was good to see a few new faces out there on the ride tonight for the "Middle Goat Loop". Jed K and Xander Beck came down to represent the CCAP. Aidan C was out. Hacker was back along with Wild Bill. Steffen has his son Alejandro out for his first time at SGR. All the right ingredients for a great ride!

The pace was a bit slow to get going. Early moves from Damien R from CCR, Thule Tom, and Dan Smith set things in motion. Hunter P got involved, and a couple of early moves had brief gaps, but it was always brought back from good pace-setting from Rich D, Little T, Chris C, Wild Bill, and a couple of others.

Heading onto North Brooksvale, Hunter P rolled up to an attacking Dan Smith, who had Ben Bruce up there. Then Turner French (TF) joined the group, making it four up the road. They rotated through and had 30 meters or so heading towards Mountain Rd. Behind, the chase was getting organized and it was all back together as the ride rolled up the first risers on Mountain. Wild Bill stayed up there, along with Aidan C to set the pace. The rest of the ride down Mountain was quiet. Dillon P made a move for the light, to which TF responded, to which Hunter P responded.

Moss Farms is where Steffen H took off. He dangled a bit out there, and then a couple of guys (Hacker, Erin Rand) made a few accelerations to connect. Steffen H stayed hard on the gas thru the rolling terrain and rolled clear as the ride was coming up to the chicane. Rich N, Chris C, and a couple of others jumped hard but gaps were forming. A bit of traffic thru the intersection allowed it all to come back together for the most part but there were a bunch in the pack that were gasping for air.

Little T used the opportunity to jump hard on the hill to Marion, taking along Hunter P. Then Rich N and Chris C joined the group. The pace behind was for realz, so the move didn't go far. Chris C stayed on the gas after it came back together, but nothing got away as the ride made it to 322.

Past that, Hunter P attacked hard on the first uphill after the light. TF joined up. Those two took a 50-meter gap onto Mount Vernon. Then Hacker charged across the gap. The rest of the pack was briefly subdued by Cheshire and CW riders not chasing, allowing the trio to get a sizeable gap that went up most of the way down Mount Vernon. As everyone turned the corner onto Prospect St, the chase was on though. Wild Bill, Dan Dudzik, Aidan C, Scott Rosenthal, Chris C, Rich N were all chipping in. There was some hesitation in the break as the corner to West Street came up and it was all back together soon after.

Onto Atwater, Gibertoni and Damien R pushed off the front. Then Thule Tom and Rich N created a bit of separation. That led to a group of 3 or 4 with a bit of gap as the 322 crossing back up. Dan Smith put in a big dig on the front to bring it all back before the light, which was green. The momentum allowed Ben Bruce and TF to attack off the front and carry a gap onto West Johnson. Hunter P bridged, but the light on route 10 was red.

Past that, Damien R hit it hard early on East Johnson and got a gap. He held it all the way up the hill to the stop sign and right turn. TF jumped across soon after the corner along with Rich N. No immediate chase allowed that trio to roll clear. Big Red got the group going soon after, and other riders not on the bige teams chipped in to hold the break at 100-150 meters as it hit the Greenhouse climb.

Upfront, Damien R tried working with TF to set a decent pace up the climb. TF was, however, biding his time. Rich N was mostly sitting on, waiting for what seemed like the inevitable attack. Behind, Wild Bill hit the front of the pack and towed everyone the entire way up the climb, reducing the gap to the break to just 60 meters or so. TF rolled away from the other two soon after the trio had to pause briefly for the light. As the chase made its way past the intersection, Little T jumped hard, taking along Dan Smith and Ben Bruce. That trio sailed by TF in that order with about 50 meters to the line, and Little T went over first with little fuss from the others.

Dan Smith stayed on the gas after clearing the intersection at route 70. Chris C and Hunter P joined him, but it was short-lived. Everyone stayed together until the climb up Boulder, where Dan Smith attacked with Chris C. They took a small gap onto the first sector of Tuttle and kept it going from there. TF and Hunter P jumped on the climb but then sat up, which brought a big drawdown from everyone. The chase got going again on the backside of Tuttle, but it was too late to bring back the two up the road. Rich N collects minor points for being willing to sprint it out in the dark in front of the peleton.

Once again it was great ride!