He Spit On My Shoe!
The rich tapestry of life continued with this week's SGR. A medium sized group left the lot and was in for treat tonight, as the long-loop nears the end of its run.
Once again it was Steve B and CW leading the early charge. The first attack of the evening came from Turner F, who snuck away on one of the early corners and was allowed to roll. Turning onto Mountain Rd. Little T jumped across the gap using a car to tow himself halfway up the gap, but it wasn't enough to get all the way. That lit the chase up behind and soon it was all back together again for the rest of Mountain Rd. Brian O had another dig at the front in a counterattack, but that didn't last long.
As the group came up to the light at the end of Mountain Rd, It was green. Everybody was correctly anticipating it turning yellow, and sure enough, it switched as the ride came up to <100 meters. In famous do-as-I-say-not-as-I-do fashion, Chris C rolled through the yellow light just as it was turning red. He was the only one from the front. Close behind, Steve B, Turner F, Dillon P hit the brakes bringing the group to a stop. Or, so it would seem.....
From 10 guys back, Little rolled through thru at an angle with Hunter P on his wheel. Everyone with a foot down started cursing the trio out.
The light ran it's course and it wasn't too long before the group got thru the intersection but the escapees were well gone so it would seem.
Up the road, it wasn't smooth sailing for the breakaway.
Hunter P: "I'm not working, the entire group has no business being there, passing others who stopped at the light"
Little T: " I thought the front was rolling thru the light. It looked like guys were accelerating (just before they slammed on the brakes)"
Chris C: "It was yellow! F you and your principles (and safety.... and manners... and the reasonable use of a recognizable American dialect... And for god sakes, stop at the lights when you're leading 30 other guys through (wink wink)"
Hunter P let Chris roll away, and Little T agreed. Everyone (except for Chris C) was back together by the light on 322. The pace on Mount Vernon was steady but unimpressive as it seemed no one was in a hurry to chase down Chris C. In about a kilometer he was in sight, and in another kilometer it was all back together again. Then the attacks started from Turner F, and Tri-Guy Fecik, Dan S, Brian O and others.
At some point, Turner and Chris C had words about what had happened eariler at the light. There may or may not have been some saliva-sliders pitched from Turner F in Chris' direction. Crowell went (low-grade) nuclear at this. At a certain point, he admitted he was speechless at the action (to which everyone within earshot prepared their finest loogies)
Onto Welch where Steve B launched it off the front early on. Then a trio led by Sean Maher and Jon Fecik took off in chase. Steve B had a solid gap but was slowly coming back to Sean M and Jon Fecik. Behind, the rest of the pack was going slow, with Turner F setting steady pace into the slight headwind. Then, USAC official and vintage SGR rider Bruce McG came roaring through the front of the chase on his e-bike. That got things going real fast, and soon it was strung out. Steve B was not going to be caught. The other chasers would have been caught by the top of the hill, but for a bit of traffic, and some stern words behind Bruce to not sprint off the wheel of the e-bike.
So, the question is how to approach the electrical assist when it's around? Being the purist group of dickheads that the SGR is, ebikes have not been a topic yet. But the future is electric, so leave your vote in the new poll.
It all came back together on the backside, and the ride back towards Cheshire was uneventful. The next attacks were from Dan S, Sean M, and Jon Fecik. They hit it on Atwater St and rolled off the front. The light at 322 was red though. That trio kept on it a couple of times. Surging after the light on route 10 as well. By then, everyone was wise to it, and it was altogether heading into the greenhouse climb. Big Red had a dig, Chris C pushed the pace up the climb, Turner F sat near the front. Brian O was the troublemaker this time, and he rolled off and built enough of a gap to take it. Little T, locked in with the chase that didn't happen jumped late and just missed coming around Brian O at the end. Steve B also sprinted and was third through the line.
The e-bike was back for the final few miles, and Bruce surged hard up the climb on Tuttle, which broke off a small group containing all the strong guys. From that, Little T took the finale, with Turner F and Brian O following up.
