Give the Position Back Oscar
A few notables were missing from the line-up today. Little T, Sean Maher, and Chris C the headliners. So a smaller group. No surprise guests dropping in to wreak havoc.
The pace was slow to tick up during the early backroads. Dan Smith and Matt Wigton looked ready to go a couple of occasions, as did Turner French but there were no big moves to speak of. Mountain Road was more tranquil then usual. Peter Morgan and Hunter P were pushing the pace, and for a small time there was a gap. But Stefano P, Sean Hurley and Noah Black kept it under wraps.
That led to Steve B and Turner French counter attacking, and they took a 20-30 meter gap to the intersection. Then the marshals got involved...
Turner French and Steve B rolled up to the red light 2-3 sec after it had switched from yellow, behind Stefano P was making a late connection and was closer to them than he was to 2 or 3 guys just a few meters off the front of the pack. The gap was borderline to say the least. However Steve B moved under braking, making it appear he was going to hold up (the responsible move) but then veered left again and rolled it with the 2 others. Behind the peleton had plenty of time at the red light to voice their opinion and it was overwhelmingly calling for the DQ of the trio and points against their super-license.
Stefano P would later sit up and rejoin, but that was likely becuz he couldn't keep up and not because he was remorseful.
With the pack now reset for the rest of the night, things quieted down. This gave Mike McG plenty of time to yell at guys for their crap pace-lining ability. Steffen H had a couple of big moves, Hunter P as well. He tried to get off the front going over I84 but the light at 322 was red.
Going into the Turnaround sprint, more drama! 2 cars at the intersection caused it be single file thru the right-hander. Noah Black resorted to the sidewalk for a hundred meters. This resulted in Joe K, Hunter P, and Noah B getting off the front and thru the sprint line ahead of the emotionally deflated chase.
From there it came back together. Hunter P jumped hard again on Atwater. Peter Morgan was able to bridge and they were working a gap but there were multiple cars going multiple directions thru the green light on 322. That gave the pack a chance to catch up. Hunter P jumped again before route 10 but the light was red.
Going into the Greenhouse sprint, Peter Morgan was allowed to roll off the front. He held a gap up to and thru a red light at the top of the hill. He was a bit slow to get going after the light but he had a teammate sitting up for him at the front. The chase got going and from it, Hunter P launched late and just edged Peter out at the line. Ben Bruce picking up 3rd from a ways back.
From there the reminder of the pack finished up the ride together. Stefano P rallied for the last sprint along with Ben Bruce.
