Tuesday the 18th

Rained out!

Heavy winds and the threat of rain meant that no one showed up for the ride tonight...
Well, no one in their right mind.... So that meant Yelle!Snoop and MoMoney were out and ready to rumble.

Tuesday the 11th

The rides are numbered everyone... Make em count.

    Another 25 or so out for the ride tonight. Guido and NinjaGaidan lit the burners early on to drive the pace. Todd H and MoMoney also got involved along with Tall John and YEEHAAW..... Without the usual large crowd to hide behind guys were getting spit out the back early on. A couple of traffic filled corners let most catch back on and the speed slowed a bit coming up to Mountain Rd. Yelle!Snoop jumped off the front when the speed went down but was back in the pack by the corner for Mountain rd.

    Mountain rd started off normally. After MoMoney led up the risers Guido moved back to the front and brought the speed up. After the second set of risers, Hunter P hit the front and pedaled a gap to the field. Along for the ride was Young Suto and Root66Alec. Chris C jumped up a little later on but the break only lasted minute or 2. The ride had to slow down for a broken down car on the right and everyone soft pedaled to the red light.

    Onto Moss Farms where Tall John was the first to go. He got 50 meters up the road and then Hunter P chased him back, bringing up the peleton. Everyone slowed down a bit and that gave Guido, MoMoney and Benje a chance to ride off. Aidan was in pursuit and the rest of the pack was close behind. The foursome hit the corner with a little bit of a gap but it would be erased on the hill up to Marion as Eric M and Yelle!Snoop were setting the pace. Yelle! moved up to the front and kept going onto Marion along with Todd H and Chris C. The speed settled down a bit behind them but by the corner for the industrial park it was going good again thanks to Guido's cattle prod. Another quick trip thru the park and into the corner for West Johnson. Guido led everyone onto the riser there and there were plenty of guys to keep it going. After going thru the intersection, Hunter P jumped hard off the front and was allowed to get a gap for the run-in to Reinhard. Just before the corner, Chris B led a surge along with Danbury Audi, Root66Alec, and Gary from Central Wheel. That group was making up ground as Hunter P started to slide backwards. The peleton was close behind with Eric M and Little T leading the way for the sprint. Chris C jumped from near the front as Little and Eric M jumped from further back with Hunter P on their wheels. All the sprinters went up and thru the chase group pretty quickly giving Little T a straight shot to the corner which he held onto easily over Eric M, Chris C, Hunter P and Jacinto.

     Tempo tempo tempo on Peck lane back to rt10. No attacks. Yelle!Snoop again jumped off the front going onto Route 10 but was back on the hill by Cheshire Park ( site of CheshireCross 2012! Mark your calendars... November 17th ).

     After the hill, Guido again drilled it off the front and was joined by one or 2 others. Red lights stopped the pack and it seemed like the leaders were holding up but after everyone got back up to speed Guido and Aidan were making a run for the border and weren't gonna get caught. Aidan bounced up to take the Stop n Sprint as Guido brought him to the base of the hill with a good cushion. Lights stopped everyone in the center of Cheshire. From there the ride back was decently fast with plenty of guys chipping in. It seems the reduced crowd was the right mix of leaders and followers. For the finale, slow moving cars brought the front 10 guys to a near stop and nullified the last 200 meters. Up the hill however went MoMoney with Hunter P chasing and Chris B a little ways behind. MoMoney clawed and faought like a bleeding dog but was passed by Hunter P in the final meters of the hill.

     It was a bit dark for the ride back. Stay tuned for next week's departure time. Interbike is next week. As such if you would like to help out and contribute to the ride re-cap email the shop at info ( at ) cheshirecycle dot com. If you don't the bylaws of the SG Ride state that Chris C writes the recap.... The usual “eyes in the sky” will be expected to send in their notes after the ride.

Don't forget the Tuesday-ride-send-off \ Sunday-morning-ride-deflowering party after the ride on Oct 2^nd. If you are stuck at work or are afraid of the dark, you don't have to have done the ride that night to show up. Rumor has it a new SG tee shirt will be unveiled because we know a lot of you guys need more tee shirts.

Tuesday the 4th

Short loop kicks in, feels....... Shortish

The threat of rain scared off a lot of riders tonight and there were only about 23 or so, ready to get their vag's a little sandy. Fortunately, the rain stayed away and only the stop n shop crew heading down from Cheshire got wet. After some heated debate it was decided to stick to the plan and go short. Mike McG wanted to go long. Chappy as well. Hacker, Hunter and Nuemotion said short. Crowle was eating waffles.

     The first to get things going on the backroads was MoMoney, who took off and was joined by Hunter P. They rolled a little while but Mike McG brought the peleton up and he stayed up there to set Tempo. MoMoney and Nuemotion were up there as well and Guido got involved heading to Mountain Rd. Late on Mountain, the dangerous trio of Nuemotion, Hacker and Guido got some daylight and were looking to get to the light. Koski put in a long pull to sew it up and the light was red.

     Chris C punched it on Moss Farms, taking along Koski. They had a gap when Hacker jumped up to bridge, taking along MoMoney and Hunter P. Those 5 briefly worked together and Guido got up to the group late and the rest behind were winding up to get there as well. Hacker tried to go again at the top of Moss Farms but was contained by the corner and it was all together ( although strung out ) going into the Chicane. Gregg F led all up the hill onto Marion and there were no real attacks heading to the turn.

      Everyone made it thru the corner safely and once into the industrial park proper, Das Deutschlandlied started playing signaling entry into Guido's territory. He hit the front and made sure the speed stayed high at first. No sitting in!
      There were sure to be some eager beavers on West Johnson and sure nuff, Chris C hit it, taking along a new guy in red (Rory D!?) and Hacker. Mike McG was riding hard to bring them back and there were a few guys on his 6. Once thru the 4-way intersection, things reshuffled a bit but Hacker was next to go off the front along with Nuemotion and MoMoney. Those 3 were making headway as Chris C assumed role of chaser but the speed wasnt that crazy as there were some guys who didnt know the corner onto Reinhard. Gregg F and Dillon P moved up, looking to snooker the sprint as the trio up the road had ended the attack and were soft pedaling to the base of the hill. Hacker would jump from the group to get a headstart as Hunter P jumped from the peleton. Mike McG jumped as well and was soon leading it out as He and Hunter P went thru all others. Hunter was able to get around Mike for the last bit and make it thru the corner first. Everyone came back together on the descent and there was a collective - we're here already?! when the pack started in on Peck Ln. A few guys kept the speed up on the way to Route 10. No attacks. Guido and Tall Dennis were seemed to be looking to get something going but to no avail. Hunter P pulled back Tall Dennis and the Willier rider on the hill by Cheshire Park, which lead to Guido getting a slingshot off the front for the run in to Stop n Shop. A Red light ended that though and it reset for the sprint. Guido jumped straight to the front after the liught and ramped it up quickly. Standing there to benefit was Hacker and Nuemotion. Koski tried to head-up a plan B leadout for those behind which setup Hunter P to jump from a little ways back. Up front, Nuemotion jumped from Hackers wheel and was the only one up there. Hunter P came round at the last moment and stuck it with Mike McG on his wheel. From there, with reduced numbers, the ride back into Hamden was uneventful..... Except for the very last bit when word made its way to the front that Peter K may have been hit by a car going thru the Cook Hill intersection. A bunch of guys ended a bit before Shepard and went back to investigate so the sitsprint ending and hilltop finish was null. Peter K was no where to be found and it turned out he just slid into the curb, onto some grass, and was ok besides a couple of bruises. 

Just a head's up to all. Cheshire Cycle will be hosting a little send-off for the last ride of the year. History tells us that it would be October 9th but the last 5:30 ride has always been a small crowd so we're going to do it on the 2nd with a rain date of the 9th. We'll have beer, pizza and maybe a hazing or 2. A ballot box for new 2013 nicknames will be there cause everyone needs a fresh start once in a while. Feel free to drop off your civilian clothing before the ride if you are normal and do not like socializing in lycra. We'll assume Chappy will be in even tighter clothing then during the ride. Significant others are invited if that's the only way you can justify having beers on a tuesday night.

Tuesday the 28th

The long loop gets a crowded send-off.

    The Ride started off slow today, despite a big crowd. It also started on a downer as Hacker got hit with a flat right away. Mountain Man and Guido jumped off right away on the backroads and were allowed to ride off. The pack slowly chugged along. Tall John, French Casey tried to get things going at first. Neumotion also jumped in and then Eric M. But all in all the opening 4 miles or so were slow.

    Coming onto Mountain Rd, the speed was picking up a bit and the leading 2 had throttled back and were coming back quickly. They would still stay off the front for a little while longer on Mountain. Once the catch was made, the speed went back up nicely all the way to the light. Bike Doctor, The Gopher, IanForth, The Full Nalini, a new guy on a Fondreist, Chris C and a couple of others were responsible for the speed. Near the light IanForth jetted off the front, causing a reaction but it was handled quickly.

     Some excitement happened on Moss Farms when 4 riders went clear right away ( Benje, IanForth, Guido, and Daniel Caridi ? ). Eric M started to bridge the gap, no doubt recognizing the threat. A couple of guys in the pack ( The Full Nalini, Tall John, Nuemotion ) responded but mostly everyone stayed at tempo. Eric M was just about up the the group when they started to slow slightly. Just then the Gopher, Yelle!Snoop, Nuemotion, Hunter P and the Bike Doctor charged off the front, leading the whole pack back up to the group single file. Some traffic in the corner kept the peleton at bay as the leaders and the chasers sorted out who would charge up the hill to Marion. Chric C and Joe K came up from the field and led all thru the corner. They would stay dangling off the front for a little while. Bike Doctor and Nuemotion, Little T and Hunter P led the rest up and it was all together heading by the industrial park. The next one to animate was Yelle!Snoop as he: A) nearly chopped off the sausage and B) wound it up for the run-in to the light, stretching things out behind him. As the single file front hit came up to the light, it was green. The front went thru as it was going yellow and someone mid way back slammed on the brakes, causing the back half to stop for the red. Probably just as well, seeing as how it would have been pretty blatant for the sizable group. Up front Todd H commanded the front to wait and so the front waited. Once the peleton was back on, Mike McG moved up and got things going along with Steve Grey, Tall John & Tall Dennis. From there the pace stayed decent on Mount Vernon. An effort by Aidan and Chris C nearly broke a small group free ( Aidan, Chris, Guido, Hunter P ) but instead it just served to keep the pace high going into the false flat. Nuemotion and Stevesy got things going up the incline and midway thru, Quadzilla jumped hard on the left, taking along Hunter P. He hammered out a 75 yard gap for the 2 of them but the pack behind responded at the top and reeled them in soon after. CXC Chris (?) was there up front after the reconnect along with Aidan, Mike McG, the Gopher and Nuemotion. From there the ride settled down a bit as everyone was content to follow Aidan for half a kilo.

     On the lead-in to the corner, IanForth moved up along with Steve Grey, French Casey a couple of others. Chris C jumped across the gap and legitimized it. Others were quick to respond and cover up holes but the very front of the ride was well up the road on the single-file line of riders going thru the corner. IanForth, after a good lead out from French Casey was all-in and soon rode off solo toward the hill. Behind, the pace was steady and there were a lot of riders up front looking to have a go for this last sprint on the year. IanForth would get caught just on West St as a huge group of guys moved thru the corner and started winding it up for the sprint. Steve Grey stayed well up there as the favorites were 5-7 bikes back. After some last hard pulls from Chris C, Yelle!Snoop, the Bike Doctor ( on a CX bike YEEEEAAAAAA! ) and Tall John...... Little T and Hunter P jumped for the sprint... Problem is that Stevesy was still up there and had jumped a several seconds earlier, not quite sprinting but flying none-the-less. It went down to the wire with Little T and Grey with Grey getting the prize on ballsy points. Hunter P, Chris B and Jacinto close behind in that order.

     On the backside, the sprinters seemed ready to roll on but red lights kept that from happening. Hacker was able to rejoin the ride. Things settled down for a while and the next guys off the front were all the way up onto Atwater St when The Gopher, Dillon P, IanForth, and a new set of calf-muscles in a Stage 1 kit rolled off the front. Yelle!Snoop also joined up and that group was allowed to roll but once the hill by the overpass bit in, the group split up just in time to be caught by the pack, led by Hacker, Danny C and Young Suto. Peleton agrupado for the rest of the way to the light on 322, over the light, onto Peck lane, past Peck ln, up to Route 10, onto Route 10, up the hill so on and so forth. Tall John and Hacker were trying to pull off gaps at a couple of different points but never made it far. A red light at the top of the hill slowed everyone down and offered a reset. Another red light little later on as well. Meanwhile, somehow, Hacker had kept on his onslaught and was off the front and making green lights the whole way. For the Stop n Shop sprint point ( to the light at the top the hill just before the plaza ) it was Guido, Benje and a couple of others who paved the way for Mike McG and then Little T, who was able to squeeze past another crowded run-in and get it over the likes of Yelle!Snoop, Dillon P, Chris B, CXC Chris (?) and a couple of others.
       Besides Hacker off the front of course, but seeing as how he re-joined after his flat, doesn't count, depending on who you talk to. 

     Going thru Cheshire, IanForth tired to snooker the group and jetted off. Eric M, Hunter P and Bike Doctor were there to match. Red lights would kill that effort though. From there it was uneventful heading back into Hamden. For the finale ( not even gonna mention all the late-to-the-party pack fill who decides to show up for the last 2k ) the picture perfect trio of Little T, Mike McG, and Eric M fought for the sit-sprint finish with T getting it by half a foot length. Up the hill went the usual guys who like to finish the ride off proper road race style.. On a hill, up to the top, full sprinting allowed. Hunter P got a head start and held it over Chris B, Mountain Man, Tall Dennis, Dillon P, C-Dale Rick and one or 2 others.

Tuesday the 21st

The Bouncy Castle equivalent of bike rides....

     The long loop hangs on with another week of fun as the usuals ( Guido, Chris C, Ratta, Hunter P, Hacker ) lead the way, some segments are dominated by others ( Todd H, Tall John ) and some new faces ( Bike Doctor, Calfee, Ag2R kit... yuck ) pop up to make the ride interesting.

      As soon as Professor Crowle was done handing out graded papers ( hope you all had a chance to review his rules! ) the ride took off.

     Right off route 10, Guido, Hacker and Hunter P rode off the front and quickly took a gap. Soon after, Ag2R Igor, visiting from NY, rode across the gap as the leaders paused slightly to gain the extra pony. The peleton slowly awakened and started to sort out how it would handle the threat. Some traffic stacked up on the Mount Sanford corner caused Guido to lose contact with Hacker and Hunter P but soon after would re-join with Igor, keeping the 4some together for the run-in to Mountain Road. Behind the chase was full on and a good sized group of strong guys had broken off the front going the thru the small risers and corners. By the turn onto Mountain, the chase group, led by Yalle!Snoop, Ciocci, Jacinto and a new guy in a Bike Doctor kit were coming up fast. The connection was made on the initial risers of Mountain. The rest of the peleton was within 50-60 meters but still had to work hard to keep the lead group, now with most of the reliable horsepower, from riding away into the sunset. The "D-bag merit badge" for the night goes to the gentleman who yelled at Timex Cassie to close a gap when he couldn't... Man up friend! ( and give Giordana or Hincapie clothing a try ). Another lesson learned in the classroom as it chased the leaders was the unreliability of fancy carbon h2O cages. Dillon P's bottle busted free and exploded on everyone.

     Up front, The lead group of 10 took a moment to recollect on the risers. Yelle!Snoop, Guido, Jacinto, and Hunter P tried to get things going smoothly up front. A car pulling too far out of Cornwall Ave spooked everyone and broke into the team work, giving the peleton a chance to pull closer. Hunter P and Tall John tried a last moment jump to stay clear before the light and before the peleton caught up but the light was red and it was all back together again.

     Hacker jumped on Moss Farms, no surprises there. He made it thru the light smooth enough so that no one was able to join him so it was going to be a long shot. An accident was nearly averted when The Bike Doctor went straight instead of onto Moss Farms, nearly crashing into Gregg F. ( Rule # ??? everyone!.... Don't make head-master repeat himself. ). Once onto Moss Farms, Yelle!Snoop jumped hard, taking Guido along. Hunter P bridged up, taking along Ratta and a couple of others and then the whole rest of the pack. As the Chicane loomed, Hacker was coming back. Ratta gets the “Safety First” merit badge this week by calling out traffic in the four-way intersection before everyone barreled thru, into a car that was running the stop sign.

      The speed slowed way down up the hill and onto Marion as everyone was needing to reset the ol blood pumpers. Yelle!Snoop, Todd H, French Casey, a older gent in black, Hunter P, a squirrelly rider in a US Army kit and Larry M got thing going again going past the Industrial Park. The weekly attempt to make the light was from Keltic O'shea, Chris C, Ratta and Yelle!Snoop but it was red.

      The initial speed on Mount Vernon was anemic. Super slow. A couple of usual sticklers-for-speed were resting up for a planned attack on the turnaround ( we'll hear more about them later ). The pace slowly went up before the false flat, but went straight back down again once there, making for some clumsy uphill group etiquette. That gave a chance for small group led by Gregg F to break clear but that didnt last too long as a few guys started it up again on the downhill rollers. Tall John was up there a lot, trying to break free. Chris C then moved up later on toward the turnaround. Heading up to the corner, Hacker attacked, taking along Guido. Also attentive and preset were Igor and Yelle!Snoop. That made for a foursome with a gap racing to West St. Behind, the peleton seemed content to peg the gap at 12 seconds and slowly pull it back on Welch. In the break, Yelle!Snoop had some drivetrain issues, nearly bringing him to stop. Then Igor put in a “this-is-the-end-of-the-ride-right” type pull, blowing up in the process. That left just the Guido and Hacker up front to execute the plan for world domination. Behind the peleton was closing in thanks to efforts from the guy on the Calfee, Chris C, The Bike Doctor, Todd H, Ratta, Tall Dennis, Hunter P and even Timex Cassie got involved. Igor also bravely rolled back into rotation once he was caught.

      Guido pulled hard once more for Hacker and left him at the base of the hill with a decent gap of 65 meters. On the hill, Little T, who is back to his out-of-the-saddle, bending-chainrings self jumped up and away. Hunter P jumped from the front and was on him in a moment and Chris B was also close behind. Little T settled in on West St for the chase just as Chris B decided to go all-in. Chris quickly got a small gap and with Hunter P sitting on Little T's wheel, unwilling to chase down the Cheshire Cycle Racer, Chris was allowed to go free. He ended up catching Hacker and he was able to put in a bit a sprint to go up and thru to get the sprint point. Kudos to Chris B, who is always up there trying to get it but falls short to the sprinters most of the time.

      On the backside, Hunter P came up with the Bike Doctor but the 3 would be held up by lights. Once over the highway, Little T unleashed a solid attack, taking along the C-Dale rider in teal. Hunter P gave chase and was barely keeping it close as it was full speed up hill for a while until a red light stopped Little T.

      Heading onto Atwater St, A new guy in a US National Tri Team kit, Teal guy in Castelli, Mountain Man and Hunter P got things going with the peleton responding. Ciocci and Igor also as the ride went under the overpass. Guido took the reigns after the slight hill there. That was enough to tear a small gap in the field with about 6 guys up front but light was red going over 322, making it compacto again.

       Over the light, Igor struck first with Tall John. Mountain Man and Ratta upped the pace and it was back together. Ratta then rolled off alone up the fisrt part of Peck and was soon joined by Bike Doctor, Tall Dennis & Ciocci. Again, Mountain Man sewed up it behind that group. Hacker then rolled thru with Guido and Hunter P. Behind, guys were scrambling both ways as the hill took its toll. Yelle!SNoop would dig hard on the front with Hunter P, Todd H, Igor and Ratta. That group had a small gap but once onto Route 10 it was pretty much all together. Todd H took a monster pull the whole way up the hill by Cheshire Park, keeping the speed high. Tall John eventually took over and rolled off the front as everyone else seemed ok to wait for the sprint. Hacker jumped on his wheel for a free ride but a red light stopped that from happening.

       For the Stop n Shop sprint, once everyone got going from zero, Jacinto pulled hard for a bit, Guido and the Full Nalini as well. A couple of new faces popped up in the top 10 for the first time on the night. This one was all Little T though as he was pretty much unchallenged as he jumped from 5 bikes back and took it easily.

      The ride thru Cheshire was interesting as there were a couple of red lights and stacked cars the pack had a to get thru. Going by the McDonald, there was a big gap to a good sized group up the way that had been more fortunate with traffic. Ratta put in a good pull to bring that back and from there it was status quo going back into Hamden. Good job ladies as Timex Cassie and the Velo Sport girl kept a solid place within the pack all the way back.

      For the finale, Guido buried himself 6 feet under with a good pull in the last kilo. A bunch of guys cued up behind him but there were only a couple who could really capitalize on it. Little T, Chris B, Yelle!Snoop and 1 or 2 others. Little T was able to pedal thru to the end.

      Up the hill went Chris B with a gap on Hunter P and Mountain Man that he was able to hold onto all the way to top. Making it 2 on the night for Butler.

Good ride guys. All newbies are expected to turn in their make-up papers before next weeks ride.

     As for the long loop and daylight, the New Haveners have right of way here as they don’t have the bike path to ride back on ( well actually they do.... They just like to steer clear of the nightly beer-crawl rides that the single speeders love ). They are good with one more week of long loop so long as the weather is decent.

Tuesday the 14th

Make sure your Kenisio tape is on & looking tight.... Got to impress the lady Yalies!

It was a smaller then usual group tonight and a couple of the heavy hitters weren't around. Any thought of this being the yearly ice cream social ride was erased when Dillon P hit the front soon after turning off route 10 and taking along Bike Shop Bob, MoMoney and a couple of others with him.

    The pace stayed crisp from then on out. A small group was pushing for a gap heading to Mountain rd but lots of traffic stopped the ride for a couple of seconds and reset the peleton for the way down mountain. Jelle!Snoop was spied going in the opposite direction on Mountain so apparently he's gotten too good for the SG ride. We'll miss his Belgian flair for the dramatic. The ride toward the lights was uneventful with the quintet of Mike McG, Bubble Boys, Hacker, Ciocci and Larry M doing the most of the work.

     Moss Farms started out the same as always. Fast to slow and then faster again. Toward the end a good sized group was led off the front, captained by Hacker, Pescatore, and Ciocci. It was a group of about 12 heading to the Chicane so there was an appropriate response from the pack, although it was take a little while once onto Marion for the peleton to fully reconnect. Chris C attacked up the hill, taking along Hunter P who kept the pace high once onto Marion. That split off a small group along with Hacker, Larry M and MoMoney. That group couldn’t start work more then a 20 meters or so gap and it was all together again going by the industrial park and up to route 322.

      The ride got a another glorious green light over 322 and that kept things fast toward Mount Vernon Rd. Chris C and Special Ed rode off the front and had a 50 meter gap getting onto Mount Vernon. That was enough to sound some alarm bells. After a minute, when it became obvious that the 2 would stay up there for a bit, Hacker, Mike McG and a rider in a blue\green Castelli kit were the first to jump off in pursuit. Benje was next but got stuck in no man's land. The gaps behind were starting to open as the front of the pack lost cohesion. Chris B, Larry M, Hunter P and Bike Shop Bob would successfully bring the 4 guys up back and sew things up in time for the false flat section. After a reshuffling of the cards up front, leadership changed hands to anyone not involved in the break\chase.

      After the false flat, another good sized group was riding off the front but that didnt last very long. Dillon P used the slow-down to slingshot off the front but he was brought back soon after the shooting range. Turning onto Welch, Larry M, Hacker & MoMoney had a small gap that they clung to till about halfway down Welch. The front the pack ( Ciocci, A rider in a Club BMC jersey, Special Ed and Hunter P ) kept tempo high and slowed reeled the trio in. Hunter P jumped off the front as soon as the break was caught. He was allowed to get gap but by the hill was on his way to being brought back. Chris B was the next to jump, starting the hill in a sprint. He made it thru the corner first, but only with a slim gap over Ciocci and Hacker. Right behind, a decent sized group was there in pursuit. Chris B dug in for the long haul to the sprint and nearly clawed his way to it. Jacinto popped out of the group to get the sprint over Chris B, getting a much needed sprint win that will no doubt go a long way in his contract talks for next year..... Oh wait.... Nevermind.... It's Jacinto.

      The whole peleton consolidated for the right down West St and not too much happened on the descent. A couple of guys ( Larry M, Club BMC, Todd H ? ) rolled free heading to the corner and they drilled it hard enough to get a gap that they kept and added on during Atwater St. The chase slowing ramped up behind and just Larry M and BMC were hanging on by the highway overpass. Hunter P jumped on the little rise there, taking along Hacker, Ciocci and MoMoney Those 4 had a gap but couldn't quite get away in time for the light. Red light on 322 gave another chance for everyone reset.

     The ride up Peck was uneventful. On the very last tough section Chris C attacked, taking a small group with him ( Hacker, Ciocci, MoMoney, Hunter P ). That break had a gap but again, nothing that lasted too long as there wasn't enough hard terrain to give them the chance to break the will of the peleton behind. That same core group plus a Benje, BikeShopBob, Larry M and Club BMC led the way initially up route 10 but a red light at the top of the hill brought another reset. From there everyone got ready for the run in to Stop n Shop.

     Tall John, Larry M and the usuals were up front for the leadout, leaving Benje, Dillon P, Hunter P and Mike McG in the best place to kick. Dillon P jumped first but Mike had the longest sprint was able to cruise to the top alone. No one got away in town, although Larry M tried to drill it but red lights foiled that. Heading up to the high school, the “wide load” peleton was met head-on by a police cruiser who stopped all and reminded the ride about proper 2 abreast rules. It was a brief visit and the concern is much appreciated by the SG participants and really all who pedal on Cheshire's public roads.

      Heeding the admonishment, however, lasted all of about 5 blocks and once past the cluster of lights and shopping centers, it was back to owning the road. The usual suspects + Young Suto pushed the pace back into Hamden and once again it was a large group heading into the finale. At the last moment, it was whittled down to Hacker and Mike McG. From there it was a toss up too close to call. Up the hill, MoMoney switched the lever to “full throttle” and then broke it off, leaving him to implode halfway up. Hunter P had only to pop out and sprint the last half to stay away from Chris B, who was charging hard but came up short.

Tuesday the 7th

Forget the New England Road Race Championships... Long Live the Sleeping Giant Ride!

Mello mood at the parking lot for tonight’s ride. Maybe there was some residual fatigue from the Litchfield Hills century. Good to see Luekens and French (bulldog) Casey. Aaaaaaaand away we go. Guido made no attempt to hide his intention to start the ride out quickly once off route 10. He rolled off the front and Benje went up as well. The 2 didn't work together ( always work together kids ) though and behind the speed crept up till it was all back together. Divine Electric and Hacker were up there with Larry M and a couple of new faces. The speed stayed high till Mountain Rd where French Casey led things off followed by Chris C, Hacker and Ciocci. Some gaps were allowed to open up to teammates pushing off the off front. Credit Divine E with keeping things together till the second set of risers. Hunter P and Guido then hit the front and strung things out single file for a little bit. Gaps were starting to appear and Guido was at the front pushing it when a car coming onto Mountain rd slowed everyone down. When it got going again, Chris C could be heard proclaiming “I love you!”. Whether that was to Nuemotion for warning Guido about the car or for someone else, it will make a nice addition to the official Chris Crowle soundboard.

     Onto Moss Farms where it was super fast right away thanks to Guido, Ciocci, Jacinto and a couple of others. Heading into the chicane though it was bunched up. Larry M and MoMoney drove the pace to the corner of Marion, taking along Guido and Tri Doug. Again, Divine E was there to bring up the rest. After the corner Hunter P pressed on, getting a gap that lasted till the turn for the industrial park. Everyone stayed together till the light despite a couple of guys going hard to perhaps get a gap.

      The light on 322 was green so everyone sailed thru, putting the hurt on any stragglers who would normally play catch up. The speed to Mount Vernon stayed high and no one got off the front. Once on Mount Vernon a small group started to put the hurt on. Steve Grey, Chris C, Ciocci, Mike McG, Todd H and Joe K were nearly getting a gap but Eric M and Divine brought it back. Shortly after that Guido took advantage of the regrouping and sped off at the same time as Hacker. MoMoney dug in and bridged the gap as well, making it 3 up the road heading into to the false flat. Behind, the group was cautiously allowing the break room to roam. The trio dangled out in front for a while, 40 yards or so. Going by the firing range, it got going again and it all came back in time to set up for the turnaround.

       Going down Welch, no one really took the horns, and instead, it just stayed reasonably fast with guys setting up for any potential run in to the sprint. At the hill Ciocci, Chris C and Steve Gray all seemed to jump at the same time. Mike McG, Eric M, Joe K and Hunter P were close behind. A car in the corner forced another bottle neck, but once thru, Ciocci, and Chris C hit the gas and the group of 5 gapped the rest quickly. Mike McG moved up to finish out the lead-out and Hunter P jumped first from a couple of wheels back and was able to stay in front of Eric M, who was the only other one to make a sprint.

      Soon after that, Nuemotion and Chris B made it thru a red light in front of the rest. Those two would fight thru the descent down the rest of West St. They made a good go of it but would be caught a few hundred meters before 322.

       Once thru the light, Hacker jumped off the line in a sprint, no doubt to work on his cyclocross starts for the upcoming season.

        No one was game for the long ball thogh so he slowly got back into the group as the peleton chugged up Peck lane. Once onto Route 10 it was at first a blitz with a Devil's Gear rider, Danbury Audi, Todd H, Eric M, Chris C, Tall Dennis and Chappy! Drilling it up the hill. It settled down a bit but then quickly ramped up again for the sprint as lots of guys were moving up front to set tempo. Everyone wanted to lend a hand ( if you can't beat em, join em )... Danbury Audi, Tall John, Mike McG, Guido, Tri Doug, Chris B, Benje and a couple of others. Hacker slipped thru the right side at the same time as Eric M charged up the left but couldnt hold on the whole way to the top. Little T nearly came around Eric M as he sat-sprint.... sitted-sprinted...seated-sprint..... whatever. Impressive.

     The trip back into Hamden was uneventful. There was a little squirreliness but everyone got along. For the end there was again a good sized crowd up front as Eric M rolled thru the very last ahead of Nuemotion and a couple of other guys who were right there. Chris B got a bit of a jump on the hill but was tracked down by Hunter P, who got to the top first. MoMoney also was there for 3rd, having not gotten enough of a workout in.