Tuesday the 18th

Rain!

Tuesday the 11th

The ride at the end of the Rainbow....

    The weather looked ominous but it didnt stop a hardy crew of about 25 from hitting the soaked tarmac. The pace out of the lot was pretty quick as everyone wanted to get it started to take the minds off of the rain. Thank fully the pace wasnt too fast for Guido and The New Tommy D to catch on. They were a little late and had to use the length of Route 10 plus a little to catch up with the group. Up front, the ride was quickly made fast by Hunter P and Chris C. Those 2 plus Tall John would trade attacks/surges for the opening 20 minutes or so. Gaps, when they happened were brief, never more than 30-50 meters. Guys like Todd H, The Full Nalini, Pescatore, Rusty, Little T, Ciocci, and maybe one or 2 more were up there, keeping the pace high behind the guys who thought they could escape.
     The ride moved onto Moss Farms where Chris C kept the pace high and when Learner's Permit Tommy moved up and started to pitch in, it was enough to split a group off the front along with Ciocci and Pescatore and Special Ed?. That would be brought back a little before the Chicane and the next one to go was Hunter P who took off halfway up the hill He was allowed to go up the road for a bit but was reeled in as the ride was heading over the overpass. 
    Once the ride was past the light on 322, Guido moved up and pushed the Mount Vernon intro pace along with Special Ed. Hunter P took off again after the left and no one went with him. He would get maybe 8 meters up the road and held it for a little while. Tommy D, Guido and Chris C were the ones to do most of the chasing and it was all together as the ride came up to the false flat section. Little T and Hunter P led the group up thru that section and after the false flat, Rory D found himself alone in the headwind. He put his head down and rode out a gap as the rest of the pack seemed to be re-grouping. Central Wheel Paul soon jumped up and bridged to his teammate, making it 2 up the road. That got things going with quick responses from Ciocci, Pescatore, Chris C and others. It would come back together 500 meters later and when it did, Special Ed, Chris C, and Hunter P jumped off the front. They were joined by Rusty and the group of four started to work on a gap as the turn loomed ahead. The field wouldn't take it lying down and it was brought back to a couple of seconds as everyone when thru the corner. Hunter P kept on the gas and led all the length of Welch with Ciocci the only other one touching the wind. Hunter P opened it up on the hill but was it was soon Chris B, Chris C and Little T getting up front and making their way on West St. Chris B would end up leading out Little T straight into backed up traffic which minimized the sprinting action. Even tho there were plenty of riders cued up behind Chris B and Little T, it was easily taken by Alessio.
     There were a few guys up there ready to keep the pressure on and sure enough Chris C and Rory D got a good hand and made it thru a light that was turning. It stopped the field aaaaaand put the group in contact with an irate driver who didnt like having to watch out for the pack as we all went over the highway. Plenty of car horns were sounded. The riders in the pack responded like any self-respecting SG rider would.... By more disrespectful riding! It was soon a distant memory and everyone resumed chasing the leaders down. Hunter P, Tommy D , Chris B, all drilling it down the hill and on to Atwater St. The pace was enough to split the group and that situation was only exaggerated by Chris B and Hunter P hitting it hard as the ride came up to 322 again. Hunter P got a gap on the hill by the underpass and he made it up to the 2 leaders just in time to be stopped by the red light on 322, where both groups of the peleton came back together.
     French Casey got things going as the ride got to Peck lane, more drilling it by Chris C and Hunter P split a group of 4 off the front ( HutnerP, Chris C, The Full Nalini and Tommy D). That made for a dangerous group up the road and the field responded as such. Nearing the top of the false flat on Peck, wit the lead group shedding a rider or 2, the peleton caught back on. From there it was status quo getting back onto Route 10 and heading up to the sprint. Guido and Chris B made no attempt to hide their solid leadouts and it let Little T get another as he went unchallenged for the sprint point there.
     On the backside of the sprint effort, Todd H hit the front to get the jump on the group as the deadly lights of Cheshire came up next. As per usual, cars and lights kept the action sedate and everyone rolled thru together. There were no surprised heading back into Hamden. For the finale, more strong riding up front from Chris B broke off a little gap for a couple of guys. It looked like Nuemotion and The Full Nalini would run away with it but the wind left the sails just as quick as it came.... That gave a chance for Little T to ride up thru plenty of riders and use the momentum to get to the final meters first.
    Up The hill, Little T went for the unheard of "Baker's Dozen" and tried to get all the prizes on the night. Hunter P was able to out kick him up the hill in front of Tall Dennis and Chris B.

Tuesday the 4th

 Garmin Sharp! What the wha?

It's not everyday a "pro" shows up to the SG ride. Before everyone starts poppin stiffys, let's keep in mind that was a 16 yr old Cat 3 (?!) on the Slipstream DEVO team. Still, it was pretty cool to have CT's Tom Dudzik out on the ride tonight. As one would expect, he was watched like a hawk, but still managed to mix it up off the front a bit and he ended up riding off the front late in the game.
     But back to the start, there was a pretty good crowd out tonight to get revenge on the bad weather of last week. It started out quick enough, with a group early on trying to get a gap before the crap road section. There was some more aggression showed on the early sections of Mountain Rd with Little T, Guido, Sasha from CCB, Timmy Hip, Pescatore, and maybe a couple of others getting an early gap. Mike McG was mostly responsible for shoring up the 40 meter gap soon after. From there it was all together. Hunter P tried to sneak off before the light but it was red, so all together for the jump onto Moss Farms.
    Another group started to ride off the front early on, Dillon P, Danbury Audi, The Full Nalini, Rusty, Thomaas B and a couple of others, it was short lived though as the pace ramped up behind with Tommy D, The CCB Toss-up, Hacker and others coming up quick. No one was really punching it when it counted, so it was all together going into the chicane and up to Marion. Once again, a small group would soon after split from the front as the ride got to the short loop turnaround. This time it was Gregg F and Dillon P covering the gap. Hunter P again tried to get something going off the front but with no takers, had to settle for rolling up to the red light alone.
    The pace stayed decent on Mount Vernon. There was some surges, some interesting gaps, some weaknesses shown in the peleton... The pace was disrupted by further construction on the false flat, and Mike McG wisely brought the ride to a more neutral pace to get thru the dangerous section. After that it all together for the last miles into the headwind. Hacker tried to sneak off a little ways before the corner. Hunter P was along for the ride and despite the 2 trying to get a gap, there was no way that was going to be allowed by the front of the field. Guido, Mike McG, The Full Nalini, A couple of Central Wheel guys etc, were mostly responsible for the brief chase.
    Hacker kept up the assualt as everyone turned onto Welch, and he had a couple of guys there to try to convince to work at the long ball. The gap was never that much though as the peleton slowly ramped up the speed and ticked off the final 350 meters to the corner pretty quickly. Hacker went thru the corner first with CCB Sasha and maybe one other guy, but by that point everyone else who had worked to keep up the gap was checking out. From the field LIttle T jumped hard at the base of the hill on Welch, and then Hunter P. Those 2 had some traffic to get around, and soon it was just Little T and Sasha chasing down the short gap remaining to Hacker. Hacker tried to jump on once they came by but couldnt really make the latch. Little T has little problem jumping up from there to get the sprint. Those 3 kept up the attack on the backside, and a group of 7 or 8 had come together after the sprint hill and were just joining them when a light coming up to the I84 interchange stopped the group, or else it would have been tough to chase them down. It's hard the get the traffic light dice right thru this section though. So everyone was allowed to jump back on, gruppo compacto and with the tail wind, most were able to sit in and catch their breath.
     The ride back into Cheshire was more of the same. Tommy D, Mike McG, and one other (Rusty?) broke off a little gap near the top of the riser on Peck Ln, but it was short lived. Once the peleton got onto Route 10 and up the first hill, it started getting a little more interesting up front... Sad to say it was mostly due to lights, and not hard riding. It started with Rory D getting under a changing light alone right after the hill by Cheshire Park. He kept up the solid pace, looking to get up the road. Then, a small group of about 6 or 7, motivated by Hacker, Jacinto, Guido and backed up by Pescatore, Gary from Central wheel (otherwise known as the bad guy shape shifting cop from Terminator) and Mountain Man slipped under the next light as it was changing. The rest of the field stopped. Once it got going, there was some initial quick response to try to bring it back the 8 or so up the road, but it was not going to happen. Up in the very front, Rory D was fighting tooth and nail to get to the stop n sprint point but Hacker got to him halfway up the hill and took it from there. Not satisfied with that, he easily convinced the young Garmin gun to keep up the onslaught, along with Jacinto and Thomaas B. With a couple of lights in their favor, they were gone in moments, not to be seen again. Hacker and Garmin Tommy would shed the others en route to finishing the ride off the front.
    Behind, the peleton was trying to sort out who would perhaps form a chase group and there was plenty of guys willing to drill it thru the center of Cheshire, but subsequent red lights brought the field together, that's the way it would stay for the rest of the ride. There was the usual jockeying for position in the final k, and a few guys went hard for the end like they normally do. But, the marbles were being takin by the guys up the road.

Good ride everyone.

Tuesday the 28th

Rainy Tuesday... Feels like Monday... Maybe people didnt get the memo.

   The rain was on and mostly going off but it was enough to keep almost all the riders away from Sleeping Giant today. There were some that were not scared off by a little H2o. Mike McG, Mountain Man, Dillon P, The Full Nalini, a new guy on a Merida, French Casey, Hunter P, Rondo and a Yalie who we've seen before ( Adam T? ). Aidan and Dan-the-careening-Caridi from the Aetna / CCAP  team also done show'd up due to the 'rent race being cancelled. Because everyone is programmed to hard on tuesday, the ride was pretty quick from the get-go. A couple of guys checked out before the end of Moss Farms due to the small group/hard pace. Caridi, Aidan, Mike McG, and Hunter P mostly were responsible for the nail driving. There were a couple of moves that looked like they may stick. The Full Nalini did his fair share of chasing and herding the cats, chasing down a lot of aetna+1 other moves off the front.
    Mike McG once again pulled hard up the false flat on Mount Vernon, followed up by Aidan for half the distance to the turn around. Everyone stayed together on Welch until Aidan jumped at the base of the hill. Hunter P was the only one to go with him and he got a great lead-out from the "General" to get the sprint. Everyone sat-up on the backside to let the stragglers catch back on. From there it was status quo. Hunter P jumped hard again going under 84 on Atwater St, Mike McG and Aidan eventually responded and chased with the Full Nalini bringing up the rest of the remaining guys. Everyone rolled thru the light over 322 together but the motivation was still there by the uphill drag to the top of Peck ln. Aidan lit the match there and split the field with a strong pull. It would have been for good but once onto Route 10, everyone decided to spin back into Hamden and that there is how she ended.

Tuesday the 21st

The rain held off!

     Southerly winds kept the rain up north but didn't help get the ride get going any faster than normal. Nothing really happened for the opening 20 minutes tonight. The pace was decent but all-together a bit boring as everyone seemed to be taking their time adjusting to the heat. Better get used to it, we're stuck with it for a while y'all.
    Fast forward through the backroads... The only notable was Larry M taking a flyer that he held for most of the way to Mountain Rd. No one seemed to be in much of a hurry to catch and he was rolling with the punches and not really caring to stay away much either. The trip down Mountain was quick and there was no one, 2 or even 3 specific riders going above or beyond.
   Onto Moss Farms where a small group ( Dillon P, Dana R, Nuemotion, Thomaas B, Timmy Hip, The Sernyak, and maybe one or 2 others) was allowed to ride off the front. Again, the response was lethargic and slow. The lead group had broken down to just Nuemotion and Timmy Hip by the hill up to Marion. Just as Nuemotion was jumping off the front of that, going thru the corner alone, Hunter P jumped hard off the front of the field and joined up with him soon after, making for the first "maybe-we-should-take-this-seriously" break of the day. Even still, the response was a bit slow and the 2 leaders quickly got a gap of about 50-60 meters.
    Approaching the corner for the short loop, as the field was bearing down, the 2 leaders blew by a slow moving tractor and collected the dickwad move of the night award. Unbeknownst to them, the field was close behind and naturally, had more trouble getting thru the 3 feet between said farming device and the yellow center lines. It allowed for a little more life to the break and an opportunity for opportunistic bridge attempts. Young Suto and Special Ed were up to the task and quickly made their way up. It soon became just Special Ed, being chased by Hunter P and Young Suto, but it was all for naught as the light at 322 was red.
    Once onto Mount Vernon, the action subsided again and it was status quo up-till about 500 meters before the false flat section. There is where Mike McG turned up the heat. Mike still puts the booties in the seats as it were as plenty of guys took note and bought tickets to the show. It became Mike McG, Chris C, the new guy on the Red Specialized ( for the love of a saddle-sore-free-taint, someone please get a name on that guy - Rusty Dave! thx), Hunter P and maybe 2 more charging up the false flat. That surge turned into a decent looking break by Chris C, Mike McG and Joe K, who shuffle-stepped his way into the move. That was allowed some room as Cheshire Cycle riders came up and rode some defense. It took some strong jumps from a new Central Wheel rider, The Full Nalini and Timmy Hip to start the process of regrouping. That turned into a brief exodus off the front by Jordan Lynn and Special Ed but they must not have felt good about the cards they were holding as they throttled back well before the turn onto Welch.
    Gruppo Compacto heading toward the turnaround and boy-oh-boy was it slow. That gave plenty of guys a chance to jump when Chris C, Little T, Larry M and Jacinto took off toward the corner. Their prize for getting there first was a solid smack in the face by the headwind now popping a stiffy. That let even more guys get on board for a run to the sprint line. But the cream always rises to the top folks. It soon become a 3 horse race ( Little T, Jacinto, and Joe K ) with Little T easily taking it after Jacinto was stuck in the front too soon, too far out. Behind, Larry M got stuck in no-mans land and The Full Nalini led the peleton over the crest of the hill.
   Joe K kept up the assault on the backside and got a light in his favor initially, but then was slowed by a red light, but then jumped up off the front anyway and then got another light in his favor. He rolled off the front, but in proper gentlemanly style, didn't really hit it until after the turn onto Atwater St. Once he did, he was gone out of sight. A few riders started up the pace behind. Young Suto, New specialized guy Rusty Joe, Pescatore, Thomaas B etc. Hunter P jumped hard off up the front as the ride went underneath the overpass and was allowed to go free. He would come up to Joe K waiting at the red light on 322 just as it was turning green. Behind the field was starting to chase back and this is where it gets interesting.
   There was a group of about 8 or 9 with a slight gap who pushed it at the last moment when it was apparent the light was green. That surge was enough to create a gap to the peleton that forced them ( rightly so ) to stop at the light which was, by now, red. Did a couple guys go thru a red light? Yep. Were they following guys who went under a yellow light? Yep. This group was made up of Both elder and young Suto, A new yalie, Dillon P, Mountain Man, Thomaas B, The Sernyak, Central Wheel, The Full Nalini, New guy on a Calfee, and maybe one or 2 others. When they caught up to Joe K and Hunter P it completed the group that would stay away for the rest of the ride.
    For the remainder of the night, up front, the Stop n Shop sprint was contested by Dillon P and Young Suto with the Youngster clawing a bit longer at the pedals to get there first for a well deserved win. During the run-in to Hamden, the shenanigans started with Hunter P and Young Suto trying to break the field up with The Full Nalini and Central Wheel sewing things back up in time for the sit n sprint. Young Suto opened that up, with The Full Nalini giving chase. Hunter P rolled thru though and got to the corner first. Up the hill went only a couple from the break, with Mountain Man gettin to the top first with little problem.

Tuesday the 14th

Who needs a parking lot crit when we can mix it up with.... Cars!

A slightly smallish field for the night. New Yalie faces ( girls and boys ) which was nice as it was thought that once done with school for the year, they all would have something much better to do with their time then ride fast in a dangerous group of guys who were either:
A)  Looking to kill time before the next race…. Or
B) Riding like this IS the race. 


    No one was that surprised when Chris ( every ride is a race! ) C scampered off right off route 10. Guido was the next to go, taking Hunter P with him. Then Timmy the Hipster rode across along with John Pescatore and a Yalie ( name? ). Initially it wasn’t smooth sailing for the group but after a couple of corners things were starting to click. Behind, it took a little while but soon the response to the threat up the road was real. Nuemotion, Mike McG and Jacinto were all up there fighting to cover the gap. Tall John and Todd H were up there as well. By the corner onto Mountain Rd, it was all back together again. Little T, Hunter P, Chris C and Timmy Hip would push the pace up mountain rd for a bit but it was all together for the long run to the light.
    There was some stacked up traffic on the main road after the light, making for some awkwardness. The front 15 guys rolled thru easily and got a bit of a headstart onto Moss Farms. Todd H rode across the gap taking a couple of guys and that was enough to string it all back together. It was strung out for the chicane but no one took advantage of the opportunity. Chris C jumped hard on the hill up to Marion, taking along Hunter P, who took over after the corner. That was enough to get a substantial gap on the rest. Guido charged across it, along with Ciocci ( ? ) and Young Suto but the peleton was having none of it and it was all together again soon after. Hunter P would try to get a gap before the light but that didn’t go very far either with the light red.
    Once onto Mount Vernon, Chris C was back up at the front, looking a little ansty, he had Thomaas B up there and a couple of others, but it was all together up till the false flat. The pace there was solid despite the road work construction mystery bag. Guido was the last up front as the hill ended and he used the opportunity to get a gap. He took along Nuemotion, Chris C, Hunter P, Young Suto and maybe a couple more but that move as well……… Didn’t last long.  
    The usual slowing down before Welch occurred. The field was down to maybe 25 guys by this point. Robyn, Rondo and a couple other riders slowed down when a dog was getting a little too aggressive back by the route 322 crossing. They got gapped and didn’t make it back until taking a shortcut to head south. Back up front as the field made its way up to the turnaround, guys were getting less and less daring as the corner came up. Chris C was the first to jump from a long line of the usual suspects…. No surprises here today. Chris C, first onto West St followed by Little T, Mike McG, Ciocci, Hunter P and Jacinto. Chris led out the front, now down a couple of guys due to a car in the corner, for half the drag to the sprint. Little T assumed the role of final leadout, depositing Mike McG and Hunter P with a great gap on the rest. Hunter jumped first and took it easily.
    On the backside Tall John was the first to decide to push the tempo on the fragmented field. He took along Chris C, Rustic Dave and John Pescatore (?). That group caught a light by the I84 interchange and that was all they needed. The field behind got caught by a couple of lights and that was that.
    Props to the group up the road who stayed away for the year's first solid breakaway right?. Chris C was able to get the Stop n Shop and herd the cats all the way back into Hamden where there was no one clear guy going for the sit n sprint cause they were all winners by that point.
    Behind the field would ride the normal ride.... Pretty much unaware that the group was well past them going back over 322.

Good ride everyone. Maybe one magical day a breakaway will succeed based on horsepower alone and not on a roll of the traffic-light dice.

Tuesday the 7th

The return of the Fantano's!

Great to see Rondo and Robyn out on the ride tonight. Not great that Rondo broke his rear mech on the way over and didnt really get the most out of the ride.... Cause oh-boy was it a doozy. Big group out tonight. Some decent team representation as well. Central Wheel, Devil's Gear, Amity and of course Stage 1 and Cheshire Cycle all seemed to be riding with their respective solidarity. All that, plus the strong tailwind starting out made for an interesting and enjoyable ride.

     The tailwind musta given some folks an idea or 2 too many and there was a group that shot off right on route 10. Despite the fact that it's been repeatedly called a faux paux, Tall John, Mountain Man, Hacker, Danbury Audi and a couple more took off. Where's Chris C when you need him? Tonight he took the night off, probably in anticipation for the rock n roll race that is known as Sterling on Saturday. Anyway, a couple of guys jumped the gap, Dillon P, Nuemotion and even Chris B made the early jump perhaps sensing the trouble. Traffic on the corner off route 10 brought everyone back together again or else it would have been an interesting early chase thru the backroads.

    With the tailwind, no one was going to get away early on. The speed stayed high thank to a few guys up front. Thomaas B, a Tall Dude from Amity ( name? ), The Full Nalini, Paul Casey ( who needs no nickname ) and a couple of others. Thomaas B and Tim the Hipster rode away a small gap as the ride came up to Mountain Rd but some strong riding from Todd H, Joe K, Little T and others brought that back. The chase + the risers on Mountain Rd was enough to get everyone to slow it down a bit and that's when Guido took off. He no doubt was looking to tear off a good group but the fast first miles put protagonists like Hacker, Tall John, Mike McG, Jacinto, Hunter P, etc buried back within the field and not in a position to jump. Guido charged along alone all the same and stayed out there for a couple of kilo's. Paul Casey looked to be ready to counter once the catch was made but it stayed all together to the light, which went green for the whole field.

     Bikeshop Bob led everyone thru the squeeze that happened at the light right after the corner, and the subsequent bottleneck let a group get up the road. Hacker jumped, taking along the Full Nalini, Nuemotion, a new guy on a nice Specilized, Jacinto, Hunter P, Ciocci and a couple of others. That put a good group up the road but it took a little while for everyone to get together, and even then, some guys immediately checked out. Back in the pack, the tall guy from Amity did good work getting the gap closed for the rest of the peleton. It was all sewed up when a car at the intersection before the chicane took away the momentum of the leaders.

     Once past the chicane, Little T jumped, taking Todd H with him. They got off the front with Guido, Hacker, Mountain Man, Rory D, and Danbury Audi. Hunter P and Mike McG let the gap go and then jumped across once onto Marion. That put another group up the road but it was never much of a threat as the field responded to the horsepower up the road. The field once again got the light but it only served to slow things down on the other side. Joe K tried to ride off a gap and was mashing his way slightly off the front for the first couple of kilo's. Then Mike McG drove a nice pace up to the false flat section ( which we have gotten word will be completely re-paved after the plumbing work... We may need to divert if it means a gravel road in a week or 2 ). Midway thru the false flat, QuadZilla jumped off the front with a strong move. Again, the response was slow, probably due to the confidence the tailwind was giving everyone. He stayed out for a little but was rounded up soon after the firing range.

     The chase was enough to give Guido a chance to get in a dig up at the front, which in turn let Hacker slowly get a gap heading into the corner. Along with him was Gregg F. Those 2 rounded the corner onto Welch with maybe 40 meters. They traded pulls down Welch as the field was shuffling around behind them. Gregg F dropped off coming up to the hill, leaving Hacker with quite a ways to go for the sprint. Certainly not impossible though given his track record of late. The headwind was strong though. Behind, the Cheshire guys got fortunate and took control of the chase as Chris B was slowly pulled the gap back along with Joe K while Hunter P followed anyone coming up from the field. The Full Nalini put in a good effort to pull everyone back but it soon became just Chris B and Jacinto riding up to Hacker as Joe K throttled down, letting Chris B gap Mike McG in the process. Chris put in a pull like only he can and got up to Hacker and by sheer attrition was the first to the sprint line.

     Those 3 had a gap that looked like it would be tough to bring back but red light going over 84 brought it all together. After the double corner, past the descent, Guido took to the front again and set a good tempo aling with Tall John and Mountain Man. Hacker briefly looked like was going to go but it stayed all together to the light on 322. Tall John kept up the off-the-front-stuff once onto Peck Ln and his efforts were thwarted by traffic as well. Heading up Peck Lane it was Guido, Thomaas B and Bikeshop Bob as volunteers to work into the wind were scarce. It didnt stop Paul Casey from putting the hammer down once more as the ride got back up to route 10 but it was all together heading up the hill by Cheshire Park. The field went into orange alert when Hacker pushed his way off the front once past the hill but a red light would soon reset everything for the run in to Stop n Shop. Once the light went grren it was full speed up front, thanks to Jacinto and Mike McG. They were towing Little T, Hunter P, The Full Nalini and Hacker. Little T jumped into the wind first, with only Hunter P there to fight him. With the headwind it went all the way down to the line and it was very close... Hunter P was benefiting from momentum but Little T wouldn’t fade. So we're calling it a tie.

     After the sprint Guido was there and tried to round up the sprinters for a mad dash off the front but had no takers. He kept going solo for a while but was caught as Mike McG, Jacinto, Thomaas B brought up the field. Once again for the finale, there were guys sitting up and slowing down too much. That led to some bunching up and it wasn't really a clean n fast run-in. Guido picked up the pieces and made run in thru the inside just as Mike McG was steam-rolling thru on the right. Guido got the jump as Mike pulled the chute, leaving 4 or 5 guys to pick up the pieces. Dillon P burned last matches, leaving it to Hacker and Little T. Guido's big gap was erased by the wind and the endless meters before the light. Little T would come up and over him and then Hacker would come up and over T at the last moment.... So it all depends on when you call it. Up the hill went the usuals and Chris B dispatched Mountain Man and Hunter P on the real man's finish.

Great ride everyone!