Tuesday the 3rd

Safety check required?

     It was one of those weird kind of rides tonight. The weather held out it and it was as nice as it been for any week so far this year. There was a decent size crowd out for the ride. Good to see Alec C back on the back after taking a few weeks to heal up after being "curbed" by a car. The usual suspects got things going once off route 10. Mike McG took a good pull to stretch things out thru the crap road section and that led to Owen F and Hunter P getting a gap that didnt last too long. Chris C stepping up in the role of bridge-ehh-chase-ehh-just-go-hard. From there things stayed quick up to Mountain Rd. A late surge on the initial risers there spit a group off the front. Mike McG, Hutner P, Paul Casey, a Bikers Edge rider and one other. Despite some good speed from the group it was brought back soon after. From there it was fast with the tailwind heading to the light. Late on Mountain, Dillon P kept the pace high at the very front for a little longer than what's usual for the ride, giving Hunter P a chance to jump off in a good spot to perhaps get the light. Along for the ride was Tall John and Special Ed. Sure enough the light showed green for longer than usual, probably thanks to the 2 cars that were there tripping the sensor. Hunter P, Tall John, Special Ed made it thru clean and in the gap to the peleton was Little T, Chris C, and Rory D. Those 3 squeezed thru the light and the rest of the peleton stopped and waved bye bye to the group of 6. 

        The leaders jumped right into breakaway mode, although even early on, a couple of the riders were skipping pulls. The pace up to 322 in the lead group was solid, if not slightly unimpressive. Behind in the field, the strong guys left in the group who were feeling left out got straight to to the task of upping the pace to try to mount a chase. Nuemotion, Guido, The CCB Toss-up, Jacinto and Mike McG foremost among them. The break was in sight as the peleton stopped for the red light on 322 but it was still going to take some strong riding to bring it back.

       Nothing much to report on either side of the ride for the next few miles. In the peleton, a couple of noteworthy turns up or off the front were had by Joe K, Nathan C, Yalie Adam and Ciocci. In the break, Special Ed, his own best client, apparently reached the prescribed riding for the day and decided to peel off halfway down Mount Vernon. That left the lion's share of the work to Little T, Chris C and Hunter P. No deal was struck approaching the turnaround, no breakaway truce made, so the speed went down as guys were eyeing each other or trying to collect themselves for the fireworks. The break was still out of sight on Mount Vernon, but once on Welch, the peleton could see the riders up ahead, which definitely put some more motivation in the pedals.

       For the sprint, Chris C, Hunter P and Little T took turns with Hunter P ending up in front for the last section. He tried the ol surprise jump from a little too far away, off the front, and it was enough to get a quick gap on Little T with a solid 175-250 meters to go. T clawed back but a late surge kept Hunter P in front by half a bike. Behind, Mike McG has rocketed off the front and was alone for a while, quickly making up the gap. Joe K and Chris B tried to team up on the chase and that got the rest of the field going. The leaders slowed to led the rest of the break come back but instead of the 2 guys, it was the whole field bearing down and so gruppo compacto once again and the elusive long bomb breakaway stays out of reach for another week.

      The ride back from there was uninteresting and slow-ish in the headwind. Chris C stayed up there and Guido rescued the pace at a couple of points heading back to 322. There was no full stop at the changing light there which made for some abrupt breaking, shouting and wheel molesting. Couple of guys went down but it was more like a mountain bike dab with a little game of twister thrown in. That slowed things down and it took a little while to get going again.... Long enough to not have anything to say about the ride till the Stop n Shop Sprint. Guido, Paul Casey and Mike McG were up there driving it along. Jacinto snuck up at the last moment and jumped hard, taking along Mike McG. Mike put in a good sprint but Jacinto get this one for the second week in a row.

      The only interesting part of the ride back from there was the unscheduled pit stop the group made for Cheshire's tallest police officer. He kindly reminded the group that 2 abreast is the law and that anyone who rides a full Proteam kit with matching bike needs to have the legs ( and twitter followers ) to back that up. Seriously though, he makes a good point. Let's take this moment to thank whatever residents of Cheshire ,Southington, ( and their Police forces ) that put up with our crap every Tuesday night. You all are the best. We are just a bunch of sissy bike rides... And some of us can't even do that very well. Let's all try to ride more civil-like while in the center of town.

       Back to the ride where it again took a while to get going. The finale was Little T up against Guido, who was a little late to the party. The Full Nalini, Thomaas B, Ciocci (?), Rusty, and Paul Casey were up there in the mix but Little T gets this over the hard charging German. He gets rewarded for this by promptly being taken out by the flying squirrel by the bike trail crossing. No real harm done. Though it was a weird way to end up a weird night. Up the hill Mountain Man and Tall Dennis started things out, Chris B took over, and then Hunter P sprinted all else to the top.

Tuesday the 25th

Back to your regularly scheduled ride

    The weather finally held out for the most part and we had a ride. Chris C and a couple of others ( Timmy Hip, Dillon P etc ) drove the pace early on. There were a couple of points when there was a brief gap to the front 5 or 6 riders but after everyone got going in the heat it was game on. Downer moment of the week when the ride, moving fast after re-connecting with the lead group, came up on the corner for North Brooksvale and some hesitation ( read; flying thru the stop sign was not happening ) caused some riders to chain reaction break and Dave on the Jamis went over his bars. The ride full stopped to make sure he was ok and ride worthy and then slowly got going again.
    It took a little while to get back up to full steam but the action started up again on Mountain Rd. Half the field was still getting going from the stop and the other half was ready to rock n roll, the heads of state were behind the action which made for an interesting cruise down Mountain Rd. Chris C was leading a bunch of riders off the front along with Nuemotion, Dillon P, and a couple of others. Guys were in between, not able to bridge and unwilling to get caught. No one took advantage of the situation with a well timed attack. The wind seemed to be turning into the faces with dark clouds up ahead and that buffeted the motivation to really turn the screws. The Peleton would slowly come around and round everyone up just in time for the red light on 68.
    Once onto Moss Farms, it was Hunter P and Matt F from Devils Gear kicking things off, with Kyle Foley ( good to see him out on the ride ) and Mike McG picking up the slack after that. Late on Moss Farms, Hunter P, Mike McG and one other tore off a gap that they could have taken into the chicane, but cars at the intersection brought it all together. Chris C hit the front on the hill up to Marion and that turned into a trio of Nuemotion, Hunter P and Chris C off the front for a brief bit but as is often the case, attacks are rarely held from there to the light on 322. The CCB toss-up worked well at bringing the gap back and then pressing on but it was gruppo compacto to the light.
    Mount Vernon = boring, anemic pace as the stormy headwind plus wet roads distracted everyone from riding with any kind of respectable speed. The only one to peg it during the long run in to the corner was Mike McG, who took off and held a solo gap going into the false flat. A surge in the final meters for the corner, led by a couple of Yalies ( Spencer mostly ) and Thomaas B got things going toward the sprint. Once on Welch, Hunter P kicked it off followed by CCB. By the end of Welch, it slowed again and was bunching up. Huge amount of guys hit the hill in front... Plenty of strong accelerations but it was all into stacked up traffic waiting to turn so the whole front of the ride slowed to almost a stop for the corner onto West St.
    Chris C lit it up after thru the corner with a couple of guys in tow. Chris B moved up along with the Real-Brian-from-Stage-1. Late getting up to the front, coming across the gap was Jacinto. Behind Little T and Hunter P left it too late and couldnt bridge the gap. The trio of Jacinto, Chris B and The Real Brian went up and over Chris C and from there it was Jacinto getting to the sprint ahead of all others.
   The usual downhill attacking was there afterwards but it was all sewed up by red lights once again. From there it was business as usual heading back towards Cheshire. Once onto Atwater, Hunter P and a new guy from Zane's teamed up to try to pull a fast on the field but that wasn't going to be allowed.
    Fast forward to the incline on Peck ln where Timmy Hip, CCB and Chris C were drilling it single file but not enough to get a gap. That turned into Thomaas B getting to the hill on Route 10 first, followed by Hunter P with a gap to the next traffic light. The run to the Stop n Sprint was held up by a red light but the pace picked up pretty quickly after it. A small group had the gap needed to sprint it out and it was taken by Little T over Yalie Spencer. After the sprint, a group stayed on the gas on got a light in their favor. Little T, Jacinto, Half the CCB duo?, Danbury Audi, Timmy Hip and a couple of others... Maybe someone can list all the names as credit is due the group, who stayed off the front easily after the peleton got caught by a couple more lights. To the guys in the pack who threw caution to the wind to try and get somewhere ahead of the rest, sorry... No shout-outs here... Next time, work harder, earlier to make sure you get in the group that takes all the marbles. We will however give some props to Stephen Gibertoni, who very nearly got taken out by a SUV coming out of Mount Sanford Rd late down Route 10. Glad he swerved so fast... That woulda been ugly.

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.