Tuesday the 5th

The SG Ride... Soon with an Austrian branch

    There was a decent crowd out for the penultimate to the penultimate to the penultimate Guido ride. Maybe 35-40 riders. There were a couple of new faces in the crowd, which slowed the initial pace down quite a bit. Most notably in attendance for the first time was young Kyle Crowell. Maybe everyone in Camp Chris C was taking it easy for his benefit, maybe everyone was dumfounded with what to do now that there was 2 Crowels riding bikes fast. Kyle had little problem keeping up for the first 40 min or so but became unhinged around the turnaround point. Nice job Kyle! Keep up the good work.

    The other McG was up front driving the pace to mountain road along with the Gibertoni. On Mountain, Guido took off the front over the second set of risers. Hunter P bridged up, which got everyone going faster. Chris C eventually bridged up as well but dragged the rest of the field up with him. Guys like Ciocci, Jacinto, Cornell, Rob Dux and a couple of others picked up the slack and brought it back.

    Onto Moss Farms where Hunter P took off first and was soon joined by a fast attacking Hacker. Those 2 built up a gap over the risers heading to the chicane. It took the field a little while to ramp it but soon guys like Chris C, Mike McG, the new guy in White, (Burgeebaby), Rob Dux, Tall John, Mountain Man and others all pitching in to keep it close. Lights went out for the front duo on the hill toward Marion. After the corner, everyone took a breather and it stayed quick but uneventful to the light on 322.

    Chappy and Chris C kicked it off on Mount Vernon, but without attacks, the pace stayed respectable instead of gang busters. Hunter P rolled off the front on the false flat but didnt get too far on his own. A new guy with Italian Flair charged onto the milled road section with Hacker, Hunter P and Guido close behind. The push was enough to cause a some problems in the field and plenty of guys dropped off the pace. The leading group tried to keep up the pressure after the road got better but the rest of the field would soon catch back up, led by Chris C and Mike McG. That meant everyone was together for the corner onto Welch. Hacker was the first to fire a shot for the corner. Chris C quickly responded with 3 or 4 others. Hacker had to hold up for the corner a bit and once everyone was thru, no one had much of a gap. Chris C stayed on the gas but slowly came back. Bryan McG next hit the front and rolled off a little gap. Once he saw it, he put his down and took a bigger gap as the sprint came up. Behind, Ben Bruce, Mike McG, and Hunter P cued up. Ben was the first to jump and saved it for the last possible moment. Hunter P went with him and soon was chasing down McGil with Jacinto further behind. Too much too late though as Bryan was able to hang on by a bike length.

     On the backside, no one took any chances with an attack and instead, a couple of guys who had been dropped were able to come back on. From there, heading downhill, The Gibertoni and Chappy were trying to get something started but to no avail. Going under the highway, The Gibertoni jumped hard, taking Hunter P and Tall John with him. That trio worked up a bit of a gap but traffic at the intersections slowed everyone down.

     Onto Peck Lane where the speed stayed high but no one was attacking. Heading up the false flat, Chris C took to the front and was going hard enough to create a bit of group. As rhe speed dropped a touch a few seconds later, The Other McG took off and quickly got a gap as everyone was looking around at each other. Hacker jumped across the gap a moment later and got up to Bryan easily by the corner for route 10. They stayed on the gas as behind, the rest were taking too long to figure it out. One red light for the peleton later, it was donesville for the chase. The 2 leaders worked up an even bigger gap as they rode thru the Stop n Sprint evenly sharing the workload. Nice job to Hacker and Bryan McG for the strong riding!

    Just a reminder for everyone.... Next week, Cheshire Cycle is hosting post ride beer and pizza in honor of 2 of the strongest riders to ever become SG regulars.... Guido and Jacinto. The 2 of them are moving from the fair state of CT and we would like to send them off well. Please leave a comment here or on the Sleeping Giant Ride Facebook page that you plan on hanging out. It would be nice to get a head count so as to know how many strippers to hire.

Tuesday the 29th

    Right from the gun, Chris C was out to make sure no one was taking it easy tonight. He rode off for a bit before the other McG..... The Bryan one, took off in pursuit. Keith Mullaly and Hunter P joined up and that chase shot up and joined Chris C quickly. The rest of the field had a chance to catch up thru the crap road section .
    The Other McG kept things going past that, and really, for much of the ride. Nice job Bryan! After that Joe K rolled off the front as other Cheshire riders patrolled the front for opportunities to keep him out there. By Mountain Rd, it was together again. A group got away by the end of mountain road led by French Casey, and Ben Bruce, but the light was red and that gave all a chance to re-group.
    French Casey kept it up on Moss Farms with Chris C chasing, but for the most part it was a controlled pace toward Marion. Up the hill past the chicane, The Gibertoni jumped out, again with Chris C leading the rest up and through. The next attack was up the road going past the industrial park.... French Casey took advantage of the mellow pace and attacked. He took along Chris C, Ciocci, hunter P, Little T, and a couple of others. There was little cohesion up front and so the field came back up. Little T tried again on his own but by the light it was all together.
     The Gibertoni tried to get off the front past the light with one or 2 others, but traffic at the corner for Mount Vernon slowed them down. Once onto Mount Vernon a small group got off the front led by Hunter P but as Chris C led a couple guys up the front slowed down a bit and that led to a re-shuffle up front. A new group went off ( Mike McG, The Other McG, Hunter P, Chris C ). That group stayed off to midway up the false flat. No one took advantage of the catch though, and instead, it stayed steady into a long section of road that has been graded pretty rough. A couple of riders lost contact as the front kept on the throttle. It wasn't overly fast, but if you were worried about the bone jarring enough to slow down, you were playing major catch-up once the construction ended.
     French Casey drilled it and was allowed to roll and he took advantage by building up a solid lead of about 10 seconds turning onto Welch. He kept on the gas but was eventually be caught by the end start of the hill. Chris C, Mike McG, Joe K, Little T, Hunter P, Ben Bruce, even a couple of new faces rolled up the hill, looking to be up front for the sprint. Mike McG drilled it as a lead out, with Joe K and Little T in the best position to make good with it. Joe K started the sprint but Little T was able to come around with time to spare.
      The trip down the hill was uneventful... Except for French Casey almost getting nailed by a car leaving the gas station at the bottom of West St.

Mind the traffic laws everyone...... (within reason of course)

     The Gibertoni was up the road again heading under the highway. Tall John was leading the chase and when it was all back together, Chris C jumped up the hill. He was joined by a couple of others but traffic at the next intersections slowed everyone down. Bryan McGill was again pushing the pace going onto Peck Ln. From the ride down and up peck was standard stuff. Chris C, Rory D and Ciocci lead a group away from the rest on the false flat along with a couple of others. The gap was going up when Mike McG put in a monster pull to get across to the lead group by the corner of route 10. That group stayed away up to the top of the hill where a red light brought everyone back together. The rest of the ride to the sprint was fast thanks to Guido, French Casey, Young Mullaly, Chris C, Rob Dux, and a couple of others. Little T had little problem jumping away to get the sprint.
     For the finale, Little T took top honors again in front of a hard charging Gibertoni. That's it...

Good ride everyone!

Tuesday the 22nd

     This week's ride got off to a crap start. As route 10 pinched at the river there was a touch of wheels. There was a piece of wood in the road that may have started the dodgy riding that lead to the crash. 3 riders went down, a new rider who hurt his shoulder, Ed Angeli, and maybe one other. Ed got a big gash in the lower leg that was gushing blood. His bike fared no better as it was thrown out into the road where it was quickly rundover by an SUV... hit and run style as the driver did not stop.
     Ed was slow to get to his feet but seemed ok. We're hoping everyone is ok! Everyone waited but once emergency personal got there, it was just a bunch of guys straddling their bikes getting in the way, so the ride went on.
    There was tailwind going north, which definitely got everyone going pretty quickly. The ride was generally fast tonight. Graham G got things going, taking along teammate Rory D for a quick turn off the front. There was plenty of horsepower in the pack tonight as riders like Bryan McG, Sean Cahill, Christiano from Honduras, Razzle dazzle Serbal, Tall Ben, Ciocci, Young Suto etc etc, complementing the usual strong guys. It was a ride where nothing was getting far off the front and only the strong was up front driving it.
     Credit Sean Cahill for trying a few times to get a gap... Moss Farms, Mount Vernon, West St going back south. For the turnaround sprint, Hacker led a group of 5 or 6 off the front on Welch. A couple of guys bridged up but the gap to the pack stayed solid till the corner, where the headwind bit in hard. Shortly after, Chris C peeled off the front, and the rest of the front group figured out who was going to pull. Nuemotion rolled off the front and once he had a gap, he was all in and managed to hold off the rest.
     Heading into the Stop n Shop sprint, Hacker led a group of 4 off the front as everyone got up and over the climb by Cheshire Park. He got enough help from Christiano to stick the gap and start the sprint in a good spot. The it was close as Little T and nuemotion was charging but Hacker gets the prize.
      Little T would get his revenge in the finale though as he fought thru a solid 4 or 5 guys (Mike McG, French Casey, The Full Nalini, Nuemotion) to get to the corner first.

Tuesday the 15th

Rained out except for a few knuckleheads!

 

   The passing thunderstorms kept the field on the light side tonight. By ride time thought, the rain had stopped for the most part and as everyone headed further north, the roads were dryer and dryer...

   Chris C was up front as soon the flag dropped. Dillon P was there as well Chris C to make sure he wouldn't sneak off. The ride mostly was quiet for the first several miles. No one was attacking on the early on. A disruption in the paceline up front as the ride got closer to the light on route 68 triggered a shift response and a few guys jumped up to try to nab the lihgt. It was green all the way and everyone made it thru no problem. Construction on the first part of Moss Farms closed everyone down and it took a little while to get back going again.

      Once it did, guys like Dillon P. Ed A, Chris C and a couple of others were pushing the pace and got a bit of a gap but it was all together for the rest of the way to the Chicane. Chris C upped the ante on the riser up to Marion and a few guys followed him.... Dillon P, Special Ed, etc. Again, gaps were few and far between, although Chris C and Special Ed looked to keep the hammer down as the ride went by the turn for the short loop. They had help from The Dillon P Chris C and ED... Gruppo Compacto to the light on 322.

      After the light, it slowed down a bit and everyone recollected. It took a but to get going again and Dillon P ( good to see him back ) was ever so patient with the ride as the field lolly-gagged its way to the construction zone. The more delicate guys in the field held sway and it was declared a neutral section thru the dirt road. Ed helped spark interest in going fast once everyone got thru the dirt and had a chance to wipe down their Asian-made plastic bikes. From there it was fast as a few guys hit the front running ( Ed, Chris C, Dillon, Chris, Special Ed, etc ). As the ride came up on the turnaround, Chris C rode off and was allowed to go. Chris C then poked out of the field and quickly took a gap in the crucial 150 meters before the corner to Welch. The only one to go with him was Dillon P and the 2 rolled off a gap, went up and over Ed and extended it nearly the whole way to the hill thanks to Chris C's blatant disregard for the sprint coming up. Behind the peleton seemed content with letting the chips fall as they may, giving the break the chance to fall short. Chris C and Dillon P? did jet off the front right before the hill kicked. Up front, the 2 leaders worked well together and Dillon P easily got the points as Chris C didn’t contest after being the early afterburners for the escape.

      The ride came back together on the backside without any incident or anyone thinking about attacking. Chris C did seem feisty during a couple of moments but the field was attentive or the lights were red, keeping everyone together. Together aaaaaaaaall the way back into Cheshire and over 322. The pace was tempo at best. Dillon P again picked up the slack up front on a couple of occasions. Going up the false flat on Peck, no real action... The ride has gotten too friendly as of late. More people need to be less concerned with looking like they are calm and composed and actually try to fight their way off the front.

      The run in to the Stop n Shop sprint was fast, with a few guys getting an early jump, ( Dillon P, Chris C, Chris C, Dillon P, etc ) Chris C was back at it and this time he brought Dillon P up across the gap, Dillon P had little problem taking it over Chris C and the 1 or 2 others that put up a fight. Moving thru Cheshire was uneventful, as an early red light let all catch back on and gave no one the chance to sneak off.

      Once past all the lights, Chris C fired things up on the front and then Dillon P continued pulling the field single file. It settled down but with the smaller field left on the road, the battle for the sit n sprint would end up shredding the peleton. Chris C Dillon P ended up in front of the remains, with Chris C taking it with a last minute surge, coming out of Dillon P's shadow. Up the hill Dillon P took it over Everyone Else Who Didn't show...

Good ride everyone!

Tuesday the 8th

Where real cycling stars are made... Forget about winning actual USAC races!

   The storms held off! The heat did not! Great to see good crowd out despite the threat of rain. Everyone played nice (sort of) on the route 10 construction zone. Big thanks to the police officer who let us all right thru separate from the cars. Once off the main road, Jeff Weaver started the fast riding with a move off the front he held until the crap road section. A small group of guys behind, headed up by Joe K and Dillon P, also briefly broke free in pursuit. Once guys like Nuemotion, Silverback Randy, Hacker and Mike McG moved up thru and to the front to help things along, it all came back together quickly. Hacker tried to get away a couple of times, at one instance getting off the front with The Sernyak and one other but corners and traffic slowed them down.
    Onto Mountain Rd, where a car in the intersection forced all way around the corner... The front riders took that as a sign to slow down and take those initial rizers easy.... Gregg F was allowed to go clear but once the group got going again, it was all together and fast to the light. Hacker and Nuemotion hit Moss Farms hard but they were kept on a short lease by Rob Dux, CCB Sasha, Chris C, Mike McG and a couple of others. The field was strung out but most had assistance hanging on, thank to the pretty strong tailwind. Hacker and Nuemotion were caught but Hacker kept on the attack. In the ensuing re-shuffle, a group got off the front and charged hard into the Chicane.... Mike McG, Chris C, Hacker, Hunter P, Nuemotion, The Sernyak and maybe one other. The group fell apart as Hunter P rolled away going up the hill to Marion. The catch of all was made soon after. Hunter P rolled off the front again going over the highway, but no one else made the jump, leaving him to dangle out there before the light on 322.
    The light was green again which made for a quick trip onto Mount Vernon.... But no real attacks. The tailwind was whipping and the speed was high all the way down Mount Vernon. Only a slight slowdown on the false flat, which gave most a chance to recollect and get ready for the final fast push to the corner. Over 27mph for an average for the first half of the ride, assisted by the tailwind...
    Joe K attacked in the final few hundred meters before the corner, but there was enough get up and go from riders (College ST and Yalies predominantly) to corral Joe pretty quickly. That led to a small group off the front with a slight gap... Behind most of the chasing field went into Cat5 mode as the tailwind disappeared and seemed to become like a cross wind from northern France. Riders were all over the place. A couple guys made it across the gap but just as soon as the leaders (Hacker, Joe K, Rob Dux, Chris C, CCB, Nuemotion, Little T, The Sernyak) went free, they pulled the ripcord and came back to the field. The bombs kept going off in the field heading up the hill and thru the corner.
   4 or 5 riders stayed on the throttle despite the strong headwind (Hacker, Nuemotion, Mike McG, Chris C) and went clear. Behind, the new (yalie?) rider from Cornell led a small group in an attempt to bridge/catch but with Chris C and Mike McG going hard into the wind, the leaders would stay out in front. Hacker and Nuemotion were left to sprint it out. It went down to the wire with Nuemotion getting it by a thin margin.
    The group came together and attempted a further push off the front but lights kept that from materializing. The ride back into Cheshire was uneventful. Guido tried to ride off the front with Special Ed going up the hill under the highway, someone nearly got their head taken off by going over the yellow lines on the first section of Peck ln, and Hunter P tired unsuccesfully again to get oof the front later on the uphill section of Peck.
    Once onto Route 10, it got downright leisurely into the wind for a few moments. Thankfully that didnt last long as the usual suspects came up and started rolling again. Lights before the sprint slowed it down but once thru, it was Little T jumping up ahead of the other sprinters to get it. A quiet, but quick ride back into Hamden was made interesteding by CCB Sasha rolling off the front with The Sernyak and the new Yalie rider on the alloy Trek (name?).... A+ for effort for that group but it would be eventually brought back. In the re-shuffle, Guido charged off the front and nearly stole the show. A solid group of about 4 or 5 ramped it up in the final key moments and caught the Bavarian Diesel... From that group, Little T slipped out last and hung on to take it.

Another great ride everyone!

Tuesday the 1st

Big group out to play footbal tonight!

Perhaps the biggest group of the year out tonight. It looked like 55+ riders strong rolling out of the parking lot. Exceptional turnout from the ERRACE as they are no doubt getting ready for their big event in a couple of weekends.

    Right off route 10 the Sernyak took to the front and used the strong tailwind to get things going. He was helped along by Guido, Chris C, The Gibertoni, Mike McG, Jordan L and a couple of others. For the turn onto Mountain RD, Joe K Chris C, Mountain Man, Little T, and Hacker hit the risers hard, stringing out the group as the train hit 29mph+ toward the light at route 68/70. More than a few riders were shed as they realized there wasn't enough money on their MetroCard.

     Once on Mossfarms, everyone took the opportunity to recollect. The pack actually bunched up a bit through the chicane, Chris C and a couple of ERRACE riders rode hard to the corner of marion with a group of about 20 riders in tow. The pace continued to stay high on Marion, leading to more shelled riders.

     The light going over Rt 322 was red at first but turned green quickly and rather unexpectedly. Hacker, Chris C and CCB Sasha went into attack mode, showing no mercy, taking off right after the intersection. At the riser shortly after, Ciocci and Guido were flying across the gap, but when Mike McG responded in kind from the pack, he actually ended up towing the rest back up so it was all together at the Stop sign.

     Once onto Mount Vernon, Hacker attacked again along with Guido and those 2 got the first real gap of the night. They worked up a 50 meter lead or so before Jordan L started to bridge up. Along for the ride across was Rob Dux. Those 2 made it so then the lead group was 4. The chase was on in earnest and there was no real danger of it becoming a runaway. The group would be brought back by the end of the false flat section. From there, a bit more recovery time for everyone as the speed turned steady. Heading to the corner for Welch, Special Ed took a solid pull that strung things out and Mike McG, Jordan L, Guido, Hacker and others kept up with the fast pace until the corner to Welch.

After the corner the pace stayed steady as The Gibertoni was looking to lead it out for teammates. It wasn’t fast enough to keep Hacker from attacking. No one went with him and he got to the corner at about the same time the rest hit the bottom of the riser. At the riser, Chris C jumped in pursuit, taking Mike McG and Little T with him. Chris C buried himself into the strong headwind and pulled off half way to the sprint. Mike McG took over and finished the rest of the gap, giving Little T in a great spot to pounce on Hacker, getting the sprint without much contention as the rest of the would be sprinters were left chasing across the initial gap.

      On the backside, those four (Hacker, Little T, Mike McG, Chris C) had a gap going toward the highway but the light was red so what was left of the peleton back together. From there the pack stayed together initially on West St but on the second descent, The Gertoni, Hacker, and Tommy Krol went into Falcon mode, ripping down the descent and getting to the intersection on Atwater st with a gap. That trio would take some liberties with a red light and their gap continued. Rob Dux came across the gap in the confusion and went ot work helping with the pace making. Behind, the small peleton was being shred by the headwind and the disjointed chase. The lead group would be eventually held up at the light to get back over 322 but they were on their way to being caught by several riders who were working hard to bridge / chase.

     The pace into the headwind stayed high on Peck lane and that caused the next round of carnage on the field. Once Special Ed pulled on the last riser on Peck lane the final selection of the night was made. Only 14 riders took the corner onto Rt 10 in that front group that stayed together till the end. That final group was made up of: McG, Jacob, The Sernyak, Joe K, CCB Sasha, Neumotion, Guido, Chris C, Little T, Chappy Chris, Rob Dux, Senior Steve Suto, Big Jim (from New Haven), the new guy David in the Louis Garneau kit with “interesting” drafting techniques, and maybe one or 2 others.

     Once onto rt 10, Hacker went on the attack again on the prison riser, Joe K bridged up past the climb but the light before the Sprint run-in was red so the group was back together. Once thru, Guido started the lead out with CCBSasha taking over, but car traffic negated the fast leadout and the front of the pack slowed down before the riser proper. From the bunched up pack, McG went first with Little on his 6. Joe K went after them and as Mike pulled off, leaving Little T to fend off Joe K to the top to take the second of the day.

      The pace stayed high through Cheshire despite the strong headwind. Everyone was taking determined pulls. Past the last light on Rt 10 (Cook Hill Rd) Guido, CCB Sasha, Hacker and Mike McG went a tear, encouraged by the lack of pack fill. Their end gap was small and they were brought back a short time later. Before the last kilo things slowed down a bit so Hacker went to the front and took a strong 20 second pull that strung things out nicely followed by an equally strong pull by Mike McG that finalized the split. That left The Sernyak, Guido, Sasha, and Little T to finish it off by taking their respective last pulls in that order, leaving LT last man standing for the finale.

Great ride everyone! Let's do it again next week!

Tuesday the 24th

The only thing worth recapping tonight....

     The return of Chris B! It was good to have him back out on the ride.
He was drilling it up front on the way north, trying to ride away with it on Mountain Rd, Moss Farms and then on Mount Vernon. The always powerful Ryan S strapped on his road bike and was up front on Mountain Rd, bridging into a move with Guido, Hunter P, Rob Dux, and Jordan L.
     Hacker was back out on the ride as well, and he nearly got off the front for good with Bryan McG, Nuemotion and Jordan L late on Mount Vernon. The new guy in the Cornell kit kicked up his contribution to the ride when he put in a lot of work to bring back that dangerous move.
     Jacinto pulled off the long range attack on the turnaround sprint, getting a gap into the headwind and holding it ahead of Little T and Mike McG. Little T got his revenge at the Stop n Shop sprint, taking it easily despite 3 or 4 guys squared up behind him.
    
     Great ride everyone!