Tuesday the 26th

GOING FAST AND LOOKING GOOD!

   The ride tonight started out pretty tame, but it got going a couple of corners in. There were not too many surprises and revelations up front as the ride got going. The new Yalie (Jason?) took off on Mount Sanford but that was corralled pretty quickly. Chris C was the next to go right as Mountain Rd hit. Hunter P went with him and those 2 kept up a gap for 750 meters or so. They were eventually joined by Nuemotion, Mike McG, and a couple of others but the rest were not too far behind.

    On Moss Farms, Hacker, Nuemotion and Hunter P were on the front but the tail wind was helping everyone stay in contact. Ben Bruce would hit the front for a bit but that too was short-lived. Heading into the Chicane, Chris C and Special Ed were drilling it and they split off a gap that would be kept up to the turn into the industrial park. Big Red and Hacker kept on the pressure going over the highway but the light was red at 322.

    Big Red stayed on it after the light but things didn’t get going until onto Mount Vernon when Special Ed took off the front. The response was pretty quick to that move, as there was plenty of riders to jump into the gap. The tail wind was aiding and abetting the ride north. A brief slowdown as the front was corralled allowed Nick the Tail Railer Sabatelli to jump hard. He took Hunter P with him and a chase group was quick to respond and form. Big Red, Chris C, New Yalie, John Pescatore, and 1 or 2 others. That group worked well but the chase behind was fast once it got going. When Chris C sensed hesitation on the part of a couple of the breakaway riders, he went rabid, attacking off the front, which allowed the rest to catch back on by the false flat section.

    From there it was a solid run in to the turnaround. On Welch, Hacker jumped but when he saw 4 or 5 guys go with him, he eased up. Chris C would then jump up. He got thru the corner alone but the rest was close behind. The Headwind slowed down rider quick smart and it became a game of hide and seek with the wind. Ben Bruce, who is quickly having an MVP season, took the lull as an opportunity to jump. He steadily build up a gap and hit the final rise before the sprint point with 75 meters or so on the a group of 5 or 6 chasers. He put in a good sprint, and it was apparent that there was no point in trying to gun him down. On the backside, it all came back together as red lights stopped the front 20 guys.

     Heading back toward 322 into the wind, Rob Dux tried to sneak off thru the intersections. No dice there. Special Ed rolled off the front after the underpass and rolled up to the red light with 2 additional riders in Big Red and Chris C, and the rest very close behind. After getting thru the milled road on Peck, Chris C and Nuemotion tried to sneak away in a half-hearted kind of way. Then Hunter P attacked going by the greenhouses, taking along only Rob Dux. Those 2 maintained a gap up the rise on Peck but coming up to route10, it was all together again. The Pack timed their weekly illegal approach onto Route 10 perfectly, cutting off the coolest Cheshire Police Officer in existence. No reaction from the cop, even as he stopped in front of everyone at the light at the base of the Cheshire Park hill (where’s Todd H been?!?!)

      Faced with certain infractions, the group was slow to get up the hill there, but once it flattened out, things got going kind of. Special Ed and Big Red used the lull to escape. Then it was Chris C jumping off with Nuemotion and Tiny Kyle in pursuit. Up front, the 2 leaders rolled slowly up the stop n shop hill, allowing Tiny K to put in the sprint of his SG life and nearly pick off Special Ed, but the youngster got there a moment too late. A+ for effort though.

     That five-some had a healthy gap that was further aided along with the peleton got a red light in the center of Cheshire. The chase would resume once all the lights were done but there was not catching the lead group. 


Great ride everyone! 

Tuesday the 19th

The who’s who of CT cycling (central CT at least….. But where Mike McG?!) continues to come out in full support of hard training and exemplary ride manners on Tuesday night! 

   It was great to see the Mullaly clan out for the ride. Keith and Kyle are crushing it out there and deserve kudos for their rides tonight. We had a blast from the past with a one Dan Smith back on the cycling wagon. It’s good to see a dude throw himself right into the deep end of the pool and have him not drown. Also out for the first time in a while was Alec Cunningham, visiting home, with his ski goggles, from college.

   As the ride got going, the first ones to put a fast foot forward were Jordan L, Chris C and Hunter P. No one was letting that roll though and so it made the opening 2 miles off of route 10 pretty quick. Hacker and The Burgess hit the front a couple of corners later and kept the pace high. There was a small group ld by Hacker on the early riser of Mountain Rd but by the stop sign for Higgans, the rest of the pack was ramping it up enough to catch them and regroup. From there it stayed pretty much all together with the usual guys drilling it up front.
     Hacker got the jump thru the light on route 69 and rolled too fast onto Moss Farms, aka Joe & Ben Boulevard. He was held up by vehicular traffic, although Hunter P and Jordan L were right there to keep it going. There was plenty of willing guys to follow, leaving no room for attacks of any sort. Pace stayed high into and thru the chicane. Hunter P rolled off the front after the corner for Marion and the Burgess was there to go as well. Chris C chipped in 3^rd but there was enough of a pickup from behind to keep it all together. (Nuemotion, Groome, Little T, Alec C, a new guy a plain white jersey). Hacker kept on the gas going over the highway, as well as Chris C, leading to a small group getting a brief gap, but the Burgess chased and brought it all back together before the light.
     Groome kept on it after the light, as well as Jordan L, but no one was getting any real gap all the way down Mount Vernon. There were a couple of points were the speed dropped down quite a bit. Turning onto Welch, Hacker jumped first again, and only a couple responded to the challenge. Chris C at first, then Ben Bruce. Behind there were a couple of guys in between but it quickly became a race for second place, at least to the corner. The 3 leaders went through with a small but substantial gap of 4 or 5 seconds. The Burgess worked into the wind to bring a couple of riders up close but not close enough. For the leaders, they worked evenly and had a good line at sprint. Each of them jumped but it was Hacker who had the kick needed to come around. On the backside, there was plenty of fast riding downhill to try to start something but a red light stopped any escapes.
      The ride back south stayed pretty plain-jane. Jordan L and Chris C got the pace going on West street after the zigzag lights. Special Ed rejoined after an early flat and pushed the pace after everyone went under the overpass. The light back over 322 was green, leading to Hunter P trying to sneak off with Chris C, The Burgess, and a couple of others thru the milled roads there between 322 and West Johnson. Great to see that section of road being re-paved. No one was having it and instead, the pace stayed high all the way back onto Route 10. Not too much by way of action leading into the Stop n Sprint. Hacker tried to jump early but he had the trio of Chris C, Ben Bruce and Hunter P along for the ride. After the reshuffle with only a couple of hundred meters to go, Hacker and Ben Bruce still tried to jump, but Little T had been lying in wait in good position and was able to come around with little fuss.
      Ben Bruce would get his chance later on for the finale, as he jumped up and past a handful of riders (great to see Kyle Crowell up in the mix as well) to be first to the corner.

Tuesday the 12th

      STEP 1) Open a new browser window
      STEP 2) hit S in the URL bar.
      STEP 3) Strava or this blog comes up.... Neat trick huh???

     Great ride tonight! It was great to see some new riders from the New Haven area out on the ride. All the cool kids where there. The crosswind made things interesting and the black jerseys of Cheshire Cycle and Yale were out in force! First it was French Casey. Then The Sernyak. Then HackAttack slipped up and lit up the front… And the ride hadn’t even gotten to Mountain Road yet!
     During the first 25 min Gibertoni and the Burgster teamed up and rode hard on the front. Mix in Ben Bruce, Joe K, and Hunter P and there was always a Cheshire guy trying to get off the front. Jordan L, Special Ed, and Rusty were in for the ERRACE crew.
      Perhaps the strongest show of force we’ve seen from the regulars this year though was when Ben Bruce attacked hard early on Moss Farms. Joe K went with him and those 2 put their heads down and drilled it. The chase was real and instead of the leaders being brought back, a chase group split off the front, with Chris C at the helm, along with the Sernyak, Burgster, Nuemotion, and a couple of others. The chase group came up and eventually caught the leaders just as the peleton was done clawing back the gap, right past the turn for the short loop. Impressive effort from Ben B and Joe K!
      Hacker jumped going over 322 and he took along a new Yalie. Those 2 stayed off the front for a couple of kilo’s. Behind Jordan L, then special Ed, then Chris C, all hitting the front to try to get something started. It all came back together soon after but the pace stayed pretty good for the entire run down Mount Vernon. No real attacks but the crosswind did play a part in catching some guys out and rewarding those that pushed it with small gaps here and there. Turning onto Welch, the first guy to have go off the front was Joe K. He muscled off the front and held the gap as the speed got going behind. Hacker let out the line a little and then jumped hard to bridge. Between them and pack, Burgster, Ben Bruce, Chris C, John Pescatore, Jordan L,  and Hunter P, were vacillating between jumping to bridge or just seeing what would happen. That was a mistake as Joe K and Hacker had all they needed to stay out in front. Hacker opend up the sprint but Joe was able to power out in front to the line.
      On the backside, those 2 kept on it and they would have had a crack at the long bomb had it not been for the red light by the highway. From there the ride was pretty normal. No real attacks of any kind. Jordan L, Gibertoni, Chris C, a little Rob Dux here and there, Rustico, Tall John (good to see him in the mix) and Burgster, all contributing to the action. Nice job to Kyle “the sprout” C. He rode well and made it thru the loop again.
      For the Stop n Shop Sprint, Chris C did his usual leadout, and Jordan L was up there too. The first to jump hard was Hacker, then Little T and Nuemotion. It ended up being a drag race between Little T and Hacker, this time Little T getting one. Good to see him back in action. No one really believed the hold out would continue for that long!
      The ride back in to Hamden was the usual semi sketchiness. Nice and fast. The usual group tore off the front for the sit n sprint (aka lumbering giants on bikes) and once again it was Gibertoni bending crankarms to get past, through, ahead of…. Whatever, French Casey and a couple of others.

Great ride everyone!

Tuesday the 5th

Revenge of the 5th!

There was disturbance in the force and it led to bikes being torn asunder. Here's how it went down....

    There was a group of about 30 jedi out for the first 80 degree ride of year.  Great to see the usual cast of characters and the artist formerly known as ‘T' show up tonight.  Out of the parking lot, French Casey got the motor tuned up and set a solid tempo all the way to the turn in to River skipping the Jim Carey Cycling Heisman he’s so famous for and just sailing North on the headwind.  As he took the first right, Chris C and Rory shot off to bridge leaving the pack unsettled on who was going to chase past Brooksvale park.  Chris C and French got through the stop sign with Chris C keeping the pace high at the front.  The normals, Sernyak, Nalini, Ben Bruce (nice white walls!), Gibertoni, and a few others were pushing to make contact.  As they made contact with Mt Sanford Gibertoni launched up around the knoll taking Ben Bruce with him.  Those two kept on the pace and held the gap until  just past the stop sign on Mountain.  Chris C and Joe K, they actually might have been on a tandem…launched a splendid counter leaving little chance for those in back to stay on.  Those two held a gap until the light (note the theme here).

     On Moss Farms, Professor Crowell had another lesson on group cycling 101 for Burgie.  Burgie failed.  The group was mellow up Moss Farms with Gibertoni hitting the last riser hard and keeping on through the Chicane and past the Po Po at the stop sign on Marion.  Chris C and Sernyak bridged up and the three went to work until…the red light.  Groupo Compacto.  The ride out through Southington was mostly together with the Team Errace, Rob Dux, and a few others driving the effort.  The pace picked up on the turn around with Dillon P launching a solid effort to pull the best Watt/KG ratio on the East Coast; Kyle Crowell, up the left hand side.  I’m pretty sure I heard him yelling FASTER.  For the sprint, Neumotion, the Artist formerly known as ‘T’, Ben Bruce, and Joe K went for it with Joe K pushing through for the crown.  The Artist formerly known as ‘T’, Nuemotion, Crowell, Sernyack(?) snuck through the light on West St and crested the hill before the group made it through opening up a solid gap over the crest of the hill and downward.  Still on probation from last week there were a few folks erring on the side of caution in to the intersections at the bottom of the hill but the double greens meant it was go time and the guys off the front were consumed.

     As the rest of the field made its way back down Pleasant there was a small effort at the underpass, brought quickly back just in time for the next red light.  Onward to Peck, Special Ed and Rusty crested the hill with a solid pace and gapped the field.  Gibertoni and Joe K bridged up and the four came through the corner on to RT10 with a few meters gap and a green light but a small hesitation let the group latch on and come together at the next red light.  A couple of hundred meters later…someone hit the manhole cover/pothole and Nalini, Calfee, and Gibertoni hit the deck in the middle of traffic.  Hopefully everyone is alright, the bikes were definitely not. 

There were a few guys up front who unknowingly made the final selection of the night, with Joe K taking the S&S.  As for the finale…it was kind of the like the Godfather…2 was better than 3.  Ride safe everyone and see you next week.