Another Smallish Group Lays Waste
It was a fast night headlined by CW crushing it at the front. They drove the pace FAST on Moss Farms, which split the field and spit out riders. Steve B took advantage of Little T (Club Med holiday) and Hunter P (the 'Rent) being away from the ride on this night, and he racked up all three sprints.
Turnaround!
Steve B
Brian O
Turner F
Greenhouse!
Steve B
Sean M
Erin Rand
MidSummerDoldrums
Wild Bill started the evening off by surging off the front on Mount Sanford. A combo of Angels and CW up front, increasing the pace, eventually rounded him up once again. There was the usual separation taking place as the ride got to Mountain Road but it was all together with no one attacking on Mountain. George from New Haven was up front looking to attack at a couple of spots but there were plenty of guys (Greg the XC guy, Sean M, Noah B, Turner French, etc) keeping it close. Also helping out was the strong tailwind from the south, which kept the pace high without anoyone needing to crush themselves.
Things got going harder for the start of Mount Vernon, where Turner F, Hunter P, George M, and a couple of others ramped up the pace and drove a gap into the front of the group. That led to Brian O and two others off the front pushing hard with a gap going onto Marion. Sean M came up and thru, closing the gap with Hunter P and Noah B on his wheel.
It the chase was on and everyone would be caught soon after, and the pace reset as it came up on the light for 322. On the otherside of the light, heading to Mount Vernon, there were a few accelereations but nothing that was going anywhere. Once things settled down on Mount Vernon, the pace dropped down quite a bit. Either everyone was tired, being aided by the tail wind, or was thinking about the inevitable hammerdrop to come at the turnaround.
CW moved to the front at Welch and set a quick pace into the crosswind. Erin R, then Brian O, then Turner F. That drove the peleton into an unfamiliar single-file formation heading to the climb and the corner. Brian O took the front the corner, then Turner F took over halfway to the sprint. There were 4-5 cars lined up at the traffic light. Even though the light turned green before the sprinters arrived, getting safely around the slowly accelerating cars meant slowing down big time. The sprint to the mailbox on the right at the very top of the rise was negated.
On the backside, Steve B was using his postion at the front to get a look at pushing off the front. George M was moving up to the front as well, but red lights by the highway shut that down. From there, the group reset, came all back together, and went slowly as it headed back into Cheshire. The pace was downright leisurely at times. This allowed XC Greg to roll off the front getting onto Atwater and he held that gap for a km or so.
The ride crossed over 322 again without action. The next to attack was Grumpy Paul, who pushed off the front with Big Red chasing as the ride got up to the light on Route 10. Steve B also tried to sneak off close to thle light but it was red which killed that. On the other side, Tom Krol and a couple of New Haven Angels took off the front and got to work on a gap as the rest of the pack lazily got going toward the greenhouse. Then another group, with Tim Cormier and more angels got into the gap chasing. Behind, CW massed at the front, with Erin R once again making the early push to ramp up the speed.
CW controlled the front up to the base of the Greenhouse Climb, which set up Turner F and Brian O to lead the field up the hill. Vlad Z also chipped in with a pull. For the sprint, Steve B jumped, along with Little T and Hunter P. Hunter P came around with a few meters to go, with Little T, then Steve B 3rd over the line.
There were plenty of surges heading back into Hamden, but nothing that stuck. Little T got the final sprint again, with Brent DB just staying in front of a charging Steve B, who got third.
Turnaround!
Little T
Cahill
Hacker
Greenhouse!
Little T
Hacker
Cahill
Finale!
Little T
Cahill
Tom K
Turnaround!
Little T
Sean Quadzilla Cahill
Sean M
Greenhouse!
Little T
Sean Quadzilla Cahill
Sean M
Finale!
Little T
Rich Nadaeu
Maher
Eyes Bigger than his Balls
Another great turnout for ride as everyone is training for the 62.5 miles race disguised as a fundraiser, the CCAP's Breakaway Benefit. More new faces were out, (Great to see Sean Cahill out) as well as a couple of the stronger riders from the last couple of weeks.
Soon after route 10, Hunter P jumped off the front and took along Steve B. Those two were going hard for a couple of streets worth, but some traffic in a corner gave the pack the chance to come back up. From there the pace stayed high as guys like Rich N, Jon Fecik, Sean M, and TCC were rotating through the front, keeping the pace high. The start of mountain rd saw a few guys looking like they were getting ready to gun it but it didnt amount to much. Hunter P and Steve B launched it again off the front as the light on route 68 came up. The light went green at the last second, giving everyone the pass.
On Moss Farms, Steve B wasn't done. He stayed near the front and that turned into an attack with Hunter P and Chris C. There wasnt much of a gap from that. Just a hard push that drove the pace up.
Tom K and Sean M lit it up going up to Marion, and with Hunter P attacking the gap, then Steve B, it looked for a moment something could be developing but enough guys responded and filled in the gaps before the ride went by the industrial park. Tom K was still working the front as the ride got close to route 322. He had a couple of guys with him.
The light was green as everyone approached. The leading 3 or 4 guys made it clean. There was a 10-15 meter gap to the next group of 18-20 riders. Then another similar gap to approx 10 riders making up the third group. The first group was fine going under light. The next group, if it was adhering to what certain loud mouths on the ride bitch and moan about, should have slammed on the brakes and stopped for the safety of all those behind them. They didn't. No one rider can be blamed or penalized of course, but this was another illuminating instance that shows the reality of the ride.
We're going to do what we're going to do. Some moves will be considered dumb or unsafe, but in the end rarely anything is done that is truly dangerous. Everyone wants the ride to be as safe as possible, however we ALL are going to break the "rules" at some point. Anyone that complains about specific actions but shows a double standard is not to be taken seriously.
The group that got held up continued on after the light and reportedly had a great time working hard as a smaller group. "Way harder and better than with the entire pack"
A couple more weeks of All-State Action at SGR!
A few new faces were out today, which was awesome. Great to Karel C and Nuemotion out on the ride. Once the ride turned off route 10, Steve B tried to sneak off the front but was tracked down soon after by CristianV and Dan Banana. The pace settled down from there, it was steady heading thru Cheshire. Dan Banana was back at the front pushing the pace before Mountain Rd. That got some attention from guys in the pack. Mike Hons was active on Mountain Rd, and Steve B tried to get off the front again before the light came up. The reaction was there, and the light was red anyway.
On Moss Farms, Cristian V and Hacker were up at the front pushing the pace. Hons took another flyer going onto Marion with a strong move, but in the end, it stayed all together. The pace was high as guys like Dan Banana and CristianV were at the front setting a strong tempo.
Across the light heading to, Cedric B, Steve B, Hunter P, and a couple of others jumped off the front to get a head start onto Mount Vernon but there were a few cars at the lefthander there which shut it down.
From there, no surprises heading north. CristianV was at the front plenty. Jeff Scala, Dan Banana, and new guy Jon Fecik. Plenty of rotation up front, no big attacks, all together for Mount Vernon.
Heading onto Welch, a couple of guys were pushing off the front. Steve May, Ben Gram, and Brent DLB with one or two others. It all came back together on Welch though. Heading to the corner, once again there were several riders accelerating to the corner and quickly turning onto West St. There was a bit of a headwind which made guys seek shelter heading to the sprint. Little T led it out and was able to stay just ahead of Hunter P and Dan Banana a bit farther back. Dan would try to keep the pressure on after the sprint, but no gaps.
Later on West St, Dan would get another chance with Steffen H but heading downhill it would be really hard to keep a gap. They kept at it though, and on Awater St the break looked like it had a chance. Behind, Steve B attempted to jump acriss the gap before the light. The light was red though, which ended everyone's breakaways.
From there, across route 10 and towards the next climb, the pace stayed steady and there were no big attacks. Heading to the Greenhouses, Scala was up there again with teammate Bill C. Once the climb started, it wasn't long before Turner jumped off the front, taking Ben Gram and Evan Woodford. Those three were allowed to get a little gap and then rolled with it. Behind Chris C chased, then VladZ, but the gap was holding. Up front Evan Wood came off the group near the top of the climb but was able to stay between the leaders and the muted chase. Turner led Ben Gram over the top and those two stayed on the gas. They slid thru the light, whereas the pack stopped and waited for 20 seconds or so. That was enough for the two up front to it back to the start all alone.
Back in the pack, Little T jumped off the front earlier than usual, and was able to just hold off a charging Steffen H, who just came up a bit short.
