Tuesday the 15th

Welcome to the 2011 Sleeping Giant Ride!

aka: The Throwdown , The Sword Fight, The Plainville Training Series Midweek Race , The Tuesday World  Championships , Luigi's Ride , The Amity Bikes ride , Crazy and Stupid.....

Whatever you call it, it's back and better then ever.

    There was a good size group out for the ride tonight. Maybe 35 riders. No, there was no celebrity rider out today. Right off route 10, Mike McG and Brian Suto rolled off the front and were soon joined by Guido, Chris C, Antonio D and a couple of others. They built up a gap of 12 seconds before the counter moves started. The catch was made right before Mountain road, thanks to some power riding by Jacinto, Joe K and Hunter P. Soon after that Eric M and Rondo got on and it became a good sized group barreling down Mountain Rd. With everyone ( mostly the guys who have been racing on the weekends ) taking turns up front, they quickly moved out of sight of the Peleton. It didnt help that power-house Dillon P got a flat on Mountain and couldn’t contribute to the chase. The light on route 68 stopped the front group and gave the ride a chance to regroup. With no red light, the group was gone for the day.

     Rondo got things going on Moss Farms, and a couple of rider rolled off with him. A sudden attack from Mike McG nearly ripped the peleton in 2, as he drilled it 120% for a brief moment to get across the gap. Everyone stayed on for the most part though and it was all together for the chicane and the run into Marion Ave. Guido was the only one to test the frigid waters off the front, and he stayed off the front for half a kilo or so once onto Marion. The front runners started to look antsy again as the ride was preparing to turn onto West Johnson, but it stayed civil, with mostly new haven guys ( new face? ) up front.

     For the run up to Reinhard, Rondo rolled off the front but it was others cuing up behind who were going to be contesting it. It started off lazy enough but Eric M hit the gas from the very base of the hill, taking Joe K along with him. Eric pulled away at first but its a super long drag and Joe got him self back into it, pulling neck and neck and then rolling thru the corner first... But it was nearly a tie. Jacinto, Chris C and one or 2 others were the ones well behind but still off the front of the main group.

     Everyone got their composure back and the ride back onto Route 10 was normal. There wasn't any funny business till the Stop N Sprint, where it was Zane's in the familiar role of keeping the speed high for Eric M. Eric again started the sprint first, this time with the reliable Anthony, back-in-the-saddle-Alessio right on his six. Little T was able to pop around for the flowers there.

     Heading into Hamden, Chris C and the Mountain Man tried to get off the front but that didn't last too long and it was all together for the ride back. For the sit sprint finish, Eric M scored some points, getting there first, besting Guido and Dillon P, who rejoined after fixing his flat.

The kick-off

5:30 roll time for tomorrow the 15th
DONKEY KONG TIME

Tuesday night fun is coming soon!

The time change is just around the corner.

Are we excited yet?

Tuesday the 12th

The TWC serves up one more week of fun

The weather looked good and there was some yet still ansty legs out there so the ride continues for one more (last?) week. There was about 16 or 17 guys out for the ride.

Eric M, hot off a solid 5th place in Jamestown yesterday, was doing a lot of work tonight. The Rivet racing dude was up there early on. Joe K, Hunter P and Gregg F for Cheshire Cycling. MaHoney along with BenGe etc etc.

Chris C joined up midway thru Mountain Rd wearing a nuclear shade of neon yellow, sure to be visible to a blind person at midnight, and went straight to work, continuing his late season form.

Stefano attacked on Moss Farms, East Johnson Ave, and on Peck lane. Hunter P chased him down each time.

Chris C attacked on the hill to Marion with Antonio D from CCR and then when on to hold the a gap over the ho hum chasers up to the industrial park.

Joe K was forced to lead out Little T for the Rienhard sprint and didnt really have a chance in the end. Little T would also take the Stop n Shop sprint over Hunter P and Eric M.

See ya'll next year.

Tuesday the 5th

Rained out......

Though there were reports of the 2 Richard Sachs dudes riding... If so, good on em.

Tuesday the 28th

Screw work! Let's ride at 5:30!

One of the last weeks for the ride was made pretty mellow by all-day rains. But that didnt stop a hearty crew of about 12 or so from rolling out. Mike McG, Rondo, Robyn, MoMoney Mahoney, Gregg F, Dillon P, Peter Kenny, Koski, Hunter P, Eric M, a new guy on a cross bike who would get left behind halfway thru, Stefano from Italy with the Paris Sports jersey, Richard Sachs Chris, and a couple of others.

The early pace was MoHoney and Dillon P. Then Eric M came up and would put in a long pulls with some help from Mike McG. Soon everyone was getting involved and it was pretty smooth to Route 68. A couple of guys would get left behind as as the pace picked up at the end of Mountain rd and as everyone hustled thru the green light. Eric M continued to do a lions share at the front, but the Paris Sports Stefano was chipping in more and more. At the top of the Chicane, Hunter P used some traffic to make a jump off the front that lasted into the industrial park.

Heading up West Johnson Ave, Stefano would roll off the front with Eric M right on his wheel. None of the Zane's would chase him down so the 2 hit the corner for Reinhard with a pretty substantial gap. The gap would keep going up as it was Hunter P and Mahoney left to lead the rest. Mahoney would jump cleanly into no-mans-land early on Reinhard as Eric M and Stafano were working well togetrher by avoiding a full out sprint. Hunter P jumped at the base of the sprint hill to try to cover the huge 200 meter gap. Mike McG jumped a little after that and would mark Hunter P all the way up. Despite the gap being all but erased, Mike McG would hold off on coming over the top and Eric M would get to sail thru the corner first.

On the backside, the 4 would team up and go to work right away into the headwind on Peck ln and that was more then enough to keep the gap over the remaining 5 or 6 riders that were behind. Hunter P took the Stop n Shop sprint uncontested. On the way back into Hamden, all four worked well. Mike McG was the last one to hit the front for the finale.

All in all a decent ride despite the rain. Thanks to those who braved the weather.

Tuesday the 21st

Double the Rage tonight... Double the fun...


Good to see Robyn back on the ride after her crash last week. Here we go! Hunter P and Dillon P put in two monster pulls and had everyone on the rivet!!!! Oh thats right were in the real world this week I forgot. The ride started out low key, rt10 was taken at 20mph or so. As we turned off onto the back roads Eric , LT and Crowell were doing most of the work. With a strong tailwind the speed was high and nothing was going up the rode. It was good to see Brain Spiotti out he was on the front for a spell. At rt42 Eric , Koski and Crowell got a gap but Guido brought it back before the turn onto the climb. The pace was high on the road to the light at the rt68. Going toward the chicane the work on the front was pretty much stats quo with MCG and Petey thrown in the mix now. The ride was all strung out as we hit the hill after the chicane at the top a CCR rider attacked (Joe K?) but MCG brought him back and took a long pull into the industrial park.

Once into the park the pace was a steady 30+ all the way! Gotta love that tailwind. When we got out of the park the pace settled in with the crosswind from the right. As the ride approached the first sprint of the day. Eric and MCG set up LT for a easy win at the top. The next guy was 100 meters behind! Eric got tailed off from his long pull so I sat off the back to help him back. Thats when I saw group of 5 OTB with Bengay leading the charge back up, they didn't make it. Round 12 to Mahoney I guess its a TKO. The false flat after the green house was taken at tempo due to the dug up road. When the ride hit rt10 the pace was tame with the wind dead in the face.

At the S&S sprint Guido took the title of king of the hill. Down 10 we got every light so the ride was pretty uneventful until the finish. Guido showing some late season form took the prize once again. It was almost dark at the finish so I think this was the last 6:00 pm ride so 5:30 next week.