Tuesday the 20th

Not the type of ride to enjoy a sun-shiny day.

              Seems like each ride this week has had just about the same amount of riders participating. Within a few here and there, the ride size has been pretty consistent. Tonight was no different.

Starting pretty much right out of the parking lot, the alpaca was out there and going it alone off the front. The ride was turn off route10 all together though. Soon enough, Chris C was leading a charge off the front. Alapaca, Mike McG , The Sernyak, Nuemotion, Rusty and a couple of others were trying to get off the front. The group swelled a bit as Guido rode into it, but no one really capitalized leading up and going thru the crap road section (for good reason), meaning that it would all come back together soon after.

                A new rider from Danbury Audi (Christian) was slowly working his way up to the front, looking like business as he made his way up there. He would be one of the couple of riders pushing the pace up the first section of Mountain Road. Most everyone else was in a Wait-and-see mode, meaning that strong riders were being marked, and sneaky stronger riders were waiting for the ideal chance to jump.

                More of the same on Moss Farms. Chris C was one of the first to go, with Alpaca going up after him. When Danbury Christian, jumped up in pursuit, a couple of riders tagged along. In strong form Christian would catch the leaders and then overhaul them, albeit slowly. As the corner loomed, too many guys knew the road and were therefore reluctant to jump off the front. That meant it was all together heading into the chicane. The pace there slowed quite a bit as there was a turning car in front of the charging pack. After that obstacle, Chris C charged off the front, heading thru the corner with a slight lead. Once again, the presence of the new, obviously strong rider, would up the game and keep other on their toes. That lead to a decent sized group getting a gap as the turn for the short loop was passed. There was some strong pulls at the front of the peleton ( tall Dennis, Todd H) to bring back the 8 or 9 riders who would certainly have ridden away with it with the right road conditions. The following section was then pretty fast, but without attacks.

The light at 322 was green which made for some tired riders at the back of the pack, without a chance to recover. The speed stayed high onto Mount Vernon, Chris C and The Sernyak were up there, trying to get a gap. Next up was Hunter P, who rolled off the front, taking 3 or 4 riders with him. The pace in the lead group stayed high, while the response was a little slow. Nuemotion and Special Ed charged across the gap with one or 2 other riders. The crappy roads there on Mount Vernon slowed down any organized chase, while the front group was at max throttle, bouncing all over the place, as guys were looking for a clean path of pavement. Advantage> Front Group. Soon enough, there was a real deal split in the field, with 12 or so riders up the road charging hard, 8-10 riders struggling to connect, some more riders dropped behind that group. Carnage level higher than normal as the headwind was definitely taking its toll.

The lead group would hit the corner for Welch Rd with about a 12 second gap. Up front, plenty of guys were chipping in, helping keep the speed high. For the approach to the corner, Chris C slowly jumped off the front. Right there was Mike McG. A bit later to answer was Nuemotion. Those 2 went thru the corner with a 405 second gap. Behind, a group of 5 or 6, headed up by Jacinto and Danbury Audi was collecting itself for the pursuit. The trio up the road would get to work, and they made the most of the gap. Just a few short moments later, it was evident that they wouldn’t be caught. From within that trio, the prize went to Mike McG, who patiently waited til the right time to jump and take the sprint.

On the downhill, it would all come back together, although the turnaround hill had further split up what was the main group. A couple of the subsequent lights were green, adding to the advantage that the first 10 riders on the road had. By the I84 flyover, there were riders scattered all over the place. One red light slowed the group down, giving a certain number a chance to catch back on. The second group on the road, separated on the false flat of Mount Vernon, was long gone and out of it though.

Jumping off the red light was Chris C. He took along Christian from Danbury and Mike McG. Those 3 rolled up to Hunter P, who had snuck thru the red light but was sitting up waiting. Chris C kept the charge going up to the top of West St and down the backside, which extended the lead for the front 4. The second group, consisting of 10-13 riders was held up briefly at one more light. The ensuing gap was all the front 4 needed. They would roll off uncontested, getting the long-ball prize of the week.

For the Stop n Shop sprint, Hunter P got it after Chris C started the sprint. For the finale, No one contested Mike McG as he rolled away with a couple hundred meters to go.

Great ride everyone! Even better than last week! Better bring you’re A-game next as well!

Tuesday the 13th

The SG ride... Maybe the most unselfish thing you’ll do all week!

   The usual crowd + some not so usual faces were out for the ride tonight. The most eventful part of the start  to this week’s ride was the motorbike rider who was hanging around repeatedly. It didn’t look like Tall John on a nice new touring moto but who knows. Maybe someone can fill us in. Anyway, with the temptation to draft in a couple of places, there were more than a couple of guys looking to snooker the bunch behind the engine. Nothing came of it though.

    The first real move happened and Chris C split a group of 5 off as the ride sped toward Mountain Rd. Once Guido got up to ride across, the rest of the ride responded and it was all together making the turn onto MTN. Hunter P attacked up the hill but was alone and with Chris C chasing hard up the first risers, didn’t stay out there too long. From there the ride was all together to the light, which was green, allowing all through. The lack of a break would spell a bit of trouble for some riders in the back who would go on to get unhitched later on Moss Farms.

     Back in the pack, Hacker used the green light to get a jump on the bunch. He rolled off a bit of a gap before Chris C jumped in pursuit. Then Keith Mullaly (who may or may not have finished 3^rd at the rent the week before) also jumped to bridge the gap. Neither chasers were making up much ground on Hacker, who was using the tailwind to set down a pretty vicious tempo. After a bit, Hunter P and Mike G jumped hard, going by and collecting the 2 chasers on their way to Hacker. Young Mullaly couldn’t cut it and dropped back leaving 4 up the road. That group went thru the chicane with a solid 6 or 7 seconds on the pack. From the back, Nuemotion came flying up and thru all to get to the lead group before the riser to Marion. After the corner, the gap started coming down and by the turn for the short loop it was all back together. Hacker and Chris C would keep on it though but they would again be corralled before heading over 84. Little T countered with a good attack that send him off the front in chase of green light on 322. It indeed turned to green as the ride came up to it, but by then it was gruppo compacto. The only one who really used the chance to keep the attacks/surges going was The Sernyak. He split off the front for a quick bit but was brought back by the corner onto Mount Vernon.  

    From there the next to go was Sasha from CCB and Hacker. Those 2 hit the front hard and got a gap of 70 meters or so before the rest started to wind it up. The 2 up the road, benefiting from the tailwind, kept up a good pace that made pack cohesion start to wither. The crappy roads didn’t help the chase and the 2 up front stayed out there all the way to the false flat section. There was lot’s of gaps opening up in the chase as the riser came up but then the gas ran out up front. As Hacker and CCB sat up, the rest took the cue and also slowed down, probably more out of necessity than laziness.

     The Sernyak kept on it though, as did Tall Dennis. The Sernyak gets the “most combative award” for the night as he managed to stay out there all the way to the corner for Welch. The chase behind wasn’t full gas, but was decent, especially as the corner came up. Credit Rory D, Julio L, Chris C and Hutner P with last minute pulls to get the field going again. Hunter P led it out on Welch, followed up by Chris C and a couple of others. The speed was high for the whole stretch of the road, but not so high that Hacker couldn’t attack and find daylight. He took along Ben Bruce as well and those 2 rolled thru the corner with 15 seconds or so. Behind, Nuemotion, Chris C, Jacinto, Hunter P, Little T and maybe 1 more were quick to drill it. That made for a chase group of 6 that was quickly pushed back by the wind. The gap to the leaders came down, but then it went up as it was evident that whoever sprinted from the front 2 would be able to get it. Instead, Hacker and Bruce just stayed on the gas and Ben Bruce ended up rolling thru first without a contest from his more aero-helmeted companion.

        On the backside, there was some effort to roll away, but red lights allowed all to catch back on. From there, the ride back was uneventful with the headwind. Jacinto and The Sernyak again tried to get away by the highway but that was brief. Once on Peck Ln after crossing 322 again, Guido would attack, but traffic at the intersection there stopped that. From there, it was mostly everyone just sharing the workload into the wind back onto and up Route 10.

       For the Stop n Sprint, red lights caused a bit of a cluster funch for the run-in. There was about 8 guys in a group all in a position to slowly sprint for it. Little T jumped out halfway up the hill to take it from Nuemotion and Jacinto. From there, back into Hamden, the ride was fast as the headwind seemed to stop being such a nuisance. For the final 500 meters, again, there was a crowd in place to go for it. Little T again rolled away with a final surge that no one was able to answer.

Great ride everyone! Lot’s of “let’s keep it fast because it’s better fast” riding out there!             

Tuesday the 6th

Forget the Circus! The SG Ride is in Town!

    Decent sized crowd out for the ride tonight. The Training series up at the 'Rent started tonight so that no doubt lured a few riders from up north. It was not cool to see Little T get hit with a flat shortly after turning onto Whitney Ave. He would fix it and back track but wouldn't get back up to the group until a little ways during the way home. The ride started out slowly once into the backroads and it stayed somewhat neutral going thru the crap road section. Chris C was amoung the first to get things going. His second surge after the corner onto South Brooksvale was answered at first, allowing a gap to open up on the way to Mountain Rd. The Sernyak and Jacinto (who were all over the ride tonight, riding like 4 guys not 2) started out to close the gap along with Ben Bruce (we think) and a couple of others. The chase became a lead group of about 5 when Guido got involved. It was great to see Guido back on the ride tonight, like he never skipped a beat. Anyway, when the peleton realized that the break was moving up the road, everyone went into full on chase. It was single-file spread-out for 2 football fields as the ride came up on Moutnain Rd. It re-collected but no one really pushed the pace after that so it gave everyone a chance to recollect.

     The headwind really started to bite after the initial risers on Mountain. Hunter P was allowed to roll up the front, taking along the Gibertoni. Those 2 worked up a gap on the second set of risers and nearly kept it all the way to the light. Behind, the peleton was not really killing it into the wind and the gap yoyo'd. Once Guido started to charge across the gap, everyone started to ride hard. Guido, Todd H and Nuemotion made their up to the leading 2 but the field was close behind and the light was red from a distance, slowing the front down and giving the rest a chance to catch back on.

The light actually turned green at the last moment, letting everyone ride thru. Hacker jumped up and thru the section onto Moss Farms. Chris C and Hunter P were with him as well. That trio wasn't given as much space though and there were enough chasers to keep it together for the start of Moss Farms. Halfway thru that section, Joe K rolled off the front, despite the headwind and a reasonable tempo. His gap kept going up all the way to the downhill leading into the corner. Chris C had jumped out in pusiut but was stuck in between. Joe K would go thru the chicane with about a 40 meter lead and he kept on hammering away at it into the climb up to Marion. Chris C was also still going hard and was the first to reach Joe right after the corner. Those 2, with a small gap, went to work to extend it as there were Cheshire riders playing a bit of defense in the pack. Joe K and Chris C kept the break going nearly to the I84 overpass. Hacker was the one that went balls deep to bring them back. Mike McG and Hunter P were there with him and that meant that no one behind was going to let them roll away.

     Once it was all back together, Hunter P countered and had a gap going to the light. It was red tho, giving everyone a chance to collect themselves. Once onto crap road section#2 (aka Mount Vernon), Guido was the one primarily responsible for getting it going again. College St riders also, along with Mike McG and the new rider with the Dux helmet. No real action on Mount Vernon this week as the headwind was really tamping down the aggressive riding. Towards the end, Hacker was spied moving up and there was some strong pulling from Chris C, The Gibertoni and Nuemotion.

Turning onto Welch, it was Chris C, Mike McG, Joe K, and Hunter P up front. Mike put in a good pull to come up to the base of the climb, leaving Chris C in a good spot to jump. Jacinto and Hunter P went straight with them and Hacker also joined them after the corner. Those 4 would quickly start to pull away with the help of the tailwind. Chris C did pulled for a while. Then Jacinto took over at the very front. Chris was the first to jump for the sprint but Hunter P quickly went around with Hacker on his 6. Hunter P narrowly held on for the long drag race to the mailbox.
    On the backside, a group of 6 or 7 came together due to the big gaps from the climb. Red lights stopped their progress though. That led to an all together ride all the back to the light on 322. After the light, Christian high-cadence Duncan was allowed to roll off the front. Guido was the next to go and he took along Hunter P. Up front, C.D. was building a gap despite the chase but traffic at the corner of West Johnson slowed him down. Guido and Hunter P kept on it though and those 2 stayed away past the false flat on Peck. Behind, the chase had split off a group of 5 riders (Mike McG, Chris C, Nuemotion, The Sernyak, Hacker, maybe 1 more). That group rolled up to Hunter P and Guido, making it a strong lead group riding away. A turning car at the intersection slowed the lead group to a near stop, letting the peleton catch back up. Hacker and Chris C kept on it though but they couldn't break free on the hill with everyone cruising thanks to the push in the back.

Coming up to the Stop n Sprint, another red light slowed the pace but Guido fired up the engine right after, taking along just Jacinto and Neumotion. Behind, the chase started up brielfy but it was soon evident that the front 3 would get it. Guido pulled and then pulled off, leaving Nuomtion to start the sprint out. Jacinto clung to the wheel for a while but then killed the engines, and Nuemotion salied on to take the sprint.

     The ride back into Hamden was started off with Hacker trying to sneak off the front but there was enough guys to cover the gaps. Green lights thru town made it nice and quick and the ride back was equally fast. For the Sit n Sprint, Nuomtion grabbed it, making it 2 on the night.

Great ride everyone!

Tuesday the 22nd

Welcome to Belgium 

Another bumbakotch weather day means a low turnout means grumpy Chris C means little places to hide in the pack. 15-20 guys were out and set off. The usual suspects, a few CCR guys, the Stop n shop skeleton crew, a couple of new haveners, and a new guy from Yale. After pleasantries and a quick debate about next week’s transition to the long loop we were rolling.
   The ride started out with a proper amount of mellow in everyone's tires. On Brooksvale Chris C upped the pace just after the Gingerbread house. Mike McG and The Gibertoni joined him. It came back all together after a neutralized corner onto Mountain rd. Quite sketchy. Soon after it was vol-gas once again. With the group widdling quickly under the pressure, all the Easter prayers in the world couldn’t save them from the green light waiting at the end of Mountain.
   Joe K, Chris, and Mike hit it again on Moss Farms but not much cooperation from the front meant that an opportunity for the new Yale guy to head off the front. He was allowed 50 meters before The Gibertoni chased, caught, and went to work up front. The two rode through the Chicane and the corner of Marion together before Chris C bridged up. Soon after, with little motivation in the "peleton", Mike McG rode up soon after as the leaders rode into the industrial park. Onto the corner for West Johnson, a stalled car at the stop sign slowed the group, giving Jacinto and a few others the chance to ride thru and pick up the pace as the jockeying for Reinhard began. Unfamiliar with the route and being on the front, the new Yale guy headed straight for route 10 as Jacinto, Neumotion, Chris C, Mike McG tried to make the turn for the show down. That got the some grumblecakes out of the oven. As Chris C would say "Rule #1 - If you don't know the route, stay off the front". Sometimes it's best to keep the sand outta his shorts new guy but more often than not, it's better to try to tear his legs off. Keep up the great work! We hope the Yalie is back soon to try to up the pace.
    For the sprint, Joe K was creeping behind the front runners and hit the afterburners to go clear to the turn and take the prize. On the backside, the pace was fast down the hill and through the turn on to Peck. With the group down to just 7 (Jacinto, Neumotion, Chris C, McG, Joe K, Kurt D, Gibertoni) the ride back on RT 10 was fair-work with everyone pitching in. For the Stop n Shop sprint, Neumotion took it, jumping out from the wheels at the last moment, which got some more grumblecakes. For the finale, a final few solid pulls from Kurt D, Dillon P, and The Gibertoni left the sprint to be contested by Chris C, Jacinto and Mike McG with the big guy taking it at the end. 
   Good ride everyone. Next week, perhaps the long loop??? Let's hear your opinion in the comments.

Tuesday the 8th

Screw the SG Ride. Let's go play basketball!

    Post-Battenkill Depression (PBD Syndrome) was in full effect tonight. It took a full 2 minutes of riding off route 10 for Chris C to hit the front and accelerate. It got things going but overall as the ride had to deal with a devilish northwest wind, the speed was slow for most of the early miles.

Chris C, Hacker and other College ST riders tired again to lift the pace on South Brooksvale, but it stayed together as The Gibertoni and Little T worked hard to close down gaps heading towards Mountain Rd.

     No real attacks of any sort on Mountain Rd. A new guy on an older Litespeed (name?) speed off and was looking pretty strong at various points of the first half but he was roped back in as the ride went by Cornwall Ave. Gregg F sped off the front as route 68/70 loomed, apparently wise to the fact that the light would be green. Everyone sped up to go thru with him and the peleton made it safely through.

     Hacker, Jacinto, Chris C, Young Suto and a couple of others kept up the pressure on Moss Farms. The lack of a red light on 68/70 meant that some of the smaller elk were still trying to jump over the fence and were in no position to chase hard initially on Moss Farms. That meant a small group (Hacker, Nuemotion, Hunter P, Chris C, Mike McG, Special Ed, Jordan Lynn, The Sernyak, rolled off on the risers. They all looked at each other though and no one took needed action to keep the bum rush going. Behind, Half of the CCB Toss-up (Good to see Sasha out tonight) was calmly bringing the field back into the front.

    Hacker kept on the gas up to Marion but would soon be corralled by the lackluster steady speed up front. CCB kept up front to help things along into the industrial park and once there, the tailwind was doing most of the work for everyone.

    Onto West Johnson, where Jordan Lynn, Chris C, College St, and a few others were making the ride go faster. More intersection traffic on Peck meant a disruption of pace. Once thru, Hacker was the first to jump with an eye on the sprint point. He rolled off slowly but got up to 50 meters out when Jacinto broke off the front in pursuit. Behind, Special Ed was ramping it up, getting the front group of 10 or so to within 20 meters. Once Jacinto reached Hacker, the 2 traded pulls and got going again before dipping down on Reinhard. That gave Hacker enough to jump for the sprint. Behind, no real teamwork up front meant the chase failed momentarily. Young Suto jumped anyway, and then soon Little T. Both would sit up pretty quickly as Hacker was away for good. He rolled thru the corner alone and then down the backside with haste. Behind Hunter P was rolling thru the corner with The Sernyak on his wheel with a gap to the rest. Those 2 stayed on the gas down and then up the riser to join up with Hacker in the left hand corner. Behind the gap to the consolidated bunch was a solid 8-10 seconds and it went up from there. No one was in a chasing mood on Peck and the 3 up the road were in breakaway mode.

    That was that. The gap kept going up and those 3 stayed away for the rest of the ride to take the season's first long ball prize. No further sprints were contested up front. Behind, the pace ramped up for the stop n shop sprint, and some were even unaware that a break was up the way. Must be the depression. It's a long season everyone!

Shameless Plug Time

Hello fans of the SG Blog.

Now is you chance to show your appreciation of the guys that make the SG ride so much fun. Give  your support to SG riders who have decided to throw support back towards the CCAP.

Here are their pages:
Hunter P
Joe K
Monte Burgess
Matt Fiener from DG
Young Suto
Tri Doug
Pescatore


 Friday and Saturday donations are matched, making it a great time to help them close in on their goals!

Tuesday the 1st

Better late than never!

     Big jump in ride turnout tonight as a bunch of old faces came out as well as some new ones.The 2014 season is in full swing! The ride got going a bit slowly today as a couple of guys no doubt were out there taking it easy in anticipation of the most important race in the whole wide universe... Batten$ill. Best wishes to all the SG'ers heading out to NY state this weekend!
    Casey-oh-all-right-I-will-win-King got things going and guys like Mike McG, Chris C, and the trio of College St Riders ( Jacinto, Hacker, and The Sernyak ) joined up front and kept the pace crisp. No attacks though... Just solid pace making to get everyone going. On Mountain Rd, Mike McG, Chris C and Hunter P hit the front and drove it hard up the first inclines there, nearly peeling off a gap but guys like Young Suto, Jacinto, Tall Dennis, Hacker and a couple of others kept that surge from making any gaps to the field. Later on towards the end of Mountain Rd, Dave-sweet-tooth-Hoyle took to the front and got a small gap but was shut down by Chris C, the Full Nalini. French Casey, etc. The light was red on Route 68 / 70 anyway.
    No one attacked on Moss Farms, although a couple of guys definitely ramped up the pace.Young Suto, Mike McG, Joe K, Dave H, Ben Bruce, foremost among them. That led to a trio of Chris C, Hunter P and Young Suto off the front towards the end of Moss Farms. They worked up a gap of about 50 meters, but with the downhill into the chicane coming up, it wasn't enough to hold it. The field came barreling back up but was in no position to take over the front heading up to Marion.  French Casey was able to jump hard though and drilled it off the front. The upfront trio responded but the whole field was pretty much there to hitch the ride up. Once onto Marion, Joe K hit it with Hunter P and those 2 were allowed to roll off the front. They stayed away till the corner for the industrial park as guys behind were sorting themselves out. As everyone turned into the industrial park, the ride finally got going with the tough sections looming. The 2 up front were caught by a chase group of French Casey and Young Suto. They briefly took off with a small gap but that didnt last long. Instead the front switched hands a couple of times. A new guy, let's call him "muffin top" for now, was up there keeping tempo along with Ben Bruce, Joe K and New Guy Rob.
    As the ride turned onto West Johnson, Dave H took to the front and peeled off a gap. Going with him was Hunter P and they quickly got a gap as Dave H was going for broke for the sprint, even though this was the first time he was on the short loop. They hit the intersection with Peck ln just as a car was getting there and instead of plowing thru it, slowed to an almost stop, got the driver's ok to pass, and kept going. That gave the rest of the field a chance to come up although was a bit fractured from the chase. French Casey was there, Young Suto, The Sernyak, The Full Nalini, and a couple of others. The next to jump was Chris C, who went all in with an attack well before the corner. The Sernyak moved up into the gap but didnt get too far in the chase. Behind, Hacker, Jacinto, Hunter P, and one or two others were bringing it all back together. Chris C would be caught on the short downhill, setting up Hacker to jump from way out. On his 6 pretty quickly was Hunter P, and those 2 got away from the chasers. Jacinto was next to go but had some ground to make up as Hacker was all in. Hunter P sat on and was able to jump out and past with 150 meters to go. Jacinto was driving up and closing the gap but Hunter P stayed out till the corner by a couple of bike lengths.
    On the backside, it took a little while to recollect, and despite French Casey hitting the front again and then some, it was all together for the run up Peck Ln. As everyone neared Route 10, Hoyle was back at it, this time splitting off a small gap with Muffin Top, Christian D, and The Sernyak. That was brought back in the corner though, as everyone up front wisely slowed down for the turn. Dave H kept on the throttle all the way up the hill as riders were shuffling around behind him. Once past that first hill on Route 10, he still kept on it, and was looking dangerously close to riding away to the sprint with whoever could hang on but the light at Maple Ave was red ( for a while ) allowing everyone and their mother to get back to the front.
    The Stop n Shop became a 300 meter drag race as everyone slowly got off the light, and then waited to bring up the speed. Launching first was Young Suto, who looked to have a good jump, but had a few guys on his wheel pretty quickly. Mike McG, French Casey, Hacker, Young Suto, Little T, etc. Hacker took the early lead but was overhauled in the last moments by Little T, who is slowly getting back to his old chainring-bending self. Red lights in Cheshire meant no one was getting away.
    The trip back to Hamden was quick. Mostly because with 3/4 mile to go, Dave H rolled off again. Response was bit slow as the pace was already respectable at that point. It allowing him to get a real-deal gap of about 60 meters. The front 5 or 6 sorted themselves out, thanks to Mike McG coming up and thru and pulling half the gap back. The rest was taken care of with about 300 meters to go. Timing it correctly was Young Suto, who drilled it and got a gap that only a motor-pacing, out of the saddle Casey King could cover.... So needless to say, the final prize goes to the high-schooler.
    Great ride everyone!