Tuesday the 26th

Withdrawal from the SGR kicks in hard right around Thursday mid morning for most.

   With each week we get closer to some final rides.... Guido's final ride.... The final ride of the summer.... Plenty of riders were out on Tuesday to enjoy the great weather and declining daylight. Still ample time to enjoy the long loop and generally the ride was quick tonight. More than a few riders had to slow/stop for issues during the crap road section early on. Then Chris C got a flat at the end of Mountain Rd.
   After that the usual guys were up front drilling it... Jordan L, Gary B(!), Sasha from CCB, Hunter P, Rob Dux, Burgiebaby, Team Nuemotion and a couple of others. Attacks were made, none really stuck. Mike McG won the war of attrition for the midpoint, into-the-wind sprint. Couple of more attacks on the way back into Cheshire. Christiano from Honduras went ballistic on the hill up past Cheshire Park and got a gap. He was assisted early on by couple of red lights for the field and rolled away with not only the Stop n Sprint point but kept on going all the way to the bank! Nice job riding aggressively on his part!
    Behind, the field knew it would be racing for second but still ramped up the speed once thru the lights of Cheshire. Guido uncorked a monster effort that took 5 or 6 riders off the front with about 2k to go. Soon after there was a high speed crash when a panicked rider swerved and slowed, taking out Hunter P and 2 others in the process. All besides Hunter P were able to eventually continue in order to finish out the ride. 
    Let's hope it doesn't affect next week's ride too much.

Tuesday the 19th

The missing week......

Gibertoni! Gibertoni! Gibertoni! Gibertoni! Gibertoni!
He is well on his way to upgrading to Cat3. 
Burgiebaby! Burgiebaby! Burgiebaby! Burgiebaby!
Because the SG ride will always need a strong rider to yell at.

Tuesday the 12th

The SG ride waits for no man... Except Jacinto, on his last ride with us...

     The rain held off for the 20-25 riders who came out for the ride tonight. Everyone was keen on sending off Jacinto and Guido in style. Jacinto moves back to Portugal on Friday. Surely it can be said that he made the most of the weekly SG Ride, not least of all because he was a true regular, but rather because he added to the ride, and didn't just sit in.

We'll all be fortunate if just one rider can pick up the slack.

     Right from the get go, Guido was quick to get to the front. Initially he had along Jeff Weaver and Pescatore for help and for a moment early on, the trio was making headway on the backroads. Soon after a couple of guys (The Full Nalini, Dillon P, Hacker, Mike McG, Hunter P, etc) started chasing in earnest and it was all back together. Getting onto Mount Sanford, Hacker took to the front along with Nuemotion and those 2 got a gap within a few seconds. Young Suto, and Hunter P were was quick to get involved and soon a select group was chasing down the leaders as everyone barreled toward Mountain Rd.

     There was no real gaps heading onto Mountain but the pack was stretched out due to the smaller field and the fast pace set by the chase. Hunter P hit the gas on the first set of risers on Mountain and split off a gap that Young Suto, Hacker and Mike McG were able to add to. Nuemotion came up a few seconds later and then Ben Bruce made it up as well. That lead group kept the pace high for the next 750 meters and onto the next set of the ramps.

     Behind, the job of chasing fell on Guido. As he poured out the power, no one was able (or willing) to chip in, and the helter-skelter chase wasn't going to bring back the break very easily. Up front, the lead group actually got the light on route 68/70, which all but sealed the deal. The lead group (Hacker, Nuemotion, Hunter P, Ben Bruce, Mike McG, Young Suto) got one bigger as The Full Nalini was able to squeeze thru the light and latch onto the break.

     With the light in the break's favor, all that was needed was teamwork and a sharing of the pace-making, which is indeed what took place. With a smaller group behind and even fewer to match the Kaiser's pace, the break would not normally be caught.... However......

      As the peleton made its way thru the chicane, Jacinto broke a spoke. A lengthy repair job kept a group of about 7 or 8 stopped for a long time. An equal sized group kept going. One of the riders waiting was The Sernyak, who soon after getting going again, got hit with a flat, adding even more time to the wait. Once that was taken care of the group decided to shortcut and ride against the route to meet up with the rest in a reasonable time frame. Although it was encouraged that the group should NOT get involved with the break, if it was still going when it was met.

      Way up the road, the break wasn't without its own incidents. First a driver pulled out in front on Marion and rode along at 20-25 mph, just off the front of the break, even hitting the brakes at a couple of spots to make sure to stay close and in the way. Despite yelling and arm-waving the driver was not going anywhere. Hunter P rolled up alongside, banging the rear panel, which only served to piss off the occupants more and led to a shouting match.... Tho the passenger in the car was dead-on in his assumption... Hunter P can be pretty “douche-y”. Incident #2 for the break happened with 250 meters to go for the midpoint sprint. The group had been trading pulls well, but on Marion, Hacker attacked, with Nuemotion and Young Suto responding. It was enough to un-hitch The Full Nalini and Ben Bruce. After the hill and the corner, the leaders hit the head wind and slowed to regroup. Nuemotion jumped hard from a good distance out and as Young Suto was going to match the attack, his chain dropped. Mike McG, Hacker, and Hunter P were all close enough to notice and no one advanced past without first making sure the chain was back on. Nuemotion got to the sprint point first without a chase from behind. Those five would re-group and keep going with the break.

    A short time later on Atwater St, the Jacinto/Guido group had actually ran into the 2^nd group on the road, who also decided to make shortcut. So it was back together for the peleton for a short moment and then the break came steam-rolling by. So before the ride went back over 322, it was pretty much all together again. Guido, full of piss and vinegar at this point, wasted no time in turning the screws on the rest, getting gaps on Peck and then on Route 10 along with Hacker.

    For the Stop n Sprint, Hacker got it clean over a 2 or 3 others. The ride back into Hamden was uneventful. In the smaller group, Guido charged clear for the finale with only Jeff Weaver to answer in the final 300 meters. The 2 went down to the wire with Weaver staying on the gas just a little while longer.After that 5 pizza's were eaten quickly (Thank you Dana R and Julio L) and no Haribo gummy bears made it out alive...

     Good ride everyone. Again, best wishes and safe travels to Jacinto Pereira. If there is a crazy, unruly, fast group ride sprint to win in Portugal, he will surely get it.

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!