Tuesday the 9th

Shortcut thru the local packy with a detour thru the pizza place...

           Pretty big group out for the ride tonight... Everyone must be getting in final training preparations for the last big race of the year. Rory D was lickin his chops out of the parking lot, drifing away from the rest on route 10. Once the ride got onto the back roads, in a replay from last week, Jordan L and Hunter P took off, this time with The Sernyak and Rusty joining as well. The group was allowed to quickly sprint up a gap but corners slowed the attack. The pace was kept high by Jordan L and Chris C came up as well. One more corner later found Hacker moving on thru the front and soon the pace was high from all. No gaps were allowed all the way toward Mountain Rd, despite some strong pulls up front by Chris C, Nuemotion, Jordan L and a couple of others. Hunter P surged alone up the road on the second set of risers but that was short lived. Gregg F countered that move but that was also a short effort as the field barreled on toward the light.... Which went green at the last moment, letting all thru nice and smooth, though the next light was red. Once onto Moss Farms, Pescatore took off and was joined soon by a few guys.... Jordan L, Chris C, Nuemotion, A CF Racing rider, and one or 2 others. That led to a pretty solid pace all the way down Moss Farms. Toward the end, The Gibertoni and Mike McG moved off the front on brute force but by the chicane, it was strung out single file and fast. That led to a fast trip up to Marion and soon after the corner, a small group was split off the front, led by Chris C, Ben Bruce, Hunter P, Neumotion and a couple of others. Despite the group having plenty of ponies the pressure from behind was too much and everyone was all together for the run toward the light.

            That light went from green to red at the last moment, giving the chance for the front 8 to squeak through but leaving the rest of the peleton having to stomp on the brakes. The law-breakers waited up in proper style and soon after it was all together heading toward Mount Vernon. Little T was off the front and drilling it with Gregg F, Ben Bruce, The Sernyak, Hunter P and a few others chasing hard. Soon after it was all together as everyone seemed to be want to the one that led the rest on the shortcut of the night.

           The time on Mount Vernon was brief, and the speed stayed high on Prospect St as there was plenty of riders to chase down Hunter P as he tried to sneak off. As everyone got back onto West St the ace stayed high, continuing with the theme of the night.

           The speed was ramping up and the front 10 were flying toward the overpass on Atwater when a little Muffy dog ran out in front of all with a lease on. Pretty much everyone braked hard and swerved safely. There may have been contact from by a rider though.... And by contact it we mean a square t-boning of the canine. The dog was pissed and complaining as most riders stopped to see what could be done. A handful of riders rolled on slowly. The dog ended up appearing to be fine. So everyone rolled on. The 2 groups were back together on Peck ln. and the ride got going back to full speed with some cheerleading from a local patrol car who thought the cohesiveness of the pack was lacking a little legality.

            Back onto Route 10, after Christian D snuck off during a lull and stayed out in front long enough to be there when the front runners were winding up to lead out the sprint.... Mike McG setting the speed down. A traffic light with a car turning out right at the base of the hill brought the full-flight leadout to a stop.

             A few guys started up, rolling hard up the hill to make a little something out of the sprint. Little T got it with little fuss. For the rest of the ride, the speed..... Wait..... Where was Guido?

Tuesday the 2nd

Aren't you glad you did your leg openers on Monday!

    Summer came back with a vengeance and gave us a hot n sticky ride last night. The usual 30-40 riders were out and ready to go. Even so, everyone was all too happy to wait for Rory D to change a flat in the parking lot. Once it going it got going. Jordan L took hit it as soon as the flag dropped off route 10. Hunter P jumped as well and those two quickly got up a gap. The chase started for reals when Guido jumped up to join them, no doubt looking to have as many shots on goal during his last couple of weeks left Stateside :(

     A slow corner soon after field catch the 3 leaders and from there it was generally all together. Heading down towards Mountain Road French Casey took off in a flash and took Jordan L with him. Those 2 worked quickly and concisely to stay on the throttle and get up a solid gap. Dillon P went all in with a bridge effort but the 2 leader were 100% committed to the break. GOOD ON EM for that!  They were nearly out of sight as the field turned onto Mountain rd. Once the threat was recognized as being serious and real deal, the field went to work to bring it down. Strong pulls from Chris C, The Sernyak, A new guy in a fake Rock Racing Kit, Hunter P, a new guy in the Mengoni kit, Mike McG, Little T , Rob Dux and Burggie Baby got the gap to fall pretty quickly. French Casey and Jordan L had 50 meters as they came up on the light for 68\70, which was red. “Gruppo Compacto” as Rondo says.

     Hacker took action on Moss Farms, and Burggie Baby and Jordan L were there as well. It would be the Burg's final showing as he got hit with a flat soon after the chicane and riser to Marion. Jordan L continued to ride hard up front for kicks and giggles.

     Once onto Mont Vernon, Mengoni was up front with Guido and The Sernyak, looking to split up the group. Hunter P came across the gap and brought everyone with him. From there is stayed solid with no one really striking out. There was a brief gap enjoyed by French Casey and Christian Duncan coming up to the corner for Welch. But that was squelched as everyone dug in for the run to the sprint.

     Despite Hacker, Mike McG, Little T, Hunter P, and a couple of others being up front, the pace slowed down quite a bit. Little T eventually took it matters into his own hands, sitting tempo up the hill, thru the corner and onward. Hutner P took over and then Chris C, stringing things out just enough to give Mike McG a good launch pad to get the sprint point.

    On the backside, French Casey took his place at the front of the class room and started schooling everyone. He hit the afterburners and was off. The rest of the field came back together on the initial descent but after the highway crossing, as the road went down again, Chris C and The Sernyak took to the front and snuck off quickly and effectively. They got up a gap that was assisted by some traffic for the peleton at the end of West St by the gas station ( French Casey's Corner). The 2 leaders drilled it for the rest of the way toward the 322 crossing. They managed to stay away despite some strong pacing by Guido going underneath the highway, and then Mengoni afterward. As the pack (now quite smaller due to the pace into the wind) barreled up to the light, Chris C could be seen leading (tempting) The Senryak thru the redlight. Safe crossing for the breakaway, pretty much out of sight, means no foul..... But it was pretty darn close. That left 3 riders off the front to take the rest of the prizes on the night. Chris C and the Sernyak would stay in visual contact with French Casey but no one would catch him tonight. He takes all the marbles and impressively finishes the ride solo... The first of the season!

      Behind, the pack was resigned to playing 2nd fiddle. Everyone would have to wait for a while at the light going over 322, and then some more while as the pack broke up getting thru the red light that would not change. Once everyone was back together on the other side, the leaders were gone-sville. Nice job to them for riding hard off the front.

Perhaps the short loop next week???

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!