Tuesday the 21st

And Another Breakaway Gets It

The ride got off to a lazy start today. CW, without Turner French, was up there but did not attack the corners early on. Dillon P had an early push that got things going a bit. Then Brian O got going on Mountain Rd, followed by Chris C, and Steffen H. Then Cedric B, Steve B and Hunter P moved up and got involved but that got the rest of the field jumping across the gap. Brian O tried one last push before the light but it was red so it all came back together. 

Onto Moss Farms, the pace didn't ramp up too much. CW hovered near the front, A couple of Angels were up there, Rusty as well. Brian O pushed off the front and was allowed to roll clear Sean Cahill lit it up going over a rise that made things interesting into the chicane, but it stayed all together, chasing Brian O. It was together soon after though, in time for crossing 322. the light was green, giving the entire pack a free pass there. 

On the other side, Brian O again rolled off the front. This time, Steffen H jumped up and got up the road, making it two off the front with a 100-meter gap getting onto Mount Vernon. Behind, CW was sitting on. Then, a little way down the road, Hunter P was found taking lackluster pulls at the front, giving the two a chance to get another 100 meters or so. Always in sight, though. The chase was left to CVC, who were missing their power forward, Sean M. Little T, Tommy K Video, and mostly Chris C, were driving the pace up front. 

Gettting near the end of Mount Vernon, Jeff G took a flyer with a NHAngel rider, and then Sean Cahill jumped across to them both. After seeing he was along in the briding attempt, Sean C was all in, and quickly made his way into the gap to the two leaders. He would get up there with a few hundred meters until the corner for Welch. That made for 3 up the road and gaining on the rest. 

Behind, a group of 5 or 6 led by Noah B and Chris C split off the front and into the gap. Little T jumped from the chase, taking Steve B with him. Neither had much of a chance to catch the trio up front. On the lead into the sprint, a couple of surges each from Brian O and Sean Cahill, and the teammates were able to shake Steffen H from the group. Those two took the sprint point with no struggle for the line. Behind, Steve B (?) was able to get across the line next in front of a shattered peleton. One rider who was crushing it, though was Inma Ruz, who 

It all came back together on the downhills and across the highway. The next action saw Steve B jumping off the front at Atwater, just past the hill. He would eke out a couple of seconds, which was on the way to being erased as all made their way to the 322 crossings. Steve B had a legit gap going under the yellow light there. The rest, just 30 meters behind, properly stopped for the red. That gap was all Steve B needed to finish up the ride alone, although he would not catch the two leaders.

Tuesday the 14th, Con't...

Steve B was not going to be caught, and everyone knew it.

For some reason, a couple of the Magenta guys persisted in riding as though there was a need to defend the gap and discourage the chase. The pace turned silly-lazy for a while. The competitive element of the ride was over at that point. There were no more sprints to take. No more points to give out.

Everyone rolled thru the detour in orderly fashion. The speed picked up a bit going down Blacks Rd but that was gravity talking. As everyone made the right-hander to get back on course before the Greenhouse climb, Steve B came charging by, determined to create Gap2.0. 

Seems he did the normal route, riding thru the road construction and then back at the breakaway until meeting the shortcutting peleton. At this point everyone was throttled down and piddling (pittling?) along and so Steve rolled off and up the sprint climb alone.

At the bottom of the climb, Chris C was apparently done with his extended recovery interval, got fed up with the "blocking" antics, and yelled at Brian O to move out of the way so that those who would actually like to ride bikes could do so. Brian nodded in acknowledgement with his dominant butt-cheek but didn't quite relent either. That continued up the climb at an impressive 250w until Chris went out of his way to push, curb, or ride Brian O into the yellow line. Only problem is a car was oncoming. The car had to brake, hit the horn, and Brian had to do a bit of evasive maneuvering. 

That started the shouting match between Chris C and the CW guys. Thank goodness everyone was rolling forward or else they'd be punches thrown. 

Oh wait, there were punches "thrown" anyway. As the two jawed, Brian may or may not have taken a swing at Chris C. And then he may have tried to crash Chris in a subsequent corner. 

That's how it ended up. Sure the pace got going near the finish and there was some sprinting at the end, but it was all over-shadowed by the dust up that should have never happened. 

Steve B racked up 5 points for definitely being the first to the Greenhouse climb, regardless of the route he took, and 2 bonus points for not getting a flat in the gravel construction section. 

 

Tuesday the 14th

 Men Turned to Boys on Their Pedal Bikes

Good weather = another good turnout for the ride. Which got started normally, and without much fuss. Turner F rolled off the front on South Brooksvale and no one cared to go with. Once he got a bit of a gap the magenta guys took up the front but there was little urgency from the rest. 

Furner turned onto Mountain Road (where the ride usually gets spicy) with a 150-200 meter gap. Eventually the chase started behind. Dan S kicked it off, then Jon Fecik. Sean M had a big pull at the front that kept TF in sight. All the same, he would get to the light on 68 fifteen sec ahead of everyone else, which was enough to get thru the light. The rest had to stop for a moment or two. 

Onto Moss Farms where CVC keep up the pace with some help from Fecik, Hunter P, Rusty, Cedric B, and a couple of others. Turfner had a line-drive's worth of a gap turning onto Marion. Sean M took another big dig with Ben Bruce, Brian Oliver, and Hunter P right there. That got the pace going up and gap coming down. Sean Cahill was lurking near the front and as soon as there was a lull in the chase, jumped into the gap, taking only the strongest 3 or 4 with him. Those would get up to Turnef with a couple hundred meters to the light but it was red, bringing everyone back together once more. 

Onto Mount Vernon, where there were a few groups and attacks and moves off the front. More often than not it was CW busting something out with a couple of others, leaving CVC to chase. Tommy K's Video, Little T, Chris C, and Sean M all getting involved in trying to bridge, chase, counter. Getting onto Welch, Sean M would lead a group of 5 or 6 off the front. Chris Brits, Brian Oliver, Noah B and a couple of others would turn onto West St pushing hard. They opened up a small gap as the sprinters (Little T, Hunter P and TunerFun) sized up the next 30 seconds. Brian O was not waiting, and he took off alone for the sprint line. He would get it in front of Noah and Chris Brits. 

On the backside it all came back together once again. The group got caught at a couple of the lights by I84 and as everyone was ramping up to get going after stopping for one, Steve B had a good jump and launched it. No one was in a position to go with him, and he would get green at the light by Jude Ln. The pack had to stop again. 

That would be all Steve B would need.

Or would it!?
Tune in next time for another episode of As the Pedals Turn

Tuesday the 7th

 

Surprise Surprise Gravel Detour Brings Drama

Solid numbers out tonight once again. The ride will be humming along until the Tuesday night crit series kicks off at Rentchler Field. Four weeks of fully scored racing means there is no recap for SGR then. There will be guys out but most will be up north. 

Back to the ride, MgntXprss was up early, bringing the pace up. Brian O and Turner along with Body Over Bike, Tom K, and Jon Fecik were all pushing the pace up front. Chris Brits had a dig off the front on Northbrooksvale but didn't get too far off the front. 

Per usual, the pace ramped up on the early part of Mountain Rd, this time with David Lapierre come up to the front briefly. A small group with teams represented (Sean Cahill, Steffen H, Chris C) pushed off the front on Mountain Rd, but enough guys were there to fill in the gaps. Sean M then had a dig to get to the light. Hunter P jumped on that, and that brought the rest. The light was red anyway. 

Onto Moss Farms, where the powderkeg-conditions continued. The pace was high with Turner F, Jon Fecik, the two Seans, and David L pulling through a few times. Going thru the chicane and up to Marion, everyone was together, but soon there was a gap forming to a strong group (Brian O, Sean C, David L, Brian Wolfe) pushed off and was allowed to get a gap. It was full gas going over the highway but everyone was to get the green light crossing 322. This brought it all back together, but conditions were ripe for counterattacks.

The one Rider up to the challenge was David l, who launched it off the front early on Mount Vernon. The rest were content to watch him go up the road, and he quickly built up a lead of 100m or so.

The gap yo-yoed the entire way down Mount Vernon, at times getting up to 30 seconds. Towards the end of Mount Vernon, a group of four or five, led by Jeff Gelt, pushed off the front to close the gap. That ended up with just Jeff G making it all the way up to David L, and the gap was down to 50 meters or so going through the corner for Welch. Soon, it was just David L off the front, pushing to the turnaround.

Hitting the hill before the corner, Little T jumped hard, taking along Turner F and Hunter P. Those three got up to David L soon after the corner, just in time to start playing games to the sprint. The break had a solid gap and were not getting caught from behind. Little T jumped to get it in front of Hunter P and Turner F. 

On the backside, Turner dropped his chain on the downhill and had to stop. David L pushed on with Hunter P on his wheel, but a red light at Jude Lane brought it all toghter again. 

Chris Brits was pushing off the fron again on the downhill but that didn't work this week and it was all together. Hunter P pushed off the front on Atwater, but that didn't last long either, and the light on 322 was red. 

Once over 322, everyone was setting up for the detour (nobody wanted to race with CX bikes so we had to detour East Johnson's new gravel road section). David L attacked hard on the hill on West Johnson, taking along Hunter P. Those two hit Reinhard with 100 meters and grew the gap up the hill to the corner. Behind, the peloton moved thru the corners quickly but safely. Up front the leaders had too much of a gap and were able to build on it getting to the greenhouse climb and up it. 

Never were they in sight, and that's how it wrapped up off the front. 

For the pack behind, the greenhouse climb was fairly sublime as it appeared that the Raspberry Rush group had played all their cards and fatigue seemed to have set in. Little T rolled over the line at the orchard for third. There were some harder efforts once past the light at 68, but nothing stuck as far as breakaways go. Going into the sprint, Sean C started the sprint from the bottom of the bump, with Steffen H on his wheel.  Little T came around them both for the finale.

Tuesday the 30th

 

New Faces, Same Speed

 Another big group out tonight with a few tos sveral new riders out. A couple of youngsters from Verge (Aidan Vollmuth and Stpehn Savino da 3rd) were out there to throw down tonight. Aidam coming to us all the way from New Jersey! He was active up front early on, joining the likes of Sean M, Turner F, Jon Fecik, and Chris Brits. 

 That said, there were no big moves off the front for the first 20 min or so, all the way up to Moss Farms. 

Turner F had another couple of digs on Moss farms and heading up to the route 322 overpass. A couple of times Sean M came to the front and steamrolled his way across the gap. Chris C also had a dig by the industrial park.

Onto Mount Vernon, where a group of four led by Steve B, pushed off the front but never got too far up the way. There were a few more gaps heading down Mount Vernon, but it stayed together more or less all the way to Welch. A gap opened up as guys were chasing to the corner, leading to a group of about six or seven hitting the hill with a small gap. From behind, in the chase, Turner F jumped across the gap and through the leaders on his way to taking the Sprint. David Lapierre tried to jump to keep him in check but came up a little bit short. Over the top of the rise and thru the line, it was Turner F, followed by G Money from New Haven Angles, and then Steffen H.

On the backside, it all came back together. Then near the end of the downhill stretch on West Street, Chris Brits jumped off the front before the double corner onto Atwater. He snuck away and made the light and was on his way solo. Behind, everyone was meh with the gap, watching Turner F, Sean Cahill, and Steve B instead. Brits made it count, and was able to hold it all the way to the light on 322, which he got across quickly. The pack had to wait, and that was all the lone rider needed to stay clear.

The rest of the drama for the evening was had by the peleton rolling over the chunky gravel on East Johnson. 3 or 4 flats happened in that stretch, taking out Dillon P, Chris C, and Cedric B. The ride will have to detour around this for a few weeks! Brits was not caught. Thru the greenhouse sprint it was Hunter P and then Little T next over the line.  For the finale, it was Little T in front of Steve B for 2nd and 3rd place points.

Tuesday the 23rd

 

SGR Rookie Ignites a Proper Showdown

Another good-sized crowd out today for SGR. Once again, the medium loop was chosen at the start. Long loop fans will have to wait for next week or the week after. 

Once the ride started, the pace was decently quick, with accelerations coming nearly right away from Steffen H, Steve B, Brian O, and a couple of others. 

On Mountain Rd Turner French hit the gas and that split off a group of about 7 or 8 of the strongest. The group kept the gas up the series of risers early on Mountain, but the gap would start to come down as enough guys were in the chase to bring the pace up. As the connection was being made, TF surged again, and only New Haven resident Andrew Suzuki stayed with him. Those two got a gap going as there was no immediate response. The gap was about 12 seconds at the light, which everyone got green. The chase was on now, but fewer bodies were willing to bring the pace up on Moss Farms. TF and Suzuki stayed on it and the gap was holding steady at 100 meters. 

The leaders had to do some traffic dodging right the chicane, but that didn't slow them down too much. Going past the industrial park, the gap came down to just a handful of seconds after Sean M had a long pull at the front. Even so, the two up front came into the light with a big enough gap that when they squeaked thru the changing light, the chase had to hold up. That was it for the night. The breakaway was back in sight briefly as the ride came back over 322 in the opposite direction, but once again the peleton had to stop and wait the light out. 

The leaders would roll the rest of the ride together. Behind, the next "action" was Brian O sneaking off the front at the base of the Greenhouse climb/sprint. He had the gap but eased enough to be nearly chased down by Little T right, meaning the two split the points.

Moving to the last part of the ride, Steve and Brian attacked again a couple of times. Sean M did a bunch of work reeling them back in. Steffen H had a solid dig off the front trying to play spoiler going into the final sprint. Steve B and the Little T were able to catch and come around though. Still well-behind the breakaway though for the 4th or 5th week in a row. Next week should be another barn-burner! 

Tuesday the 16th

 The Raspberry Rush Keeps the Pressure On

The weather was great for the ride tonight, and there was a solid-sized group out tonight.

Early on, there were a few guys that tried to get off the front. Dillon P was pushing off the pace. He was joined by Tom Krol and at another instance, Nate Belke from New Haven Angels.

Then it started getting real, with Brian O attacking a couple of times in the first 20 min of the ride. When he went, the other Magenta guys would stop and admire for a bit, then go about figuring out who was going to go next. CBrits shot off one or twice. Steve B tried. Turner French also,  but each time that set off the front 1/4 of the pack and just served to ramp up the pace.

Onto Moss Farm, where Turner French launched it as soon as he could. Hunter P and Steve B went with it, and once again, the stronger riders in the pack responded quickly. Sean Maher and Hacker foremost and urgently chasing. The attack was caught but Turner kept on it. He rolled through the chicane and up onto Marion with a 50-meter gap. Behind a chase group was forming with Hacker, Hunter P, Steve B and a couple of others. Sean M took to the front and closed the gap down a bunch, and then Brian O jumped but it was all coming back together at the light. Turner was held up as well.

As soon as the ride got going again, Brian O surged off the front along with Ben Bruce, Hacker, and Sean M. That trio had the blessing from the five families to go clear. Steve B jumped across the gap as the ride turned left onto Mount Vernon. He would eventually make the bridge up to the group. The peloton behind waited to see what would happen, and nothing did. The break would ride clear and stay clear, at least from the rest.

Later on, just past the Greenhouse climb, Steve B attacked the group. Hacker responded, taking Brian O with him. Sean M and Ben fell off, and that is the order they all finished on the night. 

Next week, the long loop returns, and with it, more opportunities for everyone else to practice their spectating skills!