Tuesday the 7th

Back to Normal for the SGR... Sort Of

The forecast looked questionable heading into the evening, but by 5:00 the skies were clear and roads were dry. Enter Chris C, New England's self-appointed Doppler Deity. He decided after last week the “risk was too great” and made the call to push his ride to Wednesday. Totally reasonable... except this is a Tuesday group ride. So the show went on, just with a few fewer riders and a touch less chaos. 

Thanks, Chris, for your cautious meteorological influence on what became a slightly watered-down (but bone-dry) edition of the SGR.

Once rolling, the pace was strong. The Black brothers were out in full force alongside Dan S, Hunter P., and Paul Best, who, depending on the phase of the moon, toggles between Angry Paul and Meek Paul. Dan and Hunter made a couple early digs, and Aaron B was there for all of them. One move nearly stuck before red light at 322 snuffed it out. More fireworks followed after Moss Farms, with a few promising attacks stretching things out, but it always came back together. 

Coming into the turnaround sprint, the group was mostly intact. Noah B. launched early and capitalized on an untimely mechanical for Hunter P., grabbing max points ahead of his brother Aaron B and Dan S.

The ride stayed together and uneventful moving back into Cheshire. On the greenhouse climb, Dan S tried to solo from the base, but Noah bridged, surged past, and never looked back. He finished solo and dropping the legendary SGR flex on social media.

Brian Girard and Vlad Vlad Vladimir scooped up points behind to round out the night. Solid effort from all. Once again, a big shout-out to Chris C. for almst canceling a great ride.

Tuesday the 1st

Rained out halfway thru! 

Chris C warned us... If only we'd listened...

"Turn around now or face the wrath of Southington's storm clouds"

Sure enough the group got dumped on getting into Southington and any semblance of a normal SGR was pretty much washed away.

Tuesday the 24th

Hotter than hades out! 

Turnaround Sprint:

Noah B took it with Little T and then Tom Krol rounding out third. 

For the Greenhouse Climb it was once again Noah B, followed by Little T and then Chris C.

For the finale it was Noah getting the hattrick, with Little T in second. Third place goes impressively to Sammy Martinez, the better looking one of the Burrow Brothers, who was visiting the ride for the very first time. Come back any time!

Tuesday the 17th

 Steve B is Back!

 It was great to see Steve B back out and in the action at SGR. He's had a challenge and a half, getting his hand healed up after getting hit by a car in Meriden. He deserves a bunch of kudos as he took 2nd place at the turnaround and first at the greenhouse. Sort of using just one good hand. 

Welcome back Steve!  

Tuesday the 10th

 Animal Encounters, Mechanicals, and Spicy Action

It was a medium-sized group, maybe 17 to 20 riders at the start. Turner French was out. No big names beyond that come to mind. The pace was mellow early on. Until, reportedly, a bear ran across the road on Mountain. Dillon handled it, naturally. Word is he chased it down and skinned it alive. Situation resolved.

The first traffic light of the night was green, which got everyone twitchy heading into Moss Farms. Pace picked up slightly but nothing broke loose. Hunter P moved to the front through the chicane and into the rollers toward Marion Ave, but it stayed together.

Turner attacked hard heading into the second light, with Hunter right on him. Looked promising, but the group got the green and closed it all down. Mount Vernon saw another move from the same duo. They got a small gap, but the group had just enough bodies to pull it back. Still no break.

Then came an unexpected attack at the end of Mount Vernon. Hunter jumped early before the Welch Road turn, going with around 200 meters to the corner. He opened a solid gap on Welch and held it until the base of the hill. Behind, Turner and Little T surged at the bottom and halved the distance fast. By the time they were 200 meters on West Street, they had caught and passed Hunter. Little T edged out Turner for the sprint.

Everyone regrouped on the descent and through the I-84 lights. Things calmed down. Turner was getting frustrated with the constant surging and sitting up, especially around Wes Johnson. He and Hunter each threw in a few digs, but nothing stuck.

Then came a twist. Little T had been dealing with a slow leak all ride. He stopped with Turner Frnech fo top off his tire at the light at 322. He and Turner then had to chase back but did so without issue and well before the pack made it  route 10. This despite the field getting stretched out a bit by a dig from Dan Smith.

From there, things shifted into steady tempo. Stefano P and a few new faces helped drive the pace into the greenhouse climb. Turner, Chris C, Hank P, and the usual crew were all there. Chris C gave Hunter P a strong leadout for the Greenhouse sprint. Hunter launched and held it to the line just ahead of Turner and one other.

Later on, Little T’s rear tire was nearly flat again. He followed Dan’s early jump into the final sprint, with Stefano between them. As Little T opened up his sprint, the tire completely blew. He slid a bit but stayed upright and somehow managed second place behind Stefano. Third might have gone to the guy on the rim brake Scott bike, judging by who rolled in next.

Tuesday the 3rd

Everyone's Tired Tonight

Good sized group, beautiful weather. Featuring the triumphant return of Casey King. (also Chris C)
Casey was gone too long, Chris is back too soon. 

The early pace was set by Turner Frnech, Sean Hurley, Dan Smith and Peter Morgan. Throw in a few attacks by Mike Hons and it resulted in a solid pace. Everyone stayed together for the run to the light at the end of Mountain Rd.  

More of the same on Moss Farms. Visitors to the ride, Andrew Hudacek and Christian Stahl took a couple of pulls in addition to a few new-to-the-front guys pushing the pace. There was a short-lived gap to Stan Prushinski, Hons, Sean Hurley and Tom K, but by the chicane it was all together. Turner French was pushing going into the 4-way stop there. It got strung out going up to Marion, and Hutner P attacked thru the corner, but no one went with and shortly after it was all together again. 

Turner pushed off again heading over the highway. Dan Smith jumped up to join and he had Hacker and Hunter P as well. the light at 322 was red so it was all back together again. 

Onto Mount Vernon where Chris C and Hacker were leading a decent sized group (Stefano P, Sean Hurley, Christian Stahl, and a few others) off the front, but with a couple of strong guys left behind it didn't stand too much of a chance. So it was all back together for the next few minutes. Later on Mount Vernon, Joe K, Stan P, and a newer ride in white pushed off the front and was allowed to get a bit of gap. Dan Smith wound it up again and took a long a few guys to bring it all back together for the corner onto Welch. 

A group of four (Hacker, Hons, White Kit, and Brent de la B) were allowed to roll clear. Joe Rod tried to get across but it was a little to late. The break worked up a 150 meter gap before the hill to the corner broke it apart. Hacker pressed on alone and had a good enough gap to make it to the sprint point alone. Behind the rest were absorbed shortly after the corner, and Hunter P took the group sprint in front of Little T. 

The entire group stayed together on the backside. No attacks until after the light on 322, Dan Smith jetted off the green light quickly. Everyone responded. Then Turner took advantage and drilled it into the corner, leaving Hacker, Peter Morgan, Andrew H, and Hunter P to chase him down. Hunter P attacked next but then sat up. 

No fireworks to report on the other side of Route 10. Steady, solid pace for the rest of the night. Turner French once again set a fast pace up the greenhouse climb, leading out Hacker and Hunter P for the sprint. Hunter P collected that with Hacker and Turner behind. 

Down the road, for the finale Brent DeLaBeeeee jumped early for the sprint.... A bit too early. He would get swallowed up by Little T, who took it at the line by a decent margin ahead of SP the Italian and Brent.  

Great ride everyone. Next week SGR shares the love with the TNC Race Series at Rentschler Field. Although with TNC on a Wednesday for the first week, it will be interesting to see who shows up on Tuesday with their A-game and who is there just to hang out.  

 

Tuesday the 27th

 It Was Fast, Until it Wasn't

The streak of new faces at the ride ended this week. A normal-ish looking crew of 25 or so was out for a great night weather-wise. One notably absent was Turner French, who is preparing to take on Unbound out West. 

Early pace was set by Steffen H, Matt Z, and Sean Maher. The brothers Black would also get involved here and there and it was a steady pace, albeit much slower in the first 30 min than the week prior. Dan Smith tried to get off the front a couple times but was not allowed to do so. 

Onto Welch where sentiment changed... Sean Maher and the Tom Seleck of New England cycling, Peter Morgan, were allowed to roll clear headed to the turnaround sprint. They got to it, and starting building a solid gap by the turn onto West St. They would take the sprint point and keep it rolling to the lights. Behind, there was little to no chase.

Back in the pack, Aaron B edged out Hunter P for the last points on offer. 

The leaders would benefit from sneaking a couple of lights, and they were nearly out of sight as everyone made their way onto Atwater. Joe K was allowed to roll clear on that stretch and he took a gap going over the light on 322. He was still well down on the two leaders though. 

Onto the Greenhouse climb where Gregory Rodriguez came out of his Big and Tall sized shell to set the early pace on the climb. Then Evan Woodford took off in pursuit of Joe K. Those two would connect near the top and get to work together keeping clear off the front of the pack. Ahead, Sean M and Morgan were out of sight. 

The two leaders would not be caught. Joe K and Evan W would be caught at the top of Tuttle, and that's how the ride ended up.