Tuesday the 12th

Loose Cleats Sink Fleets 

The ride got off to a pretty sedate start today. Half because everyone was behaving themselves, half because the group rolled north into a headwind instead of the usual tailwind-assisted chaos.

Early moves came from Chris Sima, Sean Maher, Turner French, and George E. Sean Mayer eventually decided enough and drilled it on South Brooksvale, opening a respectable gap heading to Mountain Road.

Then came a top-10 "Worst-timed Traffic Situation" in SGR history.

A car stopped at the intersection of Mountain Road and North Brooksvale managed to back traffic up in basically every direction possible. Sean, after all that work, came to a complete stop while the rest of the group casually rolled back onto his wheel and filtered through the left-hander like grandmas leaving a grocery store parking lot.

From there, Hacker and Hunter P kept things moving up Mountain Road. The pace stayed steady but without any decisive attacks. A few times it looked like Turner French, Sean Maher, Sean Hurley, or Chris C were getting ready to launch something, but it was bit of a stare-down contest.

On Moss Farm Road, George E remained active at the front alongside Turner French and the usual suspects. Turner and Hunter P hit the gas heading toward Marion Road, stretching the field but not quite snapping the elastic. Chris Sima was back up there after that pushing the pace and it keeping it volatile.

Steve B then took his turn on the front and from there things devolved into tactical musical chairs among the Angels. Guys were simultaneously trying to launch teammates, chase teammates, block for teammates and stare at each other long enough for somebody else to make the mistake first. Classic too-many-cooks in-the-kitchen. 

In the end, the pace stayed decent, if largely unimpressive, all the way to the light on 322.

Mount Vernon brought another shift in tone when Nate Summers pushed off the front and initially nobody seemed too concerned about it. His dad briefly assumed the role of Hall Monitor at the front of the field, but once Sean Maher accelerated across the gap the group collectively remembered this was, in fact, a race without an entry fee.

Even so, the pace periodically dropped to iron-deficient, clinically anemic levels, which somehow made everything more tense, not less. Sean Maher, Turner French, and Steve B all had moments where an acceleration looked like it could become a race-defining move, but each time it turned into another extended staring contest at the front of the pack.

By the end of Mount Vernon, the hesitation had become so severe that a small group of four or five riders simply rolled away. Chris C, Joe Rod, Sean Hurley, and a few others carried a gap onto Welch while the heavyweight contingent behind them finally organized enough to start pulling things back together.

Sure enough, it was together by the hill, with Turner French, Hacker, and Hunter P leading the group through the corner onto West Street.

Then everyone reset again with more “No, you do it” tactics followed as the pace slowed to a Cat 5 crawl, allowing Chris C and George E to push clear off the front. Nobody immediately committed to the chase, which allowed Chris C to ultimately grab the sprint while Turner French cleaned things up from the reduced pack behind.

That setup what became the decisive move. A small group came downhill with speed and intent, caught a light by the I-84 interchange, and even received the rare and highly prestigious “friendly draft from a box truck” bonus card. At that point the gap was gone for good.

Turner French, Steve B, Chris C, and George George E were away and that was effectively the race.

Sean Maher did manage to solo push off the pack, but with the Cheshire lights working against the chase, the main group was not coming back together.

Another classic Tuesday night: tactical confusion, selective heroics, accidental traffic neutralizations, and just enough cooperation to make things interesting. Great ride! 

Tuesday the 5th

 Post

Tuesday the 28th

 The Return of the Long Loop

Everyone was a buzz at the start of the ride tonight, for we have reached peak SGR for the year. If you're not out there, why are you being such a puss?

Again this week from the start a few guys were pushing the pace early on route 10 but it all seems to come back together for the turn off route 10. 

It was great to see George Elias back out for the first time since he went missing during a ride in late 2025. Also out tonight was a new, beautifully villainous face, looking like he just stepped up the Rodger Young. Cat 3 NYC boy Frederik Johne. The ride tonight def kicked up a notch or 3 thanks to Freddy and the long loop. 

The first to make a move near the front was Steve B. He pushed up a couple of corners into the ride and was quickly matched by the likes of Hacker, Hunter P, Turner French and Sean Maher. The pace yo-yo'd a couple of times before Mountain Rd but sure enough, Turner French, Sean Maher, Hutner P, and Fritzi were pushing the speed up on the riser and beyond. Steffen H tried to make a late lunge but was met with counters. The light at 68/70 was green which put pressure on the back of the pack. 

Moss Farms served as a reset. No big attacks. George E looked like he was gearing up but instead it stayed steady. No attacks even up to Marion and past. Sean Maher surged coming up to the I84 overpass. Hunter P was there and that served to keep it in check to the light on 322. 

onto Mount Vernon where George E pushed off the front and was allowed a gap. That was short lived though. Steffen H, Hacker, Stefan P, and Nate SumSumSummertime then took digs off or near the front but nothing that could be called a breakaway. 

Then Friedel came up and pushed off the front and that got everyone in a tizzy. He traded jabs with Sean Maher, Turner French, and Steve B. Everyone was paying attention though. George E could again be seen testing the waters near the front as the ride turned onto Welch, but there was enough latent firepower back there keeping the pace honest enough so that no one was getting away without permission. 

Heading into the corner for West st and the sprint, Little T jumped before the hill and took a small gap thru the corner. Behind, Turner French and Hunter P led the rest through. everyone hit the moderate headwind and that erased T's advantage. Then Steve B jumped. Then Turner French. Those two would get a bit of a headstart to the sprint and take it in that order. Hunter P took it from the chasing pack. 

One the backside, it looked like S and T would keep the gap. Also Frieder appeared to have a chance to bust it wide open but a red light brought everyone back together. The ride back into Cheshire was sedate from there. 

Crossing back over 322, George E was allowed to roll off the front, which he took advatange of to get a 40 meter gap. Then Joe K pulled hard up the hill to the light on route 10 to bring it back to a couple of seconds. The pack didnt have to stop at the light and so a mighty group of 4 or 5 (Hacker, Frerk, Hunter P, Sean Maher and George E were in place to capitalize. 

Things got strange at this point, as an Amaxon delivery truck was rolling down East Johnson. The ride's new lumbering giant gave chase, with Hunter P on his wheel. The truck wasn't moving fast enough to blow it apart, but it was going fast enough so that no one was jumping up to make the bridge. Hunter P would give it up on the downhill, leaving Fredi to do damage on his own. Then Steve B jumped at the right moment in coming into the valley to get up to him.

Behind, the pack clawed up the hill to the two leaders and the van. Turner Frnech hit it hard up the hill, taking Hunter P, Little T and Stefan P. There was a mess of traffic at the 4-way because of the dickhead cyclists, and that gapped the pack to those 4 riders. So two up the road and then 4 chasing. It become 6 all together with plenty of time to set up for the Greenhouse climb. Behind the pack was slow to get thru the intersection, and had traffic to deal with as it got back up to speed. The breakaway was gone unless someone really hit it hard heading into the sprint climb (which did not happen).

On the hill, Stefan P dropped off the pace. Steve B attacked the group and got the sprint. Turner and Frieder responded and brought it back together. That made for Little T, Turner French, Hunter P, Steve B and the new guy heading back into Hamden. That's how it ended. For the finale Rico jumped hard at the bottom of the descent, with 600 meters left to go, so enough so that no one was following. Little T wound it up to try to close the gap by the end but it was not enough. 

Excellent ride everyone! Come back anytime Frederik! 

Tuesday the 21st

 Rolling Pins at a Proper Shootout

The ride definitely started to take shape for the season tonight. Medium sized crowd out and the weather was good. there was strong guys lined up and ready to go.

Right from the gun a couple guys escaped down route 10 but wisely checked up as they turned off of Root 10 onto the back roads. From there there was a couple of early attacks but nothing really stuck.

French rolled off the front early on after a corner and was allowed to get up a little bit of a gap. All hell broke loose when Andrew Suzuki hit the front hard going up the first rise on Mountain Road Turner's gap brought back soon after, leaving Hacker, Hunter P, Turner French, and a couple of others haning onto the train for dear life. 

The pack mostly stayed together... there was a few that got dropped right away. Pace was high all the way up until the light on Mountain Road which was, this gave everybody a chance to collect their breath and make sure their affairs were in order for the next of kin.

 On to Moss Farms the ride got going a little more slowly but it was the generally the same characters up front. Little T attacked hard going past the chicane up to Marion. He was allowed to roll and stayed off the front until somewhere around the industrial park. 

This was the last week for the medium loop and Turner hit it hard turning onto Prospect Street. He was given a gap that stretched out to about 100 meters at one point. A solid gap but one that Suzuki would eventually take on and bring back. A 90 sec effort brought it back by the intersection. Riders stayed from there as everybody licked their wounds. This lead to good showdown on the greenhouse climb. Once again Suzuki hit the front and let it rip for a couple minutes straight up the hill. This broke off a gap with Sean Hurley, Hunter P, Turner French, Hacker, and that's pretty much it. Eventually it would just be Suzuki and Turner French at the top collecting the points and with enough of a gap to roll off the front through the light and the intersection and never to be seen for the rest of the night. Behind, Little took what was left in the field sprints.

Great ride everyone!

Tuesday the 14th

Suzuki the Latecomer

Standard issue ride until Turner French, Steve B, and Sean Maher rolled off the front on the greenhouse sprint point. They almost took along Hacker and Hunter P but not quite. Those three stayed off the front the whole way back. 

Tuesday the 7th

Partial Attendance, Partial Speed = Another Break

April break meant that a few names were missing tonight. Hunter P, Chris C, (Steve B was sick). A few others meant attendance was a bit lower. There was also a gig headwind which kept things slightly subdued. The first half of the ride featured no breakaways.

In the second half, on the way back, Turner Frnech hit the gets after crossing route 10. Little T followed up the rise to the corner off East Johnson. It turned into a gap and solid breakaway for, Turner Frnech, Little T, Hacker, and Ben Bruce. The group worked well together with no sprint at the top of the Greenhouse Climb. For the final, Little T jumped it from way back and held it to the line in front of Hacker. 

 

Tuesday the 31st

Early Excitement and a Dissed Pack

There was a normal sized group out tonight for the ride. Even so, the peleton continues to roll past equal-sized and even greater groups returning south on the New Haven ride. As riders graduate from that speed, they will be moving up to the "big leagues" and the SGR.  

A couple new faces out on SGR today: Yalies Alex Popescu and Andrew Suzuki. Along with Mike McGinley for the second week in a row, and Peter Morgan, the ride was going to be a good one. 

Early on, it was Sean Maher pushing the pace. He surged off the front a couple of times, to be roped back in by Dan Smith. Going onto Mountain Road, Sean Maher and Turner French hit the first hill hard and were off the front by the top of the hill. Sensing an opportunity they hit it and were gaining. Most behind were settling in after the first uphill and were in no position to do anything about the gap. One that tried was Hacker. He jumped in pursuit and was making up ground but ultimately would come up a bit short. 

Behind Andrew "round tubes are more aero" Suzuki was threading his way thru the pack having been sitting at the back for a km or so. He rocketed off the front to close the gap and took Hunter P with him. Those two would go by Hacker and make their way up to the leaders just past the halfway mark of Mountain Rd. The impressively fast bridging (with a little help from the tail wind) was enough to get Suzuki the KOM on the segment. The four up front went to work together and they just got thru the light on Route 68/70 in semi-acceptable fashion. That was it for the night. The break worked the gap but were never in any real danger of being caught. There was not sprinting up front. Behind the pack would be pushed along by Dan Smith, Peter Morgan, Steve B, and a couple of others. The rest were content to keep it steady fast with predictable turns at the front.