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. 

Tuesday the 24th

Fight Club Resumes at SGR

The ride returned to some decent weather and the group size was up again. Great to have Mike McGinley out again along with Jason Lupke. 

The real action started when the ride turned right into the industrial park. Steve B and Turner hit the gets and along with Hacker, tore off a gap that was holding through the corner onto West Johnson. Hunter P went to jump across the gap and Sean Maher grabbed onto that quick smart. That got enough of a rush-reaction from the dwindling pack that it stayed together. A few were be dropped and popped on the night though, unable to reconnect by the light on route 10. 

On the intial downhill of East johnson, a group of 7 established itself and kept the pressure.on enough to carry a gap through the corner on Cheshire St. Sean M, Little T, Turner French, Jason L, Hacker, Daniel Carbonella and Ben Bruce making it 3 Cheshire guys. That meant that a couple of strong remaining guys at the front of the pack were not chasing. The gap went out heading into the greenhouse climb. Steve B jumped late across the gap and was able to make the connection with a couple hundred meters left to the start of the climb. Shortly onto the climb Ben Bruce dropped and it was back to 7 up front. The group was rotating well and sharing the work load.

Going into the sprint, Sean Maher turned on the gas just past the light leading to the line, creating a gap with Hacker. Little T jumped around the rest to latch on but the surge was was a bit short, rolling in 3rd behind Hacker and Sean Maher, who ended up taking it (seated the entire time, like a freight train whose legs resembled pistons)

After that the group was splintered a bit but regrouped for the fast rip into Hamden. FF to the ending, where Steve B opened up a gap going down Tuttle, then Sean Maher pushed off the front with Hacker and Lupke. Little T eventually had to put in a big effort down the hill to catch on to the trio. A couple of haymakers later. Everyone is heading into the finale but Steve B was in the best position. He came off Little T's wheel to hit the sprint first but T was able to come around just at the last second, with Hacker rounding out the podium. 

 

Great ride everyone! 

Tuesday the 17th

 Back to Your Regularly Scheduled Winter

If last week was a summer tease, this week was a winter bitch. One of the coldest SGR in memory. Just 9 or 10 dudes out for this one. Hearts were warmed though by seeing the legendary Mike McGinley out on the ride, looking every bit the same as he has for 105 years now. 

Smaller group was slower to get going. Steve B attacked a few times in the fisrt half but was reeled in each time by Turner French and Hunter P. Those three would do most of the work. Turner French lit the after burners turning into the industrial park and with the tailwind, was able to separate with Steve B and Hunter P. They stayed clear all the way to the light on route 10. It was red there so it all came back together. 

The Greenhouse climb was started by Turner French and Chris C. Those tow rolled off the front and then Steve B jumped the gap at the top and was able to come around for his third straight. The reduced pack could not bring them back after the sprint and those 3 would close out the ride off the front, with Steve B doubling up again at the finale.