A running account of the "race without an entry fee"..... The Tuesday night ride

Tuesday the 4th

Tonight everybody musta been too hung over or something. Labor day made everyone soft.

The ride was a bit on the tame side... Just a bit mind you, it wasnt like the week prior.

Tonight the camera was rolling atop Hunter P's noggin. We were rushed after the ride, so we havent seen it. Its currently housed in the vault at Cheshire Cycle. Rest assured that the possible footage of Chris Crowle flipping off a soccer mom in an oversized SUV is going to keep us looking forward to opening the shop tomorrow.

So on to tonights action...

Again, from the start, we had a couple of attackers charging out of the parking lot. A couple of Keltic boys ( Probably Jesse K and Eric Merril. Honestly, we weren't paying attention... To busy making sure our lids were straight and there were no chianring tattoos on our legs. Gotta look good for the camera... ) also with them was the youngster Kyle "dont mess with the Fro yo" Foley. The 3 sped off and nicely got things moving along. A lone rider went down (?!) at the corner of Still Hill and Brooksvale. Everybody paused for a second, he was ok. By the time the ride got to Mountain Rd everybody was back together.

Right as the 3 were caught, Kyle stepped on it again, but the pace was high and his solo effort was swallowed pretty quickly. The usual suspects were driving things along. Flying up the next set of bumps in the road, Peter P and Joe K were drilling it. Going past Cornwall Ave the front of the peleton was treated to the aforementioned SUV cutoff. This got some people motivated and Hunter P and Chris C started turning screws.

Onto Moss farms where again, Kyle was looking to get off the front with a new rider from Keltic. Credit Kyle for being the days most aggressive rider. Also trying to sneak off the front with the two was Joe K, but it is pretty clear now that most us know the power Joe has, and therefore his acceleration was marked well by Peter P. Jacob Hacker made a huge jump to get up to them and Hunter P tagged along too. The 5 had what could be called the day's most successful break. But no one punched it once the pace slowed and going in the chicane before Marion a couple of riders, Eric M, Chris C, Ed Angeli and others were well on their way to making contact. Past the chicane and up the hill, Joe K, Eric Merril and the only guy on a Storck every week (?!) were driving hard. This set-up on the hill the now weekly surge from Hacker. Tho this time, Chris C and Hunter P were laying it down too and by the top of the hill turning onto Marion, there was little or no gap. Gonna have to be more creative next time boys... Ed Angeli and Crazy Chris from Stage 1 kept the tempo high past the hill. Then Tall John and Peter P found a gap and went for it. Gregg F from CCR\Epic jumped across but everybody was coming together for the industrial park section.

All the way up to Reihard it was conservative, even bunching up a bit. But once past the corner, going uphill, Hacker punched it again and Chris C, Hunter P and the gentleman with an Ibike cpu were the only ones to follow. This led to a small group forming by Schoolhouse, but again, no one wanted to work together and by the time everyone was getting close to Peck Ln, it was together again.

Heading back on Route 10. Hunter P drilled it hard going by the Park, he peeled off and watched as the surge nearly sprung Mike McG, Peter P and a couple of Keltic boys. But a stop light up the way would stop everyone.

Nothing too exciting on the back. A Target Training rider ( not Curtis Easton ) tried his hand at the solo move, but was brought back fast. For the finale, the rider with the Ibike (?!) lept out with about 700 meters to go. Eric Merrill gave chase at first, then came Mike McG and Hacker going FAST and quickly passing. Hunter P at the last moment got onto Hacker's wheel. Hacker gets the standing sprint, Hunter P for the seated kind.

We will work on getting the video edited and posted if it is any good. May be a couple of days though.

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

Guys,
I enjoy the blog, but please let's not encourage a sprint finish on Route 10. It was noted:

"...For the finale, the rider with the Ibike (?!) lept out with about 700 meters to go. Eric Merrill gave chase at first, then came Mike McG and Hacker going FAST and quickly passing. Hunter P at the last moment got onto Hacker's wheel. Hacker gets the standing sprint, Hunter P for the seated kind....."

There is NO sprint on this ride. Imagine if there was a real sprint line with everyone, including riders sitting-in the entire ride, who come to life at the end JUST for the sprint. This was the situation a few years ago with someone almost getting run over!

Do everyone a favor and please do NOT encourage a sprint.

John

emerrill33 said...

I think we all know at this point that there is NO sprint. If it were a real sprint it would be chaos. After seeing this week after week, its more a swift acceleration at the end of a great ride. The line up seems to be the same at the finish every time, and it always appears to be the same guys that have just yanked the pack for the last 3 or so miles. Lets consider us all aware of the looming danger of a sprint and continue to turn the screws on our fellow riders throughout the entire ride.
eric

Anonymous said...

I think its actually more hairy for the last 2 miles as the fast are separated from the faster... But John is right and i for my part will report less details about the sprint. BTW, the footage is good. If you are driving\riding by the shop, stop in to check out the primo view i had of Chris Crowle making sure that driver of the SUV had something to remember.

Anonymous said...

The lady in the SUV almost took out 30 riders. Sometimes I wounder what people are thinking????

Great ride last night.

Chris C.

Anonymous said...

Idk why Hunter always has a P after his name. Why does it need to be there? He's the only Hunter on the ride isn't he?

Anonymous said...

Put that video on youtube so we all can enjoy it !

Last comment from me on the run down route 10: The ride needs to kept super-fast and in single file since that IS the safest way to ride on a busy road. It’s only when the peloton bunches-up and changes pace is when the ride becomes progressively more dangerous.

The blog is great and I give you guys credit for creating it and writing the weekly report, keep it up!

John

PS: Our group can't wait to support this year’s Cheshire Cyclocross event. Our main goal this year is to drink more beer and make more noise than we did last year......

Anonymous said...

Cheshire Cross
Todd is already talking about wearing the ass shorts and dressing up as elvis. Our goal is to make the Pro racers laugh so hard that they will not be able to make it to the top of the hill without pissing their pants.

Chris C.

Anonymous said...

What a coincidence... My main goal for the race in between running it and racing in it is also to drink more beer and make more noise...

Cant wait for the hill people to return...

Anonymous said...

I will personally travel to Colorado and camp outside the Velonews offices until they agree to run the photo of Todd dressed as Elvis (with guitar) wearing ass shorts.

Cheshire Cycle and Repair said...

I think the best part of last night's ride was when I actually felt good at the end of the ride(for once) and flatted 4mins from the end on rt 10. yay me! Thanks to my man Monty (red cannondale) for the gu package tire patch!

Anonymous said...

How can we find the video? What should we type in? Cheshire, Cycle, Repair?

Anonymous said...

we are working on the video.

Anonymous said...

Hey Stage 1 guys, check out:
www.bikereg.com/events/register.asp?eventid=5202

Video of last years "Hill People" is up & ready to inspire for this years event.

Anonymous said...

I saw those 2 videos on the CCR website. Pretty cool. Especially the first one. A rockin' song.