Team Nerac attacks but can not break the spirit of the Amateurs
Great ride tonight guys! One of the fastest ever! Gregg F never saw less than 26 mph on Mountain Rd. Dillon finished with a near 25 mph average. Hunter P finished with a 319 watt average. Riders were spit out all over the place! Good times!
Aiden Charles and Chris "just a top ten" Jones showed up for tonights ride. Guess all us unpaid's are a good substitute as there were no races for them to stomp this past weekend.
The Nerac colors drove the peleton to a frenzy by Mountian Rd, with Jones sneaking up from the rear on the way down Brooksvale. For a guy so skinny, he sure gets seen quick enough. Guys like Chris Crowell, Curtis Easton, Anthony Alessio, Jacob Hacker, and Chris Butler were quick to lift the pace to what the NRC seasoned guys are used to. Ok, well maybe not that fast.
By the end of Mountain Rd there was some splintering going on. 3 groups just started to form from the sheer speed. Tho by the light all was together.
Onto Moss farms were Charles and Jones still were up front setting a very healthy tempo. Eric M, Mike McG, and crazy Chris from Stage 1 were up there adding fuel to the fire. Turning onto Jarvis the pace slowed for a kentucky second and then shot up as Alessio, Charles, Hacker, and Hunter P brought everyone around the corner onto Marion. Between trying to keep up with the pace and keeping an eye on the Pro's, no one was escaping today.
As the ride turned onto Knotter, pace still very high, a gap opened up when a rider* sat up. Jones, Charles, Joe K, Peter P and a couple of others (?!) looked to have broken the elastic. Credit Chris C with doing the lion's share of pulling the group back before the turn onto W Johnson.
Flying up the hill and down the backside on W Johnson, the group had a chance to catch breath. Right as the ride turned onto Reinhard, Joe K had a dig at the front. This set up a launch pad on the hill for the always dangerous Steve Gray. This in turn setup another good spot for ( surprise, surprise ) Hacker to have a go. Hunter P was on his wheel for the free ride. The two reached the top of Reinhard in familiar fashion, with a gap. Though it was to be very short lived. Joe K, Mike McG and Steve G covered on the descent.
All was normal till Route 10. The team work broke down a bit up past Cheshire Park ( site of CheshireCross 07...register now ) as Easton put down a good pull up the hill. Going up the hill before Stop n Shop, in a real show of terror, Charles and Jones went mano a mano for the sprint. Though Alessio, Hacker, Chris C and maybe 1 or 2 more (!?) were able to go with. This lead to Chris C, Alessio and Hacker getting a bit of a gap by the center of town. The situation was made worse by a crash right past Stop n Shop. 3 guys went down, names unknown (!?).
Alessio ended up waiting, Chris C, HAcker, and Julio L went on. The peleton was slow to get back together and back up to speed. But once it did, Charles, Jones, Mike McG, Hunter P and Hiroko Shimada from the Target Training Women's team made sure that no one was going to be at full strength for the finale.
Chris C did not* win the 2 up race to to the end of the ride.
Again, a great ride despite the crash. post your comments and help fill in the gaps. Hopefully we will see more of the Nerac boys. Before they get signed to bigger teams.
*may or may not be true.
