The final ride of 09 leaves us all a little teary eyed.
There was little parking lot talk of this being the final edition of the TWC. But once the riding began in earnest, you could def sense that guys were looking to leave it all out there with the hopes of putting a mark on what has been a pretty darn good year for the Throwdown.
Right off route 10, Ridley Ben and Thomaas B were early instigators. Hunter P got involved along with Guido and that was enough to spring the day’s first group willing to role the dice against the impressive forces behind. Also in the break was Eric M, Dillon P and Chris Mahoney (?). That rolled along thru the Mount Sanford and then thru the cobbles , but some traffic turning onto North Brooksvale slowed the group and it came back together. Right after the catch Chris C moved to the front to make himself known as did Lityle T and Mike McG. Also moving up was Hacker and Chris Jones. Good to have CJones back out on the ride, especially with a nice little I'm-riding-a-Cross-bike handicap.
On to Mountain Road where Thomaas B and Hunter P got things going up the first riser. There was another momentary gap but it came back together behind Chris Jones, Mike McG and Little T. From there the pace was good as the heavy hitters stayed near the front and kept the pace making brisk.
Onto Moss Farms where pace was decent again, Peter P, Guido, and other beefcakes keeping it real. Hunter P and Guido led everyone into the Chicane, with Guido dropping back a bit to collect himself for the attack. There was no activity behind Hunter P till Guido came surging off the front again. No one immediately responded, but a couple seconds later Hunter P jumped off the very front to slowly catch Guido a little past the corner. Guido’s surge plus Hunter’s broke the front up a bit, and a few riders took advantage to drill it after the corner. Steve Grey and a Bethel Cycles teammate, Eric M, and another rider ( Peter P?) came up and with Guido and Hunter off the front, a break was formed. This rolled along for a kilo, with Guido and Hunter P doing the brunt of the work. Behind the usual guys were riding tempo, slowly bringing it back. By the industrial park, it was all together again, although Steve Grey remained at the front and pushed the pace up till the corner of West Johnson Ave.
Coming up to Reinhard, the speed was a little higher than usual, as no one was really attacking the front. ( cue Chris Butler? ) Jones and Hacker moved up to the front, doing what they do, and was putting the pressure on the sprinters behind to keep em close. And plenty of sprinters behind there were. You name em, they were were present and accounted for. Really…. At this point in the year, do we even need to name them??? Anyway up the first part of Reinhard, Steve Grey actually found a way to still be up there but he was as good as a pig on a spit up there spinning slowly and dying quickly. Hack Attach and Jones continued to stay at the front locked in “dare me to go” poses. Julio L may have been the first to jump proper, but Little T was right behind him. Also there to respond was Joe K, who ended up being the only one to fight Little T to the very very end. Little T hit the corner first tho by a meter or 2, continuing his nearly unbeaten season in the trivial throwdown sprints.
After the corner, 16-teams-a-year-Jones and Hacker continued the strong riding, fyling down the road toward Peck lane as the working class sorted themselves out behind. They hit Peck Lane with a thin 4 second gap over Joe K and then another 3 seconds to the peleton. Joe K would try to catch them on Peck, but he would get brought back by the field. The 2 up the road however, kept the gap steady up to Sandback Rd. Behind them, Guido came up to the front and pulled everyone with a vengeance from the old train tracks to Route 10, a good kilo+. That cut deeply into the gap. A red light right immediately at the base of the hill on Route 10 slowed the chase and delayed the catch another couple of minutes. In that time, Julio L was also needed to come to the front and take a long drag on the front. With it still fast, and still strung out like a junkie after Yom Kippur, it was kinda anyone’s guess for the Stop N Shop Sprint. Kinda because not too many doubted that Little T was gonna bend chainrings to lock up his sprinter‘s Tee shirt prize. Still…. He had some work cut out for him, not being in the front 12 bikes or so with 300 meters to go. Mike McG, everyone’s teammate except for Chris C, came by Little T and dragged him up to and past the fornt, leaving Little T only a bit of homework to do to get past Hacker and a couple of other guys who were in a decent spot.
Rolling thru a tired rush hour Cheshire, for the last time this year was bitter sweet. You almost had to smile with affection as a truck pulled out and nearly took out the front of the ride. Thomaas B tried to ride off the front. No dice. The usual guys were doing the work down into Hamden, plus Jones and a cute chick in a ACT jersey (name?). In the end, Julio L, Chappy, and others ( where was Guido!? ) had a chance, but Little T sealed this year up for everyone.
Who knows what a week will bring… Maybe the sun will pause in the sky for us for one more week of immature fun on 2 wheels. We doubt it tho.
All n all, it was a great year. Please be sure to check out the new “best of” survey on the sidebar and leave your vote. Come over to the shop and buy a SG tee, we’ll have a dart board with a picture of Rondo on it.
Tuesday the 29th
A decent sized group was out tonight, despite the 5:30 start time. With only fun charity rides, long NH hikes, or tortuous cross races left on the calendar, everyone seemed up for a jab or two and right off Route 10 Guido was up there trying to get something started off the front. Bergie was having nothing of that and pegged that gap back quick for everyone. Then it was Eric M and Chris Mahoney trying to sneak off but again, the pace was quick thanks to Chris C and others and it was all together heading to Mountain Rd.
Hunter P and Greg Ciocci flew up the first slopes there got things rolling. Peter P was up there too along with Mike McG and Little T. For a second there was another gap on the 2nd set of risers but that was short lived as guys like Yalie Adam and Joe K were moving up. For the rest of the trip down Mountain, there were plenty of guys willing to work and the ride snapped like a carbon fiber whip. Yalie Adam was once again powering off near the end of Mountain, maybe to sneak off. He had Hunter P and Dillon P right there but with the red light, it all came back together again.
After the ride nearly suffered a collision with a car from behind on Moss Farms. It was French Casey leading the charge with John Gregory, Julio L, Chris C, Eric M, Rondo, etc. all close behind. Rolling into the chicane was pretty calm with no one really gunning it. Once at the top though Rondo, Chris C and Chappy Chris hit the gas and no one followed immediately. Once there was a gap it seemed like everyone would just rather wait and see how this one turned out instead of chasing the happy trio down. The gap went up to 7 or 8 seconds as Yalie Adam moved to the front and set a catch-em tempo. Then, as pigs were flying across the road nearly making bacon of themselves, Rondo turned it off and let the Chris’s roll off. Gianni Bugno was rolling in his grave* as the breakaway of 2 then disintegrated. It was pretty much all gruppo compacto heading into the industrial park. There, Guido (?) gave it a go and gapped the field briefly with Chris C still fighting it out off the front. Behind them, Peter P was leading the rest. Chris turned first onto West Johnson and gave it another stab but Peter P and Hunter P were right there and then it was Hunter P’s turn to go and he rolled off alone. The front of the field went into a brief tempo mode, giving Hunter a decent gap heading up to Rienhard. Guido was the first to jump and jump hard he did, going right past Hunter P hitting the corner first with a decent chance to get the sprint. Behind there was a real deal chase group riding away from the rest, Mike McG, Ken just Ken, Joe K, Greg Ciocci, Julio L, Peter P. Little T was close behind. That group swept up Hunter P and set the sights on the German. Just as the catch was being made, Little T jumped, taking most of the group with him but only Joe K had the fighting chance. T stuck it out and hit the corner first. Behind, Hunter P and Ciocci were rolling thru and collecting the near dead in order to keep up a gap off the front. A group of 5 or so got going fast down the back side, but traffic turning onto Peck Ln stopped everyone, bringing it all back together.
Coming up to Route 10, there was a brief move off the front by Peter P, Chris C, Chappy & Hunter P, but that didn’t last too long. From there the pace was decent up to the Stop N Shop sprint where a small group was quick to get into position off the front. LittleT, Julio L, Ciocci, and Peter P. Little T out-dueled Peter P for this one, making it two in row.
Moving thru Cheshire, TT Pete was seen dangling off the front, no doubt looking to pounce on any chance to get a gap to drive it home with. Guido was also up there getting ready to hit it in between lights. Once thru town, Julio L came up to the front and drilled it. Leading out all for a solid kilo before the likes of Mike McG and Eric M pulled thru.
For the final couple of clicks, the pace slowed for a second or 2, giving an unlikely Dillon P the honors of burying himself for Rondo, Little T, Hunter P and a couple of others. The race to the end was a 3 way battle till the Guido came rumbling thru in time to pass Little T and let him know how it was going to end. Little T sat up and rolled in right behind Guido, Hunter P and Bergie right there as well. Although for standing during the final, (cough - ahem - err) “sprint”, he gets a big fat DQ on this night.
Great ride everyone… Probably only one more week of these shenanigans left.
* Gianni Bugno is alive and well and probably, along with his fellow Romans, cursing the near overnight dominance of SRAM Road groups.
Hunter P and Greg Ciocci flew up the first slopes there got things rolling. Peter P was up there too along with Mike McG and Little T. For a second there was another gap on the 2nd set of risers but that was short lived as guys like Yalie Adam and Joe K were moving up. For the rest of the trip down Mountain, there were plenty of guys willing to work and the ride snapped like a carbon fiber whip. Yalie Adam was once again powering off near the end of Mountain, maybe to sneak off. He had Hunter P and Dillon P right there but with the red light, it all came back together again.
After the ride nearly suffered a collision with a car from behind on Moss Farms. It was French Casey leading the charge with John Gregory, Julio L, Chris C, Eric M, Rondo, etc. all close behind. Rolling into the chicane was pretty calm with no one really gunning it. Once at the top though Rondo, Chris C and Chappy Chris hit the gas and no one followed immediately. Once there was a gap it seemed like everyone would just rather wait and see how this one turned out instead of chasing the happy trio down. The gap went up to 7 or 8 seconds as Yalie Adam moved to the front and set a catch-em tempo. Then, as pigs were flying across the road nearly making bacon of themselves, Rondo turned it off and let the Chris’s roll off. Gianni Bugno was rolling in his grave* as the breakaway of 2 then disintegrated. It was pretty much all gruppo compacto heading into the industrial park. There, Guido (?) gave it a go and gapped the field briefly with Chris C still fighting it out off the front. Behind them, Peter P was leading the rest. Chris turned first onto West Johnson and gave it another stab but Peter P and Hunter P were right there and then it was Hunter P’s turn to go and he rolled off alone. The front of the field went into a brief tempo mode, giving Hunter a decent gap heading up to Rienhard. Guido was the first to jump and jump hard he did, going right past Hunter P hitting the corner first with a decent chance to get the sprint. Behind there was a real deal chase group riding away from the rest, Mike McG, Ken just Ken, Joe K, Greg Ciocci, Julio L, Peter P. Little T was close behind. That group swept up Hunter P and set the sights on the German. Just as the catch was being made, Little T jumped, taking most of the group with him but only Joe K had the fighting chance. T stuck it out and hit the corner first. Behind, Hunter P and Ciocci were rolling thru and collecting the near dead in order to keep up a gap off the front. A group of 5 or so got going fast down the back side, but traffic turning onto Peck Ln stopped everyone, bringing it all back together.
Coming up to Route 10, there was a brief move off the front by Peter P, Chris C, Chappy & Hunter P, but that didn’t last too long. From there the pace was decent up to the Stop N Shop sprint where a small group was quick to get into position off the front. LittleT, Julio L, Ciocci, and Peter P. Little T out-dueled Peter P for this one, making it two in row.
Moving thru Cheshire, TT Pete was seen dangling off the front, no doubt looking to pounce on any chance to get a gap to drive it home with. Guido was also up there getting ready to hit it in between lights. Once thru town, Julio L came up to the front and drilled it. Leading out all for a solid kilo before the likes of Mike McG and Eric M pulled thru.
For the final couple of clicks, the pace slowed for a second or 2, giving an unlikely Dillon P the honors of burying himself for Rondo, Little T, Hunter P and a couple of others. The race to the end was a 3 way battle till the Guido came rumbling thru in time to pass Little T and let him know how it was going to end. Little T sat up and rolled in right behind Guido, Hunter P and Bergie right there as well. Although for standing during the final, (cough - ahem - err) “sprint”, he gets a big fat DQ on this night.
Great ride everyone… Probably only one more week of these shenanigans left.
* Gianni Bugno is alive and well and probably, along with his fellow Romans, cursing the near overnight dominance of SRAM Road groups.
Tuesday the 29th
Looks like the ride is leaving at 5:30 tonight. If you have any questions, leave them here or feel free to call the shop.... 203 250 9996
Hope to see ALL the usuals out there.
Hope to see ALL the usuals out there.
Tuesday the 15th
Sniff Sniff, we miss the long (easier) loop
A good sized group out tonight and right from the start there was a group that was threatening to pull off the front… Julio L and John Gregory the main offenders among them.
But things settled down quickly, even tho the the pace was “tense” for a while. Eric M took over pace making along with VQ Rob. And soon enough, Mike McG and winter racer Kurt Davis were heading up to the front and turning the microwave to “defrost” mode. Cruising up Mountain road, Kurt D led for a healthy spell and by the second set of risers was starting to lead a small group off the front. Chris C, Tall John, Steve Grey, Ciocci, Tim Ratatata among the guys up front putting down a strong tempo. Then nearing the end of Mountain Rd, another group almost got free, no doubt looking for green daylight, but everyone stopped for the light on route 68.
Kurt D went straight to the front on Moss Farms and took Hunter P and T. Ratta along with him. The 3 went to work together but were being given zero to none leeway from the leaders of the peleton. Mike McG and Chris C among the ones keeping it close. The trio up the road wouldn’t fade easily and so the pace heading to the Chicane was brisk to say the least. Once caught, Davis wasn’t yet done and continued to stay near the front and help things move along with plenty of fiber. After that stretch, things calmed down and slowed down leading into the Chicane and no one was there to really drill it. Mike MaHoney, Eric M and Ciocci (?) were up there bringing everyone thru. Once everyone made it safely thru the turn into the industrial park things got going again with Little T and Ratta trying to separate themselves…. Crazy Chris, Julio L and a couple of others were up there as well and for a moment it looked like they may succeed in at least getting to West Johnson Ave with a gap but things slowed down a bit, no doubt due to Ratta’s short ride virginity. Next was Davis as he accelerated up the first initial risers of West Johnson. He took along a couple of Stage 3 guys (?) but that fizzed out by going thru the intersection of Peck Lane. Rondo took a dig, no doubt using that extra time he spent on the short bus kicking butt with the other “B ride” riders to his advantage. He looked like he was in a decent position to go for it as he went up the initial part of Reinhart with a few seconds but that evaporated pretty quickly as Little T sped off with Mike McG and Hunter P in tow. Those 3 took off and stayed exactly in that order as Little T kept on the gas all the way to the corner, leading out and winning the sprint in impressive fashion.
On the backside it all came back together before Peck Ln. Heading up to route 10 Julio L and Chris C obviously hatched some type of plan and were gunning it before and into the corner. Ratta, just looking to not go slow, jumped on and the 3 had a gap of maybe 7 seconds at the base of the hill by Cheshire Park. Hunter P jumped from the front of the rest and bridged up just as it was coming apart. Ratta sensed the hesitation and attacked the front, riding off alone. The Peleton was going up to the leaders, led by a host of guys, VQ Rob, Guido, Ciocci, Bergie, Mike McG, Little T etc. Hats off to Robyn as well for staying right up there close to the front, all ride long for the most part. Ratta got thru the first light on Route 10 as everyone behind had to stop. He soft pedaled after that and let everyone catch back on. Super sporting of him as he no doubt could have given it a fair & square run the whole way to the Stop n Shop sprint with the gap he had.
Once it came back together the pace went up again as it was single file to the sprint with only a few guys in position with the speed to contest it. Ratta, Mike McG, Hunter P, Julio, Chris C, and 1 or 2 more with a chance. In the end it was Ratta leading out Little T which is never gonna end pretty and Little T came around easily to secure more “Green SG Tee Shirt” points.
Heading back to Hamden was normal. We think there was some scheming being done again by TT Pete and Guido but any gap off the front they had was small & brief. It got a little clogged up in the finale after Curt D put in his final 2 cents worth and pulled off. With one on to follow, it slowed and then with Mike McG and Little T air ramming the left side, that was the place to be… Julio was up there? Or was it VQ Rob? Either way Little t got it and rounded out the hat trick for the night. Making up for last week’s debacle.
Good ride and a thanks to Curt D for helping make it a proper fast ride.
A good sized group out tonight and right from the start there was a group that was threatening to pull off the front… Julio L and John Gregory the main offenders among them.
But things settled down quickly, even tho the the pace was “tense” for a while. Eric M took over pace making along with VQ Rob. And soon enough, Mike McG and winter racer Kurt Davis were heading up to the front and turning the microwave to “defrost” mode. Cruising up Mountain road, Kurt D led for a healthy spell and by the second set of risers was starting to lead a small group off the front. Chris C, Tall John, Steve Grey, Ciocci, Tim Ratatata among the guys up front putting down a strong tempo. Then nearing the end of Mountain Rd, another group almost got free, no doubt looking for green daylight, but everyone stopped for the light on route 68.
Kurt D went straight to the front on Moss Farms and took Hunter P and T. Ratta along with him. The 3 went to work together but were being given zero to none leeway from the leaders of the peleton. Mike McG and Chris C among the ones keeping it close. The trio up the road wouldn’t fade easily and so the pace heading to the Chicane was brisk to say the least. Once caught, Davis wasn’t yet done and continued to stay near the front and help things move along with plenty of fiber. After that stretch, things calmed down and slowed down leading into the Chicane and no one was there to really drill it. Mike MaHoney, Eric M and Ciocci (?) were up there bringing everyone thru. Once everyone made it safely thru the turn into the industrial park things got going again with Little T and Ratta trying to separate themselves…. Crazy Chris, Julio L and a couple of others were up there as well and for a moment it looked like they may succeed in at least getting to West Johnson Ave with a gap but things slowed down a bit, no doubt due to Ratta’s short ride virginity. Next was Davis as he accelerated up the first initial risers of West Johnson. He took along a couple of Stage 3 guys (?) but that fizzed out by going thru the intersection of Peck Lane. Rondo took a dig, no doubt using that extra time he spent on the short bus kicking butt with the other “B ride” riders to his advantage. He looked like he was in a decent position to go for it as he went up the initial part of Reinhart with a few seconds but that evaporated pretty quickly as Little T sped off with Mike McG and Hunter P in tow. Those 3 took off and stayed exactly in that order as Little T kept on the gas all the way to the corner, leading out and winning the sprint in impressive fashion.
On the backside it all came back together before Peck Ln. Heading up to route 10 Julio L and Chris C obviously hatched some type of plan and were gunning it before and into the corner. Ratta, just looking to not go slow, jumped on and the 3 had a gap of maybe 7 seconds at the base of the hill by Cheshire Park. Hunter P jumped from the front of the rest and bridged up just as it was coming apart. Ratta sensed the hesitation and attacked the front, riding off alone. The Peleton was going up to the leaders, led by a host of guys, VQ Rob, Guido, Ciocci, Bergie, Mike McG, Little T etc. Hats off to Robyn as well for staying right up there close to the front, all ride long for the most part. Ratta got thru the first light on Route 10 as everyone behind had to stop. He soft pedaled after that and let everyone catch back on. Super sporting of him as he no doubt could have given it a fair & square run the whole way to the Stop n Shop sprint with the gap he had.
Once it came back together the pace went up again as it was single file to the sprint with only a few guys in position with the speed to contest it. Ratta, Mike McG, Hunter P, Julio, Chris C, and 1 or 2 more with a chance. In the end it was Ratta leading out Little T which is never gonna end pretty and Little T came around easily to secure more “Green SG Tee Shirt” points.
Heading back to Hamden was normal. We think there was some scheming being done again by TT Pete and Guido but any gap off the front they had was small & brief. It got a little clogged up in the finale after Curt D put in his final 2 cents worth and pulled off. With one on to follow, it slowed and then with Mike McG and Little T air ramming the left side, that was the place to be… Julio was up there? Or was it VQ Rob? Either way Little t got it and rounded out the hat trick for the night. Making up for last week’s debacle.
Good ride and a thanks to Curt D for helping make it a proper fast ride.
Tuesday the 8th
Everybody brings their A game in search of the last chances to get some ink…
A smaller than usual crowd out tonight and it was decided by the powers that be… ( not Rondo ) that the ride would do a type of medium longish short loop, cutting off Mount Vernon rd mid way down the usual run.
Everyone agreed and the ride was off. It took a little while to get up to speed, and in the interim, Dillon P and Antonio rode off the front soon after route 10. They were joined by a couple of others… Tri Guy, Texas Ryan (?!) etc… No one was in a huge hurry to rope em back… Koski, Eric M and Mike McG were setting the tempo that would bring them back.
The ride got going a little quicker then with Tim Ratatatat Ratta up there pushing it with Texas Ryan, Hunter P and Ken just ken. Dillon P had another dig on Mount Sanford, only to be ignored back into the group. Once on mountain rd, Mike McG and Hunter P kicked things off in a good way, driving it up the first riser… Julio L and Chris C followed up and things were moving right along. On the 2nd set of risers, Hunter P attacked, taking along Guido along him. The 2 hit the top with a bit of a gap, but that survived as long as a Thor Hushovd victory sprint. Again, Koski, Mike McG and Rondo up there bringing it back together.
Once on Moss Farms, it was Hunter P, Texas Ryan and Rondo setting early tempo on much improved-from-last-week roads. It was a free for all heading into the Chicane, Ken just Ken, Mike McG, Peter K, Gregg F, etc all up there. Little T bided his time on the ramp up to Marion and when he did jump, was challenged by Guido. Little T went thru 1st with Guido and Hunter P right there. That became a dangerous trio as the 3 worked together with a no joke gap flying to the industrial park. It took some elbow grease to bring them back but with the help of Green Mountain Stage Race Veteran Eddy A, they were brought back in time for the weekly “who’s going short, who’s going long….errr…..medium” debate. Only a few guys peeled off as peer pressure reared its ugly head once again.
Once over 322, Little t got things going and then was followed by Peter K of CCR and Ken just ken. The pace was good down Mount Vernon Rd. with a few guys taking turns. Tim Ratatatat was up there a lot with Special Ed. Tim R has been rumored to be fielding offers for O ten from the Medics, the Bubbles, the Targets, the Yalies, the Cheshire Racers and Guido’s soon to be announced one man team (?!). No word on who his spiritual advisor and manager is pushing him toward…. Not to mention the fact that he still has a year left on his deal with US Army\Central Wheel, mopping the bike shop floors at night and shooting things and people during every fourth weekend. Stay tuned for late breaking news….
As the ride got to the false flat that ironically forces most to the truth about themselves, Mike McG had a dig and Hunter P followed. Special Ed was there…. Ratatatat too maybe, but that was pretty much it. Even so they couldn’t make it far off the front, instead just putting everyone in a pot of hurt. We're sure there is no love lost by some as we say goodbye to Mount Vernon till the winter rides.
As the turn down Jude lane approached, the speed dropped off a bit…. Joe K, playing the game with perfection, quietly, yet effectively, rode off the front, using the hometown advantage he had. As everyone behind got used to the new surroundings, He was off and that would be all he needed. By the time the Peleton got going under the wheels of Chris C, Texas Ryan, Eric M and Mike McG, Joe was up the road and not to be caught anytime soon. The hill up to West Street brought the ride to a new all time low speed, but even still, everyone stayed together… Julio L throttled it downhill toward Main St. Still Joe K was off the front alone. He would end up having to stop at the light on 322, which brought the ride back together. The way into Cheshire and to route 10 was fast. Gregg F, Hunter P, Jacinto, Chris C and a couple of others went full gas into the cobbles and the riser up Peck Ln, but no dice…. The powers that be kept it all together. Once on Route 10 things settled down a bit. Traffic lights again proved to be pesky. On the light at Maple Ave, Mike McG lept off the line, taking Jacinto with him. What looked like an innocent gap turned into a we’re-gonna-make-it-type gap… Mike shed Jacinto at the last moment on the run it to the sprint hill. Behind Little T jumped up from a few bike back, passing Julio, Hunter P, Ciocci (?) and others, but was not able to get up to Mike, who took it.
Heading back into Hamden, the usual suspects were up there, driving the pace. Rondo, Eric M, Chris C, Silent Steve, Todd H, Ratatatat, and Texas Ryan. At one point (the last light in Cheshire?), Guido slipped away with one other rider (?). It a bold move, he tried to defy huge odds and ride it home by himself. He was caught after a kilo and a half or so, just as Mike McG was pulling thru for the last time. Soon after that Little T hit the front alone and fast… Riding off with a solid kilometer+ to go. It was down to French Casey and Dillon P to start the last second chase and they obliged, setting up the rider from San Fran (?) and then Hunter P to catch him. Just as Hunter P went over the top of T, the foreign freight train that is known as Julio L and Guido blew by all remaining and went off to settle it moungst themselves. Julio L gets the credit for this one, riding past Guido by a bike length when all was said and done, leaving Little T with a rare winless week.….
Great ride…. Next week back to the shorter loop. Its been confirmed…..
Also, because the SG ride kicks everyone’s ass now and then, and because it is like no other, and because this summer was an especially good one for the tradition and legacy of the ride… We’ve decided to make up some tee shirts. They will be sold at Cheshire Cycle for $13 each.
So far it’s just the one design, but depending on demand, we may do a second one. It would be helpful to us to have an idea of how many to make, so perhaps drop a line to info@cheshirecycle.com and let up know you want one. You can also tell us which type of cotton is best for your skin, the size that best shows off your calves, and the color that brings out your eyes… But regardless of all that, they will be in stock by the weekend. So come by, buy one, and show off the fact that you can hang with the ride that Rondo loves. We will be sending one to the Police Chief of Cheshire ASAP.
NOTE! We have just gotten confirmation.... Wearing this shirt to any social function held by Todd H or Tall John gets you unlimited keg stands ( once Crowell is done ) and control of the karaoke system.
A smaller than usual crowd out tonight and it was decided by the powers that be… ( not Rondo ) that the ride would do a type of medium longish short loop, cutting off Mount Vernon rd mid way down the usual run.
Everyone agreed and the ride was off. It took a little while to get up to speed, and in the interim, Dillon P and Antonio rode off the front soon after route 10. They were joined by a couple of others… Tri Guy, Texas Ryan (?!) etc… No one was in a huge hurry to rope em back… Koski, Eric M and Mike McG were setting the tempo that would bring them back.
The ride got going a little quicker then with Tim Ratatatat Ratta up there pushing it with Texas Ryan, Hunter P and Ken just ken. Dillon P had another dig on Mount Sanford, only to be ignored back into the group. Once on mountain rd, Mike McG and Hunter P kicked things off in a good way, driving it up the first riser… Julio L and Chris C followed up and things were moving right along. On the 2nd set of risers, Hunter P attacked, taking along Guido along him. The 2 hit the top with a bit of a gap, but that survived as long as a Thor Hushovd victory sprint. Again, Koski, Mike McG and Rondo up there bringing it back together.
Once on Moss Farms, it was Hunter P, Texas Ryan and Rondo setting early tempo on much improved-from-last-week roads. It was a free for all heading into the Chicane, Ken just Ken, Mike McG, Peter K, Gregg F, etc all up there. Little T bided his time on the ramp up to Marion and when he did jump, was challenged by Guido. Little T went thru 1st with Guido and Hunter P right there. That became a dangerous trio as the 3 worked together with a no joke gap flying to the industrial park. It took some elbow grease to bring them back but with the help of Green Mountain Stage Race Veteran Eddy A, they were brought back in time for the weekly “who’s going short, who’s going long….errr…..medium” debate. Only a few guys peeled off as peer pressure reared its ugly head once again.
Once over 322, Little t got things going and then was followed by Peter K of CCR and Ken just ken. The pace was good down Mount Vernon Rd. with a few guys taking turns. Tim Ratatatat was up there a lot with Special Ed. Tim R has been rumored to be fielding offers for O ten from the Medics, the Bubbles, the Targets, the Yalies, the Cheshire Racers and Guido’s soon to be announced one man team (?!). No word on who his spiritual advisor and manager is pushing him toward…. Not to mention the fact that he still has a year left on his deal with US Army\Central Wheel, mopping the bike shop floors at night and shooting things and people during every fourth weekend. Stay tuned for late breaking news….
As the ride got to the false flat that ironically forces most to the truth about themselves, Mike McG had a dig and Hunter P followed. Special Ed was there…. Ratatatat too maybe, but that was pretty much it. Even so they couldn’t make it far off the front, instead just putting everyone in a pot of hurt. We're sure there is no love lost by some as we say goodbye to Mount Vernon till the winter rides.
As the turn down Jude lane approached, the speed dropped off a bit…. Joe K, playing the game with perfection, quietly, yet effectively, rode off the front, using the hometown advantage he had. As everyone behind got used to the new surroundings, He was off and that would be all he needed. By the time the Peleton got going under the wheels of Chris C, Texas Ryan, Eric M and Mike McG, Joe was up the road and not to be caught anytime soon. The hill up to West Street brought the ride to a new all time low speed, but even still, everyone stayed together… Julio L throttled it downhill toward Main St. Still Joe K was off the front alone. He would end up having to stop at the light on 322, which brought the ride back together. The way into Cheshire and to route 10 was fast. Gregg F, Hunter P, Jacinto, Chris C and a couple of others went full gas into the cobbles and the riser up Peck Ln, but no dice…. The powers that be kept it all together. Once on Route 10 things settled down a bit. Traffic lights again proved to be pesky. On the light at Maple Ave, Mike McG lept off the line, taking Jacinto with him. What looked like an innocent gap turned into a we’re-gonna-make-it-type gap… Mike shed Jacinto at the last moment on the run it to the sprint hill. Behind Little T jumped up from a few bike back, passing Julio, Hunter P, Ciocci (?) and others, but was not able to get up to Mike, who took it.
Heading back into Hamden, the usual suspects were up there, driving the pace. Rondo, Eric M, Chris C, Silent Steve, Todd H, Ratatatat, and Texas Ryan. At one point (the last light in Cheshire?), Guido slipped away with one other rider (?). It a bold move, he tried to defy huge odds and ride it home by himself. He was caught after a kilo and a half or so, just as Mike McG was pulling thru for the last time. Soon after that Little T hit the front alone and fast… Riding off with a solid kilometer+ to go. It was down to French Casey and Dillon P to start the last second chase and they obliged, setting up the rider from San Fran (?) and then Hunter P to catch him. Just as Hunter P went over the top of T, the foreign freight train that is known as Julio L and Guido blew by all remaining and went off to settle it moungst themselves. Julio L gets the credit for this one, riding past Guido by a bike length when all was said and done, leaving Little T with a rare winless week.….
Great ride…. Next week back to the shorter loop. Its been confirmed…..
Also, because the SG ride kicks everyone’s ass now and then, and because it is like no other, and because this summer was an especially good one for the tradition and legacy of the ride… We’ve decided to make up some tee shirts. They will be sold at Cheshire Cycle for $13 each.
So far it’s just the one design, but depending on demand, we may do a second one. It would be helpful to us to have an idea of how many to make, so perhaps drop a line to info@cheshirecycle.com and let up know you want one. You can also tell us which type of cotton is best for your skin, the size that best shows off your calves, and the color that brings out your eyes… But regardless of all that, they will be in stock by the weekend. So come by, buy one, and show off the fact that you can hang with the ride that Rondo loves. We will be sending one to the Police Chief of Cheshire ASAP.
NOTE! We have just gotten confirmation.... Wearing this shirt to any social function held by Todd H or Tall John gets you unlimited keg stands ( once Crowell is done ) and control of the karaoke system.
Tuesday the 1st
BIG group out tonight…. Maybe 70 guys and a few new girls on the ride too. It seemed to be almost like a end of the summer ride….. With only a couple of guys going up to VT for the Green MNT stage race, most racing seasons are over and so the only reason to go fast is of course… The Tuesday Night Throwdown!
Soon off route 10, Guido and Dillon P rode off the front and they had Chris C, Hunter P and Julio L chasing. Mike McG and Koski also moved up and it was blazin thru the crap section of Brooksvale Ave. Getting close to Mountain Road, The rider in the Landry’s kit was back up at front along with a couple other new faces. Chris C, Hunter P, and Julio L led the initial charge up onto Mountain Road with Chris C and Hunter getting a gap that was closed down within a half mile by Mike McG, French Casey, Koski, etc. The rest of the ride down Mountain road was decently quick. Chris B shat pure power near the end leading out the final half mile, probably in pursuit of the elusive green-light-means-go.
Moss farms was a gravel driveway in the name of road improvement, so the speed turned to “aggressive neutral” though that section. French Casey unfortunately got hit with a flat. Once the road got good, it was Hacker and Empire Matt moving to and then off the front a little, Ciocci, Todd H, and Hunter P were hovering close behind, careful to not let that get ugly fast. Hacker charged up the hill to Marion, as things got kinda strung out behind him. This led to Hunter P, Guido and Gregg F getting a gap and going to work with it. It was short lived as they got caught right after the industrial short loop turn off. More than the usual amount turned off for the short loop., including some bruisers who usually are straight. Talk of this being the final week of the long loop filed thru the peleton.
Before getting to route 322, Joe K had a chance to jump of the front and he was joined by Hacker and a couple of others but all had to stop for the light. Onto Mount Vernon Rd were Matt S from CCR was up front along with Hunter P and Stage one guys. The ride down Vernon was ok, there was some sloppy rotating going on and a brief attack off the front by Hunter P before the steady uphill section. That led to Joe K getting in a counter attack effort and he was able to hold that for a while. It came down to Chris C and Todd H to close the gap down as everyone seemed to be getting ready for the turnaround back south. Just as the front was coming back all together, Hacker jumped up sensing an opportunity. His chain jammed up tho, bringing some type of salvation to those that would have to chase him down. The front of the ride slowed a bit in a lame attempt at waiting from him. Gregg F, Jacinto, Hunter P and a couple of others led everyone onto Welch Rd. Gregg F kept the speed good going up to the base of the climb just as Chris B and Ken just Ken charged up and off the front, then it was Mike McG, a couple of others (???) and then Hacker, and Hunter P heading into the corner fast. Hacker had to jump to catch Mike and he had hunter right on his wheel. Soon it was just Mike, Hacker and Hunter heading to the sprint point. Hunter was able to come out of the draft and jump around for the sprint, going past Mike.
There were some guys (Steve Gray, Little T, Matt S etc) willing to drill it in between lights heading back to Cheshire, so it stayed interesting. Empire Matt actually sorta attacked on the descent of the last part of West St, taking a rider from Central Wheel with him. The two had a gap and traffic at the light on Marion let them open it up a little more. Once thru the traffic, it was Guido, Hunter P, Texas Rodhouse, Jacinto and one more new guy, working together to try to bring the gap down. That effort got disrupted on the little hill by the underpass on Canal St which let Gregg F get involved. Up the road, the leaders made it thru the light on 322 while everyone else of course had to stop.
The rest of the way to route 10 was normal. Little T and Hunter P led everyone up Peck Lane as Ken just Ken was hit with a dropped chain. Empire Matt and the Central Wheel rider decided to hold up and wait… A sporting move on their part. There was more traffic as everyone was turning onto Route 10, and then another red light before the Sprint… Once it got going, Mike McG was flying at the front, with Hacker, Little T, Chris C and a couple of others behind, ready to go. This one was all Little T, keeping Hacker at bay despite a red light at the top of the hill.
More red lights thru Cheshire…. Red lights on top of red lights, showing that the long loop and school days don’t mix well together. Then, it seems Time Trial Pete, testing the "new" 80 year old fabric Skinsuit, designed to mimic the taunt skin of an 80 year old, escaped thru a light in the center of Cheshire. He got through the light with Eric M and one other rider... With the peleton stopping for the light, that was all the gap they needed to stay away, fair & very square style. Behind, things ramped up again with Rondo, and Mike McG at the front, putting everyone behind in work mode. Heading into the final Kilo, it was a free for all, as Mike McG turned in a good effort and cleared out with plenty of road to go. Then it was Hacker, driving the front and pulling the rip cord. Then it was Peter P’s turn. This all led to more than the usual guys with a chance at it. Even so, Little T was able to come around Julio L in time to wrap things up. But give this one to the eternally suffering TT Pete... Good job boys.
Soon off route 10, Guido and Dillon P rode off the front and they had Chris C, Hunter P and Julio L chasing. Mike McG and Koski also moved up and it was blazin thru the crap section of Brooksvale Ave. Getting close to Mountain Road, The rider in the Landry’s kit was back up at front along with a couple other new faces. Chris C, Hunter P, and Julio L led the initial charge up onto Mountain Road with Chris C and Hunter getting a gap that was closed down within a half mile by Mike McG, French Casey, Koski, etc. The rest of the ride down Mountain road was decently quick. Chris B shat pure power near the end leading out the final half mile, probably in pursuit of the elusive green-light-means-go.
Moss farms was a gravel driveway in the name of road improvement, so the speed turned to “aggressive neutral” though that section. French Casey unfortunately got hit with a flat. Once the road got good, it was Hacker and Empire Matt moving to and then off the front a little, Ciocci, Todd H, and Hunter P were hovering close behind, careful to not let that get ugly fast. Hacker charged up the hill to Marion, as things got kinda strung out behind him. This led to Hunter P, Guido and Gregg F getting a gap and going to work with it. It was short lived as they got caught right after the industrial short loop turn off. More than the usual amount turned off for the short loop., including some bruisers who usually are straight. Talk of this being the final week of the long loop filed thru the peleton.
Before getting to route 322, Joe K had a chance to jump of the front and he was joined by Hacker and a couple of others but all had to stop for the light. Onto Mount Vernon Rd were Matt S from CCR was up front along with Hunter P and Stage one guys. The ride down Vernon was ok, there was some sloppy rotating going on and a brief attack off the front by Hunter P before the steady uphill section. That led to Joe K getting in a counter attack effort and he was able to hold that for a while. It came down to Chris C and Todd H to close the gap down as everyone seemed to be getting ready for the turnaround back south. Just as the front was coming back all together, Hacker jumped up sensing an opportunity. His chain jammed up tho, bringing some type of salvation to those that would have to chase him down. The front of the ride slowed a bit in a lame attempt at waiting from him. Gregg F, Jacinto, Hunter P and a couple of others led everyone onto Welch Rd. Gregg F kept the speed good going up to the base of the climb just as Chris B and Ken just Ken charged up and off the front, then it was Mike McG, a couple of others (???) and then Hacker, and Hunter P heading into the corner fast. Hacker had to jump to catch Mike and he had hunter right on his wheel. Soon it was just Mike, Hacker and Hunter heading to the sprint point. Hunter was able to come out of the draft and jump around for the sprint, going past Mike.
There were some guys (Steve Gray, Little T, Matt S etc) willing to drill it in between lights heading back to Cheshire, so it stayed interesting. Empire Matt actually sorta attacked on the descent of the last part of West St, taking a rider from Central Wheel with him. The two had a gap and traffic at the light on Marion let them open it up a little more. Once thru the traffic, it was Guido, Hunter P, Texas Rodhouse, Jacinto and one more new guy, working together to try to bring the gap down. That effort got disrupted on the little hill by the underpass on Canal St which let Gregg F get involved. Up the road, the leaders made it thru the light on 322 while everyone else of course had to stop.
The rest of the way to route 10 was normal. Little T and Hunter P led everyone up Peck Lane as Ken just Ken was hit with a dropped chain. Empire Matt and the Central Wheel rider decided to hold up and wait… A sporting move on their part. There was more traffic as everyone was turning onto Route 10, and then another red light before the Sprint… Once it got going, Mike McG was flying at the front, with Hacker, Little T, Chris C and a couple of others behind, ready to go. This one was all Little T, keeping Hacker at bay despite a red light at the top of the hill.
More red lights thru Cheshire…. Red lights on top of red lights, showing that the long loop and school days don’t mix well together. Then, it seems Time Trial Pete, testing the "new" 80 year old fabric Skinsuit, designed to mimic the taunt skin of an 80 year old, escaped thru a light in the center of Cheshire. He got through the light with Eric M and one other rider... With the peleton stopping for the light, that was all the gap they needed to stay away, fair & very square style. Behind, things ramped up again with Rondo, and Mike McG at the front, putting everyone behind in work mode. Heading into the final Kilo, it was a free for all, as Mike McG turned in a good effort and cleared out with plenty of road to go. Then it was Hacker, driving the front and pulling the rip cord. Then it was Peter P’s turn. This all led to more than the usual guys with a chance at it. Even so, Little T was able to come around Julio L in time to wrap things up. But give this one to the eternally suffering TT Pete... Good job boys.
Tuesday the 25th
The Sleeping Giant Ride continues to hold morale and self esteem hostage...
Probably close to 65 out tonight. Everyone was nice and friendly heading out to Cheshire, although Julio L was pushing the pace as the turn off route 10 came up.
It didn’t take long before Josh G was up front again, pushing the pace and looking to make it hurt for everyone else. He had help up there with Otto, Dillon P, Eric M and the Yalies. The pace was fast for the whole way to Mountain Road. That turned into a solid all out pace line going down Mountain Road with lots of guys taking turns at the front.
Coming up to the end of Mountain, as the speed was winding down, there were a couple of guys riding attentively at the front. The light was turning and a small group made it thru fair and square. Josh G, Tall John, Steve Grey, Chris C, and Hacker all made it thru and showed no signs of waiting. Also getting thru the intersection in less than law abiding manner was Julio L, Hunter P, Silent Steve, and Otto von Wedlesfast. The rest of the peloton stopped by the red light. The group of 5 took off and used all the time given them by the light. The group of 4 behind hesitated and played he “do we chase, do we wait” game. The lead group was off their rocker tho and gone up the road. The group behind, once onto Moss Farms, was a mission tho and quickly making up ground led by Special Ed Angeli, Mad Mike McG, Rondo, Eric M, and others. Going over 322 into Southington, it was the group of 5, splitting the work load pretty evenly and then the Peleton behind.
Joe K got things off to a good start on Mount Vernon Road. The Yalies were going good too…. ( with nice new bikes for the school year? ). Special Ed was up there. Koski, Ken just Ken, and Matt S from CCR, CT Coast Ben, Chris Mohoney, Otto etc…. As the front of the ride was coming up to Welch Rd, the lead group was in sight with a gap of about 20 seconds or so. Just goes to show, even with a lot of horse power up the road, with a red light gap, the Sleeping Giant ride will relentlessly bring it back. As the lead group hit the base of the climb up to West St, they turned off the gas, knowing their fate. Hacker however, bored with 7 foot skinnies, drunken dancers, and wiley lawyers, used the chance to jump off in search of solo gold. Behind, Mike McG was destroying pavement, leading everyone up thru the corner, and pushing hard past. There were guys that were there for moral support, Joe K, Crazy Chris, Hunter P, Otto etc.. Chris B was also up there as he and Ken just Ken had tried to pull off the front on the climb but couldn’t come around Mike McG for long. Hacker gets the credit for the new and improved sprint point as he stayed off till the 84 crossing on West St. Mike McG, fittingly, lead the rest of the ride up through the sprint.
The rest of the ride was good. The pace was good. Effort was good. Josh was up there a couple of times, putting twofold efforts in, getting the pace up. The Yalies were up there too, Otto, Tall John, Thomaas B, Mahoney. Etc… Coming up to the Stop n Shop sprint, everyone was going fast. Even so, Mike McG took it by a solid gap.
We’re gonna need someone to fill in what happened for the rest for the way back into Hamden.
Good ride. Relentless…. The way it should be….
One more week of the long loop???
Probably close to 65 out tonight. Everyone was nice and friendly heading out to Cheshire, although Julio L was pushing the pace as the turn off route 10 came up.
It didn’t take long before Josh G was up front again, pushing the pace and looking to make it hurt for everyone else. He had help up there with Otto, Dillon P, Eric M and the Yalies. The pace was fast for the whole way to Mountain Road. That turned into a solid all out pace line going down Mountain Road with lots of guys taking turns at the front.
Coming up to the end of Mountain, as the speed was winding down, there were a couple of guys riding attentively at the front. The light was turning and a small group made it thru fair and square. Josh G, Tall John, Steve Grey, Chris C, and Hacker all made it thru and showed no signs of waiting. Also getting thru the intersection in less than law abiding manner was Julio L, Hunter P, Silent Steve, and Otto von Wedlesfast. The rest of the peloton stopped by the red light. The group of 5 took off and used all the time given them by the light. The group of 4 behind hesitated and played he “do we chase, do we wait” game. The lead group was off their rocker tho and gone up the road. The group behind, once onto Moss Farms, was a mission tho and quickly making up ground led by Special Ed Angeli, Mad Mike McG, Rondo, Eric M, and others. Going over 322 into Southington, it was the group of 5, splitting the work load pretty evenly and then the Peleton behind.
Joe K got things off to a good start on Mount Vernon Road. The Yalies were going good too…. ( with nice new bikes for the school year? ). Special Ed was up there. Koski, Ken just Ken, and Matt S from CCR, CT Coast Ben, Chris Mohoney, Otto etc…. As the front of the ride was coming up to Welch Rd, the lead group was in sight with a gap of about 20 seconds or so. Just goes to show, even with a lot of horse power up the road, with a red light gap, the Sleeping Giant ride will relentlessly bring it back. As the lead group hit the base of the climb up to West St, they turned off the gas, knowing their fate. Hacker however, bored with 7 foot skinnies, drunken dancers, and wiley lawyers, used the chance to jump off in search of solo gold. Behind, Mike McG was destroying pavement, leading everyone up thru the corner, and pushing hard past. There were guys that were there for moral support, Joe K, Crazy Chris, Hunter P, Otto etc.. Chris B was also up there as he and Ken just Ken had tried to pull off the front on the climb but couldn’t come around Mike McG for long. Hacker gets the credit for the new and improved sprint point as he stayed off till the 84 crossing on West St. Mike McG, fittingly, lead the rest of the ride up through the sprint.
The rest of the ride was good. The pace was good. Effort was good. Josh was up there a couple of times, putting twofold efforts in, getting the pace up. The Yalies were up there too, Otto, Tall John, Thomaas B, Mahoney. Etc… Coming up to the Stop n Shop sprint, everyone was going fast. Even so, Mike McG took it by a solid gap.
We’re gonna need someone to fill in what happened for the rest for the way back into Hamden.
Good ride. Relentless…. The way it should be….
One more week of the long loop???
Tuesday the 18th
The Sleeping Giant Ride…. Safer than training alone!
A lean and mean crowd out tonight.. Maybe 45-50 guys and a couple of girls too.
The ride got off to slow start but that lasted about 2 blocks as Old Man Josh Gewirtz came up to the front breathing fire and brimstone. He tried to get a gap on a couple of occasions… Guido, Hunter P, Mike McG, Brian K, Eric M, and a couple of others were up there at different times to help out. Nothing doing on the breaks tho and a lot of traffic turning onto Mountain Rd slowed things way down. There was another gap going up Mountain as Old Josh, Chris MaHoney, Jay Pearlman on a Parlee, Ken just Ken, and the Non Kiwi rider in black hit it hard. Things got strung out, but it stayed together.
Yalie Adam was the only one to make it thru the light at route 68, and all reports have him not being heard of again as he didn’t wait.
*Apparetnly, Tall John and Chris C had been off the front. Attacking everyone in the only spot that could allow them to get away, on route 10, right around Wentworth's, 30 seconds into the ride. Whether or not that counts as a true breakaway is your call. General consensus is that it is not. Save those bullets for when it counts boys....
The pace down Moss Farms was respectable as Thomaas B got involved as well as TriGuy with Knee highs. Chris Mahoney was up there as well. Crap nearly happened as a nice big golden retriver nearly got away from his owner in order to run into everyone. That woulda sucked.
No one really attacked going thru the chicane and then the hill after. The pace was crisp though and a small group formed after the hill. Mike McG, Guido, Old Josh and others with a 30 yard gap. Crazy Chris and Todd H kept the speed up in the pack and brought it back within 300 meters though. Mike McG stayed up front and was drillling it past the industrial park and to route 322. Good to see Rondo arrange his busy schedule to stay on the long loop tonight. He stayed on probably cause Chris C was no where to be found.
The trip down Mount Vernon Rd was fast… Again Old Josh and Not a Kiwi were up there. Guido got involved and gaps would form briefly. On the long riser where the strong guys can turn the screws on the weaker guys, there was some activity… Though not enough to spring anyone. On the next small riser Hunter P shot off and was joined by Guido. The two weren’t given any room though and were brought back with a kilometer. As soon as those two were caught, Mike McG attacked and took a new rider, New Haven Jacinto (on a Duratec) with him. The 2 worked a small gap heading onto Welch as guys behind started realizing that Little t wasn’t around. Cha-Ching Cha-Ching as dollar symbols flashed up in everyone’s eyes and it was game on for the sprint. Meanwhile Mike had left Jacinto on the Duratank behind and was calmly beginning the long assualt of Welch Rd. Chris B then shot up the left side, as expected, and took along Hunter P with him. Those 2 quickly left the front of the group, now being led by Not a Kiwi and Ciocci along with a couple of others. Guido responded to the surge, sensing Mike McG would not have the gap needed. Guido took along Joe K and Julio L. Chris pulled away from Hunter ( or he let a gap open to make Guido chase ) just as Mike was killing the thottle. Chris was caught by Guido just as the hill kicked and although Guido gave it a good sprint after chasing for 300-400 meters, Joe K was just sitting there ready to jump around him and was able to with room to spare. Good team work from the CCR guys to get to the corner first.
It has been decided though that for the remaining long loop weeks ( 2 or 3 max? ) that the reported winner of the sprint needs to get to the very top of the hill first… The top of the hill past the corner… Call it to the light at Spring St. This should make things interesting and create a chance for a true sprint. Let’s hope Little T gets over his fever and is back in the protection of the fold next week.
The rest of the ride into Cheshire was uneventful. Old Josh and Jacinto were up there along with Mike McG and Rondo setting tempo on Atwater and Canal St. Then on Peck ln. going up toward Sandbank Josh G was back at it, trying to find guys willing to drill it. Once back onto Route 10 the speed dropped probably cause of the head wind. That didn’t stop John Gregory and Not a Kiwi from setting a good tempo going up past Cheshire Park. Heading to Stop n Shop, the speed went up again as guys were getting ready for round 2. Julio L was not to be beated this time, riding away from the rest…. Jay Parlee, Ciocci, Thomaas B, Ken just Ken, Peter K etc…
Heading into the finale, Todd H hit the front with too far to go. Hutner P followed with still too long way to go. That led to a gap opening that Julio L and Guido closed in hurry once the end was in logical sight. Guido was able to come around Julio at the end….
This report may undergo a couple of changes as reports start filling in Wednesday morning.
Good ride….
A lean and mean crowd out tonight.. Maybe 45-50 guys and a couple of girls too.
The ride got off to slow start but that lasted about 2 blocks as Old Man Josh Gewirtz came up to the front breathing fire and brimstone. He tried to get a gap on a couple of occasions… Guido, Hunter P, Mike McG, Brian K, Eric M, and a couple of others were up there at different times to help out. Nothing doing on the breaks tho and a lot of traffic turning onto Mountain Rd slowed things way down. There was another gap going up Mountain as Old Josh, Chris MaHoney, Jay Pearlman on a Parlee, Ken just Ken, and the Non Kiwi rider in black hit it hard. Things got strung out, but it stayed together.
Yalie Adam was the only one to make it thru the light at route 68, and all reports have him not being heard of again as he didn’t wait.
*Apparetnly, Tall John and Chris C had been off the front. Attacking everyone in the only spot that could allow them to get away, on route 10, right around Wentworth's, 30 seconds into the ride. Whether or not that counts as a true breakaway is your call. General consensus is that it is not. Save those bullets for when it counts boys....
The pace down Moss Farms was respectable as Thomaas B got involved as well as TriGuy with Knee highs. Chris Mahoney was up there as well. Crap nearly happened as a nice big golden retriver nearly got away from his owner in order to run into everyone. That woulda sucked.
No one really attacked going thru the chicane and then the hill after. The pace was crisp though and a small group formed after the hill. Mike McG, Guido, Old Josh and others with a 30 yard gap. Crazy Chris and Todd H kept the speed up in the pack and brought it back within 300 meters though. Mike McG stayed up front and was drillling it past the industrial park and to route 322. Good to see Rondo arrange his busy schedule to stay on the long loop tonight. He stayed on probably cause Chris C was no where to be found.
The trip down Mount Vernon Rd was fast… Again Old Josh and Not a Kiwi were up there. Guido got involved and gaps would form briefly. On the long riser where the strong guys can turn the screws on the weaker guys, there was some activity… Though not enough to spring anyone. On the next small riser Hunter P shot off and was joined by Guido. The two weren’t given any room though and were brought back with a kilometer. As soon as those two were caught, Mike McG attacked and took a new rider, New Haven Jacinto (on a Duratec) with him. The 2 worked a small gap heading onto Welch as guys behind started realizing that Little t wasn’t around. Cha-Ching Cha-Ching as dollar symbols flashed up in everyone’s eyes and it was game on for the sprint. Meanwhile Mike had left Jacinto on the Duratank behind and was calmly beginning the long assualt of Welch Rd. Chris B then shot up the left side, as expected, and took along Hunter P with him. Those 2 quickly left the front of the group, now being led by Not a Kiwi and Ciocci along with a couple of others. Guido responded to the surge, sensing Mike McG would not have the gap needed. Guido took along Joe K and Julio L. Chris pulled away from Hunter ( or he let a gap open to make Guido chase ) just as Mike was killing the thottle. Chris was caught by Guido just as the hill kicked and although Guido gave it a good sprint after chasing for 300-400 meters, Joe K was just sitting there ready to jump around him and was able to with room to spare. Good team work from the CCR guys to get to the corner first.
It has been decided though that for the remaining long loop weeks ( 2 or 3 max? ) that the reported winner of the sprint needs to get to the very top of the hill first… The top of the hill past the corner… Call it to the light at Spring St. This should make things interesting and create a chance for a true sprint. Let’s hope Little T gets over his fever and is back in the protection of the fold next week.
The rest of the ride into Cheshire was uneventful. Old Josh and Jacinto were up there along with Mike McG and Rondo setting tempo on Atwater and Canal St. Then on Peck ln. going up toward Sandbank Josh G was back at it, trying to find guys willing to drill it. Once back onto Route 10 the speed dropped probably cause of the head wind. That didn’t stop John Gregory and Not a Kiwi from setting a good tempo going up past Cheshire Park. Heading to Stop n Shop, the speed went up again as guys were getting ready for round 2. Julio L was not to be beated this time, riding away from the rest…. Jay Parlee, Ciocci, Thomaas B, Ken just Ken, Peter K etc…
Heading into the finale, Todd H hit the front with too far to go. Hutner P followed with still too long way to go. That led to a gap opening that Julio L and Guido closed in hurry once the end was in logical sight. Guido was able to come around Julio at the end….
This report may undergo a couple of changes as reports start filling in Wednesday morning.
Good ride….
Tuesday the 11th
Its been decided… The ride is better in the winter when no one can talk to each other.
Another good size crowd out for the TWC tonight in the thick August air. The ride got going with Chris C and Dave "Horny" Hartmann blasting tempo off the front, pretty much right from the start. Following was Mike McG, Hunter P, Eric “electric shift” Merrill and Maison C from CCR. Maison has just been chosen to model the CCR 2 thousand &10 kit. So watch for that. The pace was up and down coming up to Mountain rd. There were no real attacks on Mountain as a super long pace line developed 15 riders long. Hitting it twice was Hacker, Ciocci and Eric M and Mike McG. Hell, even Rondo was up there pullin. Little T jumped off the front right before the light and sure enough he got thru the light. Yalie Adam was chasing but didn’t make it. Everyone waited patiently, confident that Little T wasn’t gonna drill it alone off the front for too long.
On Moss Farms, there was a brief gap that developed with Thomaas B, Todd H, Matt Sack from CCR. Also there was the strong new guy with the jersey from New Zealand (?) on a badge less carbon frame. They never got more than 20 yards and heading thru the chicane it was all together. Little T was waiting up the road and went thru the corner first. Behind, hacker and Guido were twisting the throttle and leading everyone through. It all stayed together down Marion with a few guys up there doing work… Mike McG, Silent Steve, Steve Grey and Joe K among them. Maybe a few guys rolled off into the short loop. Sadly, Rondo was one of them….. L Before the peleton got up to route 322 Brian Girard from Stage 1 rolled off the front without protest and made it up to the light by himself.
Into Southington the pace was ok. Midway thru Mount Vernon Rd Guido, Joe K, and a Stage 1er ( Dave H?) moved off the front. The gap was 30 solid yards as the Stage 1 rider was shed, leaving just the 2. That lasted up the tough false flat\uphill section. As they were caught, Hacker attacked and Joe K, not yet finished, got his leather on and stayed on Hacker’s wheel for another go off the front. That group ended up being Joe K, Hacker, Chris C and one other (?). Behind Mike McG jumped hard with Hunter P just as the hill was leveling out and with the added horses the group of 6 rolled off the front. That set off alarms in the front and the peloton went into panic mode. The break was caught in a couple of minutes with help from Steve Grey, Little T and Ciocci. Hunter P and Joe actually stayed off the front for a bit more but called it in seconds later. The pace slowed down as everyone started to remember their date of birth and zip codes. Also everyone was prepping for the assault on Welch road.
Coming up to the hill, Gregg F slipped off the front and quickly got a gap as the others were ok with letting out some leash. Guido then came up and started the chase as Joe K sat on up front in a bid to let Gregg take it. Gregg nearly shocked em all, nearly missing it as Little T came storming around with a healthy amount to share. Joe K gave it the sprint a good shot and was 2nd. Hunter P, Hacker, and Guido were close behind. Mike McG and Crazy Chris jumped up and joined the group after the corner but that group didn’t get far… The West St. breakaway remains an elusive edict for even the strong riders to make.
Heading past the highway, there was some swervy riding going on or something like that and then Little T & Brian K were being unfriendly to each other. Once again, this one is too close to call folks. They are similar in size. The edge Alessio has in strength could be offset by the fact that Koski has worked for Cannondale. And we are pretty sure that once you get a paycheck from them, you have all sorts of imps, goblins and succubus’s ( succubi ? ) at your disposal. In the end, they were just being dramatic with each other but while it was being hashed out, Chris Butler had snuck of the front and was soloing away on his own like only he can. Once everyone started down toward the highway off ramp, the chase got going with Mike McG and Little T up front. Chris was eventually caught after the little riser on Canal St. It was gruppo compacto for the rest of the ride back to into Cheshire and onto Peck lane. Mike McG and Girard were the ones pushing past the cobbles and up onto Sandbank Road. That led to Yalie Adam and Mike getting a real deal gap onto route 10. But that was shut down due to a red light.
The Stop n Shop sprint was all Little T again, but this time he had a good fight come a steppin from Maison who only was a couple of bikes behind the whole way to the light. The ride back into Hamden was normal. Good to see Time Trial Pete hitting it hard on the front for a spell. Same goes for Kyle F who tried his hand at a late sneak away attack. For the last kilo, Mike McG hit it hard early with Hunter P on his six. Hunter hit the front too soon and killed the throttle, making Guido and Little T duke it out till the bitter end. Guido gets this one probably cause his legs are a couple of pounds heavier than Little T’s… It was that close.
Good ride all in all. If your name should be in here somewhere, leave a comment. Throw in some other names if you don’t want to seem the gloat…. On Tuesdays, it’s everyone's chance to get some street cred.
Another good size crowd out for the TWC tonight in the thick August air. The ride got going with Chris C and Dave "Horny" Hartmann blasting tempo off the front, pretty much right from the start. Following was Mike McG, Hunter P, Eric “electric shift” Merrill and Maison C from CCR. Maison has just been chosen to model the CCR 2 thousand &10 kit. So watch for that. The pace was up and down coming up to Mountain rd. There were no real attacks on Mountain as a super long pace line developed 15 riders long. Hitting it twice was Hacker, Ciocci and Eric M and Mike McG. Hell, even Rondo was up there pullin. Little T jumped off the front right before the light and sure enough he got thru the light. Yalie Adam was chasing but didn’t make it. Everyone waited patiently, confident that Little T wasn’t gonna drill it alone off the front for too long.
On Moss Farms, there was a brief gap that developed with Thomaas B, Todd H, Matt Sack from CCR. Also there was the strong new guy with the jersey from New Zealand (?) on a badge less carbon frame. They never got more than 20 yards and heading thru the chicane it was all together. Little T was waiting up the road and went thru the corner first. Behind, hacker and Guido were twisting the throttle and leading everyone through. It all stayed together down Marion with a few guys up there doing work… Mike McG, Silent Steve, Steve Grey and Joe K among them. Maybe a few guys rolled off into the short loop. Sadly, Rondo was one of them….. L Before the peleton got up to route 322 Brian Girard from Stage 1 rolled off the front without protest and made it up to the light by himself.
Into Southington the pace was ok. Midway thru Mount Vernon Rd Guido, Joe K, and a Stage 1er ( Dave H?) moved off the front. The gap was 30 solid yards as the Stage 1 rider was shed, leaving just the 2. That lasted up the tough false flat\uphill section. As they were caught, Hacker attacked and Joe K, not yet finished, got his leather on and stayed on Hacker’s wheel for another go off the front. That group ended up being Joe K, Hacker, Chris C and one other (?). Behind Mike McG jumped hard with Hunter P just as the hill was leveling out and with the added horses the group of 6 rolled off the front. That set off alarms in the front and the peloton went into panic mode. The break was caught in a couple of minutes with help from Steve Grey, Little T and Ciocci. Hunter P and Joe actually stayed off the front for a bit more but called it in seconds later. The pace slowed down as everyone started to remember their date of birth and zip codes. Also everyone was prepping for the assault on Welch road.
Coming up to the hill, Gregg F slipped off the front and quickly got a gap as the others were ok with letting out some leash. Guido then came up and started the chase as Joe K sat on up front in a bid to let Gregg take it. Gregg nearly shocked em all, nearly missing it as Little T came storming around with a healthy amount to share. Joe K gave it the sprint a good shot and was 2nd. Hunter P, Hacker, and Guido were close behind. Mike McG and Crazy Chris jumped up and joined the group after the corner but that group didn’t get far… The West St. breakaway remains an elusive edict for even the strong riders to make.
Heading past the highway, there was some swervy riding going on or something like that and then Little T & Brian K were being unfriendly to each other. Once again, this one is too close to call folks. They are similar in size. The edge Alessio has in strength could be offset by the fact that Koski has worked for Cannondale. And we are pretty sure that once you get a paycheck from them, you have all sorts of imps, goblins and succubus’s ( succubi ? ) at your disposal. In the end, they were just being dramatic with each other but while it was being hashed out, Chris Butler had snuck of the front and was soloing away on his own like only he can. Once everyone started down toward the highway off ramp, the chase got going with Mike McG and Little T up front. Chris was eventually caught after the little riser on Canal St. It was gruppo compacto for the rest of the ride back to into Cheshire and onto Peck lane. Mike McG and Girard were the ones pushing past the cobbles and up onto Sandbank Road. That led to Yalie Adam and Mike getting a real deal gap onto route 10. But that was shut down due to a red light.
The Stop n Shop sprint was all Little T again, but this time he had a good fight come a steppin from Maison who only was a couple of bikes behind the whole way to the light. The ride back into Hamden was normal. Good to see Time Trial Pete hitting it hard on the front for a spell. Same goes for Kyle F who tried his hand at a late sneak away attack. For the last kilo, Mike McG hit it hard early with Hunter P on his six. Hunter hit the front too soon and killed the throttle, making Guido and Little T duke it out till the bitter end. Guido gets this one probably cause his legs are a couple of pounds heavier than Little T’s… It was that close.
Good ride all in all. If your name should be in here somewhere, leave a comment. Throw in some other names if you don’t want to seem the gloat…. On Tuesdays, it’s everyone's chance to get some street cred.
Tuesday the 4th
A massive crowd out tonight. Seemed like nearly 75 riders at the start. Good to see some old faces with Gordon and Josh Gewirtz out just like the olden days. Also out was French Casey, Steve Grey, and Empire Matt. So there was plenty of get up & go out for the ride.
Once everyone rolled into the backroads, it was VQ Rob and Mike McG setting early tempo. Mike was up there just to get thru the cobbled section of Brooksvale. The 2 of them actually rolled off the front but were caught at the next intersecion as traffice slowed everyone down. After that the pace was high thanks to VQ Rob still up there setting good tempo along with Hunter P, Peter P and a new rider with a flame tatoo on his leg (?). There were a couple of other new faces involved in the mix. Gordon was up there as well. Guido came moving up to the front along with Empire Matt and Hacker coming up to Mountain.
Right before the corner for Mountain Road, Mike McG flatted, Julio stopped to assist, and in the hesitation…. “ do we stop? Do we go? Do we wait?” A group of 4 or five rolled off the front. Guido, Peter P, VQ Rob, and a couple of others. Behind, riders were strung out and isolated up the initial climb. Dillon P was leading what was now the peleton with Hacker and Hunter P right on his wheel. Hacker jumped up to make the bridge and took Hunter P along with him. That made a dangerous group of about 6 guys up the road. Behin d, the field was starting to come together and the chase was on thanks to Eric M, Little T, Joe K Josh G, and Empire Matt. Up the road Hacker, Guido, Hunter P, and Peter P were doing good work keeping the pace up. The chase was a good one though and with all thought of waiting for Mike McG erased, the break would eventually get caught a little past Cornwall Ave. From there, Hacker kept the pace high with Joe K and Empire Matt.
The pace stayed high on Moss Farms with plenty of guys doing work. Toward the end of Moss Farms, Josh G attacked and took Hutner P with him. Hacker jumped up as well as the 3 had a gap heading down toward the chicane. The field responded and moved to shut it down, Empire Matt, O‘Shea from Keltic, and Steve Grey at the front. The 3 were caught as everyone hit the base of the false flat to Marion. Hacker again stayed near the front, with Little T making his way thru in time to attack on the hill. Hunter P was right with him and Hacker jumped later and made it thru the corner with the 2. That trio formed a decent gap as well. ( plenty of good breaks today, but too much strength overall to keep the gaps ) They flew toward the industrial park, with Empire Matt, Yalie Adam, A newer guy on an older Trek, and Steve Grey doing a lot of chasing. The catch of the break was about to happen when Empire Matt shot off and thru everyone with an impressive dosage of speed. It was enough to kill the break and the will any one would have to try to catch him. Matt ended up staying off the front all the way to route 322 as the pace behind him slowed a bit for more cobbles. Again, not too many to turn off into the industrial park, though the fast pace of the night was definatly thinning the herd quite a bit. Onto Mount Vernon Road, CCR riders Chris B, Joe K and newcomer Matt Sack were leading it for the first sectors. The pace went up and down a couple of times, based on who was pinning it at the front. Hacker was absent, making sure his dropped and retrived Garmin was still registering power in the thousands, but Empire Matt and the Yalies kept the speed up along with Flaming Legs (?), Peter P and Steve Grey. As the ride turned onto Welch, CCR ers Joe K Chris B and Hunter P massed at the front for a run to the corner. Joe K and Butler then got a gap that Yalie Adam, Thomaas B, Guido and VQ Rob had close right as everyone hit the hill. Little T was up in the mix, being trailed by Hacker. Joe k had jumped for the corner hard but was passed by Guido, Little T and Hacker. Despite a furious charge by Little T, Guido gets the credits for this one, just holding it to the corner.
Hacker kept it going past the corner along with Little T and Crazy Chris but a severe headwind kept them from getting much of a gap. It was group bunched heading down West Street as Mike McG and Julio met back up with the ride. Once everyone recovered from the hill the pace went up quite a bit with Empire Matt and others tearing down the backside toward the highway. Mike McG had a brief go off the front with an antsy Josh G on Canal St but by the light at 322 it was all together again.
Heading up Peck lane, with Thomaas B and VQ Rob a little up the road, Hunter P rode off the front and no one was too concerned to try to catch him right away. He pedaled thru the uphill cobbled section of Peck alone and was caught by a now charging front end-o-the ride, led by MIke McG, Peter P and Young guy on Older Trek. The 3 had caught Hunter P with a bit of a gap behind them so that made 4 now up the road with a 6 or 7 second cushion for pushin. That gap held up to Route 10 were Hunter P and Older Trek attacked once more and got a gap heading up the hill by Cheshire Park. That was short lived though and it was all together once at the top of that climb.
Heading into the Stop n Shop sprint, thigns got spread out pretty quick as Little T, Guido, Steve Grey, Hacker and one other (?) all were going for the sprint. Little T had this one in the bag tho, taking it by a couple of lengths from Hacker. The rest of the ride into Hamden was slow cause of red lights. Everyone did a good job of taking up 65% of the total road and French Casey even gotta little motor pacing in.
Little T turned off on route 42 so that meant dollar signed poped up in everyone's head for the final test. And heading into that it was fast with a buch of guys looking for the right wheel. Guido however, needs no wheel to follow and was the last to hit the front with a solid 500 meters to the end and he railed it the whole time. Leaving Mike McG, Julio, Hacker, and others just shaking their fists in the now dusk skies.
Tuesday the 28th
The (long) ride is back with a vengeance. And so is Professor Hacker.
Plenty of guys ( and a couple of grrrls too ) out tonight to enjoy the heat and humidity. It was good to see Jacob Hacker back out on the ride as he has moved back to CT.
Right off Route 10 Action Figure Mike McG rolled off the front but everyone was ok with letting him just cruise by himself out front. Chris C jumped off the front and caught him quickly right after the cobbles section and then the 2 took off. Maison from CCR was taken out by a flat, there may have been one other with a flat.
Mike and Chris made nice and started working well together as the pace behind started ramping up under the coaxing of Eric M, Guido, VQ Rob, Greg Ciocci and a new rider on a Time with one of those fugly jerseys that you get on a charity ride. The gap to the break stayed a strong 8-10 seconds as everyone was working hard. As the ride roared up to Mountain Rd, a chase group behind the break was forming under the sheer speed. Ciocci (who was flying tonight), Eric M, Todd H, Tall John, VQ Rob, Charity Ride Time, and a couple of others had a brief gap. Turning onto Mountain it kinda came back together, just to see it start to get ripped apart again as those riders in the front drilled it up the hill. Still the break stayed out there, just outta reach. Little T and Hunter P played seamstresses and kept the Peleton, still 40-50 guys strong, close enough charging up the hill so that it came back together on the other side. The catch of the break didn’t happen for another kilo as it was none other than Hacker putting the finishing nails in the chase, after Craig L, Hunter P, Little T, and others team time trialed up the gap. There was some surges\counter attacks right after, but everyone seemed gased and it was together up to the light.
Onto Moss Farms where the pace was a little slower. Lots of guys doing work including some new faces to the ride. Guido and Peter K, with their scariest game faces on, led the ride thru the chicane as everyone winded up the engines for the attacks. They came from Little T and Craig L who shot thru the corner first with a small gap. The two worked for a bit together but folded pretty soon as Mike McG, Chris C, Joe K, Crazy Chris and others were going hard right behind them. Everyone did a good job setting up for the long\short group split, but really only a handful ( 6 or 7? ) turned on the short loop and it was game on as soon as everyone on the long loop got the warm and fuzzy feelings out of their system.
The pace down Mount Vernon road was respectable as CCR standouts Peter K and Joe K kicked going past Mount Southington. Tall John, Hacker, Luekens, Charity Ride Time and a few others pitched in some gas money and the ride rolled along all the way till Welch Road without attacks or breaks. There was some accelerations that stung, but nothing too crazy.
Onto Welch Rd. where everyone with eighth of a brain could see that Luekens, Little T, Chris Butler, and HackAttack up front wasn’t too good a thing. The pace went up as everyone else played musical chairs to see what space they would fill for the hill. Ciocci (?) was in a good spot for the sprint up the hill but sure as summer rain, Little T jumped up and shot round all for 1st into the corner. Crazy Chris, who is starting to read the uphill sprints like a Nigerian Shaman, also flew thru and was in good position to help pace everyone else into the cruel headwind on West Street. The front of the ride regrouped and rolled along back into Cheshire without incident.
Fast forward to the Stop n Shop sprint, where a red light or two slowed things down on the approach. Also Mike McG and Hacker stopped abruptly… Either to fix a flat, or it also seemed like they may have been simply done with pedals and handlebars and were gonna settle it with their fists. All bets are off on that one. Mike clearly has the strength, size and the Irish potato-mongering lineage. But Hacker probably has some voodoo health care reform\power-up potion in his jersey pocket 24\7 so he may be able to outlast Mike’s punches. In either case, we hope they got back to riding soon after that. Back to the sprint where again it was Little T, duking it out and proving up the challenge of a few stubborn sprinters. Julio L, and Leukens among them. The “wins” keep coming for T, who recently bent his chain ring nearly in half while doing hill repeats. Either that says really good for Him or really bad for the Cannondale crap he’s on. We think its equal parts of both….. Here is as good as time as any to shamelessly plug the Scott bikes, now on year end sale, available from Cheshire Cycle.
The rest of the ride back into Hamden was standard issue. The finale was the usual fake sprint setups & leadouts. In the end it was Little T coming around Julio L with a solid 600 meters to go with a right time\right place Hunter P on his wheel. The two tried to put Speed out of business and left a hard chasing Guido. In the end Hunter was able to come around Little T to cockblock the hat trick(?!).
Plenty of guys ( and a couple of grrrls too ) out tonight to enjoy the heat and humidity. It was good to see Jacob Hacker back out on the ride as he has moved back to CT.
Right off Route 10 Action Figure Mike McG rolled off the front but everyone was ok with letting him just cruise by himself out front. Chris C jumped off the front and caught him quickly right after the cobbles section and then the 2 took off. Maison from CCR was taken out by a flat, there may have been one other with a flat.
Mike and Chris made nice and started working well together as the pace behind started ramping up under the coaxing of Eric M, Guido, VQ Rob, Greg Ciocci and a new rider on a Time with one of those fugly jerseys that you get on a charity ride. The gap to the break stayed a strong 8-10 seconds as everyone was working hard. As the ride roared up to Mountain Rd, a chase group behind the break was forming under the sheer speed. Ciocci (who was flying tonight), Eric M, Todd H, Tall John, VQ Rob, Charity Ride Time, and a couple of others had a brief gap. Turning onto Mountain it kinda came back together, just to see it start to get ripped apart again as those riders in the front drilled it up the hill. Still the break stayed out there, just outta reach. Little T and Hunter P played seamstresses and kept the Peleton, still 40-50 guys strong, close enough charging up the hill so that it came back together on the other side. The catch of the break didn’t happen for another kilo as it was none other than Hacker putting the finishing nails in the chase, after Craig L, Hunter P, Little T, and others team time trialed up the gap. There was some surges\counter attacks right after, but everyone seemed gased and it was together up to the light.
Onto Moss Farms where the pace was a little slower. Lots of guys doing work including some new faces to the ride. Guido and Peter K, with their scariest game faces on, led the ride thru the chicane as everyone winded up the engines for the attacks. They came from Little T and Craig L who shot thru the corner first with a small gap. The two worked for a bit together but folded pretty soon as Mike McG, Chris C, Joe K, Crazy Chris and others were going hard right behind them. Everyone did a good job setting up for the long\short group split, but really only a handful ( 6 or 7? ) turned on the short loop and it was game on as soon as everyone on the long loop got the warm and fuzzy feelings out of their system.
The pace down Mount Vernon road was respectable as CCR standouts Peter K and Joe K kicked going past Mount Southington. Tall John, Hacker, Luekens, Charity Ride Time and a few others pitched in some gas money and the ride rolled along all the way till Welch Road without attacks or breaks. There was some accelerations that stung, but nothing too crazy.
Onto Welch Rd. where everyone with eighth of a brain could see that Luekens, Little T, Chris Butler, and HackAttack up front wasn’t too good a thing. The pace went up as everyone else played musical chairs to see what space they would fill for the hill. Ciocci (?) was in a good spot for the sprint up the hill but sure as summer rain, Little T jumped up and shot round all for 1st into the corner. Crazy Chris, who is starting to read the uphill sprints like a Nigerian Shaman, also flew thru and was in good position to help pace everyone else into the cruel headwind on West Street. The front of the ride regrouped and rolled along back into Cheshire without incident.
Fast forward to the Stop n Shop sprint, where a red light or two slowed things down on the approach. Also Mike McG and Hacker stopped abruptly… Either to fix a flat, or it also seemed like they may have been simply done with pedals and handlebars and were gonna settle it with their fists. All bets are off on that one. Mike clearly has the strength, size and the Irish potato-mongering lineage. But Hacker probably has some voodoo health care reform\power-up potion in his jersey pocket 24\7 so he may be able to outlast Mike’s punches. In either case, we hope they got back to riding soon after that. Back to the sprint where again it was Little T, duking it out and proving up the challenge of a few stubborn sprinters. Julio L, and Leukens among them. The “wins” keep coming for T, who recently bent his chain ring nearly in half while doing hill repeats. Either that says really good for Him or really bad for the Cannondale crap he’s on. We think its equal parts of both….. Here is as good as time as any to shamelessly plug the Scott bikes, now on year end sale, available from Cheshire Cycle.
The rest of the ride back into Hamden was standard issue. The finale was the usual fake sprint setups & leadouts. In the end it was Little T coming around Julio L with a solid 600 meters to go with a right time\right place Hunter P on his wheel. The two tried to put Speed out of business and left a hard chasing Guido. In the end Hunter was able to come around Little T to cockblock the hat trick(?!).
Tuesday the 21st
The ride has gone off in blizzards with better turnout....
Just a few brave souls out today. Chris Mahoney, Builder Pete, John "i dont race" Gregory, Dillon P, Hunter P, Guido, and a surprise visit from everyone's favorite coach, Aidan C with Ronny "Sprints" LaRose and Peter P in tow.
The ride was good till Ron flatted. Everyone waited and then the ride got good again with Aidan doing steady strong man tempo, Hunter P attacking, Ronny Sprints countering and Peter P chasing. Everyone turned at the industrial park in honor of Rondo. Then Ronny flatted again and then again in minutes and everyone went their separate ways, sad and solemn to think of what could have been.....
Rain sucks, but on the plus side Builder Pete's shorts were producing only a little special sauce this week.
Just a few brave souls out today. Chris Mahoney, Builder Pete, John "i dont race" Gregory, Dillon P, Hunter P, Guido, and a surprise visit from everyone's favorite coach, Aidan C with Ronny "Sprints" LaRose and Peter P in tow.
The ride was good till Ron flatted. Everyone waited and then the ride got good again with Aidan doing steady strong man tempo, Hunter P attacking, Ronny Sprints countering and Peter P chasing. Everyone turned at the industrial park in honor of Rondo. Then Ronny flatted again and then again in minutes and everyone went their separate ways, sad and solemn to think of what could have been.....
Rain sucks, but on the plus side Builder Pete's shorts were producing only a little special sauce this week.
Tuesday the 14th
We only have time for a quick report now... Our man Fabian Cancellara looks like he's gonna out sprint everyone going up the false flat finish in the tour today!
The Usual total numbers out tonight but the short ride had low attendance. 17-25 guys. The long ride was up at about 45-55 guys. Awesome.
Chris C had a solo early gap for the early streets off rt 10 as everyone was cautious about the worsening road conditions on Mount Sanford. It was all together then until the Mountain rd little grinder hill where Joe K just pedaled away from the front and stayed out to Cornwall. Impressive. A lot of the bubble boys and mike McG pulled him back.
It was fast all the way to the turn around in Southington where Little t made the right at the light 1st just edging out Joe K.
The pace back to into Cheshire was respectable. Little T made the S&S sprint 1st just passing Chris C. Little T kept going after the hill ended and made it thru a light by the town hall and started on the solo effort. The rest of the field got caught up at 3 lights in Cheshire and interviews with Little T at the end proved that he made the rt 10 break red light free, no stops. So hats off to T for the hat trick tonight.
In the group finish behind little t was a cervelo guy in a skin suit, guido, then dillon
The Usual total numbers out tonight but the short ride had low attendance. 17-25 guys. The long ride was up at about 45-55 guys. Awesome.
Chris C had a solo early gap for the early streets off rt 10 as everyone was cautious about the worsening road conditions on Mount Sanford. It was all together then until the Mountain rd little grinder hill where Joe K just pedaled away from the front and stayed out to Cornwall. Impressive. A lot of the bubble boys and mike McG pulled him back.
It was fast all the way to the turn around in Southington where Little t made the right at the light 1st just edging out Joe K.
The pace back to into Cheshire was respectable. Little T made the S&S sprint 1st just passing Chris C. Little T kept going after the hill ended and made it thru a light by the town hall and started on the solo effort. The rest of the field got caught up at 3 lights in Cheshire and interviews with Little T at the end proved that he made the rt 10 break red light free, no stops. So hats off to T for the hat trick tonight.
In the group finish behind little t was a cervelo guy in a skin suit, guido, then dillon
Tuesday the 7th
The continuing Seattle-ization of the Northeast continues with more rain tonight.
The rain was looking like it would hold out. It did not. The pouring started at 5:20 and pretty much lasted till 7 pm. Even so there was probably 30 guys out tonight.
Right off route 10, in an effort to stay warm, a couple of guys started to push the tempo up. Hunter P, Tall John, Thomaas B, Dillon P, Gregg F from CCR as well. It strung things out a bit and the chase was on. Moving thru the cobbles on Brooksvale, the guys up front drilled it, taking advantage of the fact that all the holes looked the same with water filling them. Tall John let up as the front blew thru the intersection with brakes that didn’t work. This left Dillon P, Hunter P, and Gregg F off the front heading up Mount Sanford. The 3 went to work and were given a bit of room at first. The gap went quickly up to about 10 seconds before the chase back started. The leading trio rolled long and was working well together. Behind them, the peleton was ramping up under the supervision of Mike McG, Peter P, Little T, Rondo and others. The break hit mountain rd with a shrinking gap and clung to it, making it up the initial riser before getting caught on the other side. The pace continued to be respectable as Mike McG, Rondo and Little T kept on the gas. As the field hit the second set of risers, Joe K found some breathing room and broke the leash. There was some chasing and attacking behind and when it all was settled, Joe was still off the front, but joined by team mate Chris B. They held onto a 20 yard gap as everyone rolled up to the light on Route 68 and stopped.
The Cheshire Cycle show continued once on Moss Farms, with Hunter P and Chris B setting early tempo. Maison C, Kyle F, Gregg F and Chris F-bomb Mahoney was up there. After some shuffling, posturing, and surging, a group of 6 or 7 ended up with a gap but it was not significant as the strong guys were just keeping tempo 10 bikes behind. All the same, 5 CCR guys lead the ride thru the chicane and toward the hill. Once on the hill Little T attacked hard and quickly had a gap with Peter P and Hunter P chasing. The 3 briefly joined forces after the corner but it was all coming back together within a minute or two.
There was some confusion heading into the industrial park area, with guys going straight and guys turning. All in all, despite the fact that many just assumed everyone was all aboard the short bus this week, no one was in danger of being taken out. Most of the riders did turn however, leaving only about 12-15 guys to go straight on. Mike McG, the CCR guys less Ken and Maison, Ben from New Haven, Tall John, John Gregory, Little T, Dave H, the 2 Petes, and others.
Once on Mount Vernon Rd, after a kilometer of chasing Tall John to reel him in, the pace remained solid despite the low numbers. Everyone was taking turns at the front. Halfway down Mount Vernon, on the long false flat before a gentle right bend, Hunter P attacked at the top with Chris B in tow. The calculated move worked, and the 2 took a gap right away as the rest were re-sorting themselves after the 20mph surge up hill. The other CCR guys, in classic cat 3 fashion, were also doing their best to disrupt any chasing. So with the rain finally stopping for the night, the ride went into tempo mode and the gap to the break shot up. Chris B and Hunter P were working well together and hit the Welch Road with a gap of around 40 seconds.
Moving onto West St for the leaders, Hunter P rolled thru the corner with Chris B, and tried to minimize any losses as the group behind had ramped it up as soon as it hit Welch. Mike McG along with Tall Johnny riding hard now, along with Little T and one other (John Gregory?). This caused a split as the CCR guys were able to hold it together at the front no more. The catch finally happened right before the I84 interchange. Chris B tried to surge one last time before getting caught and may have trumped everyone if he had been a second earlier to make it thru a light, but everyone had the stop at this and the next light and so the ride was all together again.
The ride back into Cheshire was normal and fast considering the small group. Mike McG and Tall John, doing much to spur it along. Coming into the Stop n Shop sector, Tall John rode it the way it should be with 750 meters to the hill, going hard and taking along a couple of guys, Dillon P gave chase to keep it together until he realized Little T was camped at his six for the ride up. That led to Little T hitting the wind with 300 meters to go with Hunter P right at his side. The 2 took off at almost the same moment, side by side. Little T got the gap quickly on Hunter and took it with room to spare.
Heading back into Hamden was routine, Little T had a brief gap coming up to McDonalds. (an attack?) He may have just been concerned about his antique lamps needing repair. Any electricians out there? Going thru the light for Cook Hill Rd, Hunter P attacked one last time, getting a gap of about 70 yards before settling in. Dave H tried to bridge but was reeled in 30 seconds later. Hunter P stayed out there for a couple of minutes, but was carpet rolled up with about 2 k to go.
For the finale, Mike McG, a little under the weather to boot, pulled off first and let Chris B and Little T go at it. A gap was allowed to open and that was all the 2 needed to pull off the front. Chris B towed for the next 500 meters and Little T had no problems coming around comfortably for the end.
The rain was looking like it would hold out. It did not. The pouring started at 5:20 and pretty much lasted till 7 pm. Even so there was probably 30 guys out tonight.
Right off route 10, in an effort to stay warm, a couple of guys started to push the tempo up. Hunter P, Tall John, Thomaas B, Dillon P, Gregg F from CCR as well. It strung things out a bit and the chase was on. Moving thru the cobbles on Brooksvale, the guys up front drilled it, taking advantage of the fact that all the holes looked the same with water filling them. Tall John let up as the front blew thru the intersection with brakes that didn’t work. This left Dillon P, Hunter P, and Gregg F off the front heading up Mount Sanford. The 3 went to work and were given a bit of room at first. The gap went quickly up to about 10 seconds before the chase back started. The leading trio rolled long and was working well together. Behind them, the peleton was ramping up under the supervision of Mike McG, Peter P, Little T, Rondo and others. The break hit mountain rd with a shrinking gap and clung to it, making it up the initial riser before getting caught on the other side. The pace continued to be respectable as Mike McG, Rondo and Little T kept on the gas. As the field hit the second set of risers, Joe K found some breathing room and broke the leash. There was some chasing and attacking behind and when it all was settled, Joe was still off the front, but joined by team mate Chris B. They held onto a 20 yard gap as everyone rolled up to the light on Route 68 and stopped.
The Cheshire Cycle show continued once on Moss Farms, with Hunter P and Chris B setting early tempo. Maison C, Kyle F, Gregg F and Chris F-bomb Mahoney was up there. After some shuffling, posturing, and surging, a group of 6 or 7 ended up with a gap but it was not significant as the strong guys were just keeping tempo 10 bikes behind. All the same, 5 CCR guys lead the ride thru the chicane and toward the hill. Once on the hill Little T attacked hard and quickly had a gap with Peter P and Hunter P chasing. The 3 briefly joined forces after the corner but it was all coming back together within a minute or two.
There was some confusion heading into the industrial park area, with guys going straight and guys turning. All in all, despite the fact that many just assumed everyone was all aboard the short bus this week, no one was in danger of being taken out. Most of the riders did turn however, leaving only about 12-15 guys to go straight on. Mike McG, the CCR guys less Ken and Maison, Ben from New Haven, Tall John, John Gregory, Little T, Dave H, the 2 Petes, and others.
Once on Mount Vernon Rd, after a kilometer of chasing Tall John to reel him in, the pace remained solid despite the low numbers. Everyone was taking turns at the front. Halfway down Mount Vernon, on the long false flat before a gentle right bend, Hunter P attacked at the top with Chris B in tow. The calculated move worked, and the 2 took a gap right away as the rest were re-sorting themselves after the 20mph surge up hill. The other CCR guys, in classic cat 3 fashion, were also doing their best to disrupt any chasing. So with the rain finally stopping for the night, the ride went into tempo mode and the gap to the break shot up. Chris B and Hunter P were working well together and hit the Welch Road with a gap of around 40 seconds.
Moving onto West St for the leaders, Hunter P rolled thru the corner with Chris B, and tried to minimize any losses as the group behind had ramped it up as soon as it hit Welch. Mike McG along with Tall Johnny riding hard now, along with Little T and one other (John Gregory?). This caused a split as the CCR guys were able to hold it together at the front no more. The catch finally happened right before the I84 interchange. Chris B tried to surge one last time before getting caught and may have trumped everyone if he had been a second earlier to make it thru a light, but everyone had the stop at this and the next light and so the ride was all together again.
The ride back into Cheshire was normal and fast considering the small group. Mike McG and Tall John, doing much to spur it along. Coming into the Stop n Shop sector, Tall John rode it the way it should be with 750 meters to the hill, going hard and taking along a couple of guys, Dillon P gave chase to keep it together until he realized Little T was camped at his six for the ride up. That led to Little T hitting the wind with 300 meters to go with Hunter P right at his side. The 2 took off at almost the same moment, side by side. Little T got the gap quickly on Hunter and took it with room to spare.
Heading back into Hamden was routine, Little T had a brief gap coming up to McDonalds. (an attack?) He may have just been concerned about his antique lamps needing repair. Any electricians out there? Going thru the light for Cook Hill Rd, Hunter P attacked one last time, getting a gap of about 70 yards before settling in. Dave H tried to bridge but was reeled in 30 seconds later. Hunter P stayed out there for a couple of minutes, but was carpet rolled up with about 2 k to go.
For the finale, Mike McG, a little under the weather to boot, pulled off first and let Chris B and Little T go at it. A gap was allowed to open and that was all the 2 needed to pull off the front. Chris B towed for the next 500 meters and Little T had no problems coming around comfortably for the end.
Tuesday the 30th
The 2 group nonsense continues as the ride gets all fast and new-look.
The B group headed out 5 minutes early and the group was larger this week probably cause of the threat of rain. It ended up being about 30-35 riders in each group. Again, most of the strong guys went second, including the return of Empire Matt, Guido, and Chris Jones. Couple those with the CCR crew, the Bubble boys, Target Training’s Ed Angeli, Time Trial Pete, and Todd H’s Coppertopped hair, and the A group was blazin. The B group had French Casey, Rondo, and Eric M…. Good to see Casey back in action.
Off of route 10, it was John Gregory and Dave Hartmann setting early tempo. Then Mike McG, also with a new “dew”, and CJones took over and set tempo heading onto Brooksvale ave. The pace heading up to Mountain road was solid.
Turning onto mountain and up the risers, Empire Matt, on a TT bike, had jumped up to the front along with Craig L. Jones and Mike McG joined them quickly and there was a brief split as the foursome hammered it up the hill a mile or two faster than normal. The front of the group behind wasn’t having any of that and quickly closed the gap… Peter P, Thomaas B and Little T sewing up the gaps.
The rest of the way down Mountain rd was quick, with a group of 8 or 9 heading up the efforts at the front. Tall John, Crazy Chris, Julio L, Todd H and Maison from CCR were up there with the others doing work.
Onto Moss Farms where again, in a scene that would be played out a bunch of times tonight, Empire Matt surged off the front and Jones tracked him down. Crazy Chris, Mike McG were also up there with Luekens. That kept the pace high as the field flew thru the chicane, led by Thomaas B. Up the hill past that, Empire Matt hit it. Hard. Really hard. Others were scrambling for a piece of the wheel. Jones, Little T, Mike McG. Hunter P, Peter P. All were flying in pursuit. Matt kept up the gap up thru the corner and beyond, with Peter P, Hunter P, Jones and Mike coming up to form some type of group, but it was pretty much all together. The A group came within 5 seconds of so of the B group, just as it turned into the industrial park.
Once thru the lights and onto Mount Vernon Rd, it was Mike McG and New Haven’s version of the “3 Amigos”; Luekens, Empire and Jones setting tempo. There were others up there too of course. Notably, Tall John, Ed A, Julio, Maison, Little T, etc. With the tailwind, the pace was crisp, not falling below 28 mph. A couple of times, it seemed there was a group getting off the front…… Whenever Empire Matt would look for aero-bar-breathing-room off the front or when there was a slight pitch in the road and a gap would open up. But all in all, it stayed together and the pace was fast. Peter P got hit with a flat and dropped out as the crazy pace over the rough spots took its toll.
Turning onto Welch Rd, there was a pause in the speed, then it looked briefly like Luekens was going to have a go off the front. Mike McG was up there too and so was Jones. Chris B was also moving up and looking for daylight off the front, but the pace was just too fast. Little T jumped from 4 bikes back at the base of the hill and rounded everyone well before the corner. Coming thru after was more Stage 1 guys, Crazy Chris and Julio L, along with Hunter P. Little T kept up the attack and was up the road as the trio, Crazy Chris, Julio, and Hunter P was closing the gap. Julio killed it and caught T and then kept on going past. Then Hunter P took a turn as things were shuffling around behind. Mike McG and the New Haven crew were all right there and then had a good go off the front. Luekens, Jones, Empire, McG, Crazy Chris, and 1 or 2 others might have seen the game winning break if it weren’t for a red light by the highway. Things got rolling along again lazy like, but by the decsent down West Street, Empire Matt was fully stretching the limits of his 56 tooth chainring, pulling the ride out single file down the hill. After that, things calmed down all the way back to Route 10 in Cheshire.
There were plenty of guys rotating thru on the way up to the Stop n Shop sprint. Little T jumped from a ways back, taking Hunter P and Maison along for the sprint. Julio L was also there looking to sneak away. Neither could come around and Alessio got it by a healthy margin.
For the ride back to Hamden, red lights kept it slow. Although noteworthy was Tall John getting thru a light on his own. That was all he needed to attempt the long ride back by himself into the wind. After clearing Cheshire, the field ramped it up again with Empire Matt getting a few last good pulls in. Jones, Luekens, Thomaas B, and Guido were up there as well with others.
For the finale, Little T looked to jump at the right moment with a bunch of guys kicking his heels, but a rider in Bethel Cycles jersey was able to come around him at the last moment. Seemed little matter though, as Tall John was able to hold off all with his ninja red light skills and rode in first, fair and square all alone.
Good fast ride… Can we get some details of what went down in the B group?
The B group headed out 5 minutes early and the group was larger this week probably cause of the threat of rain. It ended up being about 30-35 riders in each group. Again, most of the strong guys went second, including the return of Empire Matt, Guido, and Chris Jones. Couple those with the CCR crew, the Bubble boys, Target Training’s Ed Angeli, Time Trial Pete, and Todd H’s Coppertopped hair, and the A group was blazin. The B group had French Casey, Rondo, and Eric M…. Good to see Casey back in action.
Off of route 10, it was John Gregory and Dave Hartmann setting early tempo. Then Mike McG, also with a new “dew”, and CJones took over and set tempo heading onto Brooksvale ave. The pace heading up to Mountain road was solid.
Turning onto mountain and up the risers, Empire Matt, on a TT bike, had jumped up to the front along with Craig L. Jones and Mike McG joined them quickly and there was a brief split as the foursome hammered it up the hill a mile or two faster than normal. The front of the group behind wasn’t having any of that and quickly closed the gap… Peter P, Thomaas B and Little T sewing up the gaps.
The rest of the way down Mountain rd was quick, with a group of 8 or 9 heading up the efforts at the front. Tall John, Crazy Chris, Julio L, Todd H and Maison from CCR were up there with the others doing work.
Onto Moss Farms where again, in a scene that would be played out a bunch of times tonight, Empire Matt surged off the front and Jones tracked him down. Crazy Chris, Mike McG were also up there with Luekens. That kept the pace high as the field flew thru the chicane, led by Thomaas B. Up the hill past that, Empire Matt hit it. Hard. Really hard. Others were scrambling for a piece of the wheel. Jones, Little T, Mike McG. Hunter P, Peter P. All were flying in pursuit. Matt kept up the gap up thru the corner and beyond, with Peter P, Hunter P, Jones and Mike coming up to form some type of group, but it was pretty much all together. The A group came within 5 seconds of so of the B group, just as it turned into the industrial park.
Once thru the lights and onto Mount Vernon Rd, it was Mike McG and New Haven’s version of the “3 Amigos”; Luekens, Empire and Jones setting tempo. There were others up there too of course. Notably, Tall John, Ed A, Julio, Maison, Little T, etc. With the tailwind, the pace was crisp, not falling below 28 mph. A couple of times, it seemed there was a group getting off the front…… Whenever Empire Matt would look for aero-bar-breathing-room off the front or when there was a slight pitch in the road and a gap would open up. But all in all, it stayed together and the pace was fast. Peter P got hit with a flat and dropped out as the crazy pace over the rough spots took its toll.
Turning onto Welch Rd, there was a pause in the speed, then it looked briefly like Luekens was going to have a go off the front. Mike McG was up there too and so was Jones. Chris B was also moving up and looking for daylight off the front, but the pace was just too fast. Little T jumped from 4 bikes back at the base of the hill and rounded everyone well before the corner. Coming thru after was more Stage 1 guys, Crazy Chris and Julio L, along with Hunter P. Little T kept up the attack and was up the road as the trio, Crazy Chris, Julio, and Hunter P was closing the gap. Julio killed it and caught T and then kept on going past. Then Hunter P took a turn as things were shuffling around behind. Mike McG and the New Haven crew were all right there and then had a good go off the front. Luekens, Jones, Empire, McG, Crazy Chris, and 1 or 2 others might have seen the game winning break if it weren’t for a red light by the highway. Things got rolling along again lazy like, but by the decsent down West Street, Empire Matt was fully stretching the limits of his 56 tooth chainring, pulling the ride out single file down the hill. After that, things calmed down all the way back to Route 10 in Cheshire.
There were plenty of guys rotating thru on the way up to the Stop n Shop sprint. Little T jumped from a ways back, taking Hunter P and Maison along for the sprint. Julio L was also there looking to sneak away. Neither could come around and Alessio got it by a healthy margin.
For the ride back to Hamden, red lights kept it slow. Although noteworthy was Tall John getting thru a light on his own. That was all he needed to attempt the long ride back by himself into the wind. After clearing Cheshire, the field ramped it up again with Empire Matt getting a few last good pulls in. Jones, Luekens, Thomaas B, and Guido were up there as well with others.
For the finale, Little T looked to jump at the right moment with a bunch of guys kicking his heels, but a rider in Bethel Cycles jersey was able to come around him at the last moment. Seemed little matter though, as Tall John was able to hold off all with his ninja red light skills and rode in first, fair and square all alone.
Good fast ride… Can we get some details of what went down in the B group?
Tuesday the 23rd
The Sleeping Giant Ride is a School bus... Which one were you on?
After much backroom bargaining and name calling, The Sleeping Giant Ride was officially split into 2 groups today… the “B” (for boring) group to do the ride as normal, and the “A”(for ass#oles) group that would do the winter loop, adding about 11 miles or so. As half the ride rolled out under the Flag of Rondo, The other half waited for a couple of minutes to depart for the longer loop. And as the tradition of one group, with solidarity, was broken, wherever they were on this night, Luigi Delbouno muttered the F word more than Paulie Walnuts did on the 3rd season of The Soprano’s and John Elengo became for the first time, Angry JohnnE.
The second group ( A group ) was made up mostly of the Stop n Shop crew (bubble heads and Mike McG), the CCR crew, 3 Yalies and other notables. So most of the ponies were going long and hard tonight. Hopefully we will get some details about what went down in the first group ( B ) and anything to report will be added to the recap.
Right off route 10, Mike McG and Eric M filled the familiar roles of early tempo setters. Also up there doing some surprising early work was Little T, who was coming to grips with the fact that there’d be no Reinhart Sprint for him tonight. The first one to have a go off the front was VQ Rob, who would be jumping off the front all night long. His first go was brief, and heading in thru the cobbles it was all together. He would next give it another go heading into Mountain Rd, but that was swallowed up for a field led by Tall John and Chris C. Some traffic on the corner for Mountain rd slowed things down a bit, but once thru Joe K would jump off the front with Hunter P in tow. The 2 tore it up the hill and were joined by Crazy Chris and it was officially a break. The 3 went to work together and held a gap for a decent length run, getting caught after the 2nd set of risers after the intersection for Higgans rd. Eric M, Mike McG, Julio L and others were chasing pretty hard to catch the trio.
The rest of the way down Mountain was quick as the lean and mean group shared the work load well and many guys were dipping their wicks into the wind.
The B group was just moving thru the light, no doubt caught by a red, as the A group Peleton was coming up to the intersection. The groups would stay separate as the second group waited out the red light and got rolling along without urgency once thru it. The pace down Moss Farms was good, nothing huge, VQ Rob was again rolling off the front for brief spurts along with a 1st time rider in red atop a sliver bike with yellow Time shoes. Heading into the Chicane, it was all together as Hunter P led the field thru. Yalie Adam and Craig L led everyone up the hill initially, and then Little T busted out some sprint and jumped off the front with Joe K in tow. The 2 ripped thru the corner with Hunter P closing the gap quickly. This made a trio again off the front with a small but respectable gap. The 3 would go to work but would be caught right before the turn into the industrial park. Everyone of course barreled thru and headed to Southington for the extended loop. Once onto Mount Vernon Rd, Mike McG resumed pace making along with VQ Rob, Eric M, and others. The pace was going good and there were a couple of solid but brief attacks. The first coming from Chris C, lasting a quarter mile and then Joe K pushed off coming up to the turn by Briarwood but was soon pushed back by the headwind. Again, work was being spread out well with more than 15 guys rotating thru nicely.
As the field turned right onto Welch to go by the golf course The rider in Red had a go off the front but was eclipsed by Mike McG’s sudden attack coming up to the hill. Craig L and the Yalies were up there to patch up holes in the front as the P’ton hit the base of the climb to West St. Little T, who actually found a way to beat everybody in B Group up the Reinhard sprint, nipping Greg Ciocci to the corner, was back with the A Group and seeing the hill to West St as a good substitute for sprint points, jumped hard after Mike McG. Little t came around Mike with a little room to spare and came thru the corner first. Mike kept up the attack as the hill keeps up past the corner. Hunter P was up there in the mix and went with Mike. The two had a gap when Crazy Chris jumped across and then it was 3 for a little bit. Back behind, Little T had stayed up front along with Chris C and a reshuffling up front, it was Chris and Mike leading the way. As expected, there were guys all over the road during this section as it may be the toughest Sleeping Giant stretch, Winter or summer loop. It all came together as the ride had to slow for a light late on West Street. Once on Canal St., the rider in Red attacked once more, this time taking Hunter P with him. The 2 kept the gap up to the light on 322, which as, usual, was red.
The pack took a couple of moments to recover, and then went up Peck Ln a bit faster than usual. There was a small split toward the end of the uphill section, before it turns to Sandbank Rd, made up mostly of the Stage 1 guys. That turned into a leading trio moving onto Route 10 of Crazy Chris, VQ Rob, and Hunter P. That was short lived and heading into the center of Cheshire it was all together.
There was still plenty of get up and go left in the legs for the stop n shop sprint. And heading into it there were a bunch of guys up at the front and ready to go. Julio L, Little T, Rich on C dale, Craig L, Joe K and the Yalies etc… Mike McG was the first to jump, from quite a ways back and had a gap before Little T, Rich and Julio L responded. Little T had the best shot to come around Mike, and there was some traffic to make it interesting, but Mike held off the Alessio charge to the top with Rich being a close 3rd.
The ride into Hamden was faster then usual. The group, not having lost anyone really, enjoyed the tailwind all the way back. Hunter P and VQ Rob had a brief go at the front, but that was crushed by Little T and Mike McG. The speed stayed at 30mph or higher the whole way back, except for a couple of red lights. Heading into the final kilo, there was again a solid group of guys ready to dive it home. The Stage one guys ( Chris C, Dave H, rider on a colnago, Tall John ) gave the front a final shove before letting Little T go out early and burn out, Then it was Mike McG pulling off, leaving Hunter P and Crazy Chris duke it out with Hunter P getting the final kick to the end.
Dillon P was 5th!
No one went up the Shepard Ave hill.
All in all it was a good ride. The A group ended up riding back thru Hamden about 20-25 min later than the B group probably… Maybe even less.
And as there was some premature talk of doing the winter loop again next week, perhaps the New Haven crowd will keep the timing in mind, as there was still more than 35+ min left of daylight to ride home.
After much backroom bargaining and name calling, The Sleeping Giant Ride was officially split into 2 groups today… the “B” (for boring) group to do the ride as normal, and the “A”(for ass#oles) group that would do the winter loop, adding about 11 miles or so. As half the ride rolled out under the Flag of Rondo, The other half waited for a couple of minutes to depart for the longer loop. And as the tradition of one group, with solidarity, was broken, wherever they were on this night, Luigi Delbouno muttered the F word more than Paulie Walnuts did on the 3rd season of The Soprano’s and John Elengo became for the first time, Angry JohnnE.
The second group ( A group ) was made up mostly of the Stop n Shop crew (bubble heads and Mike McG), the CCR crew, 3 Yalies and other notables. So most of the ponies were going long and hard tonight. Hopefully we will get some details about what went down in the first group ( B ) and anything to report will be added to the recap.
Right off route 10, Mike McG and Eric M filled the familiar roles of early tempo setters. Also up there doing some surprising early work was Little T, who was coming to grips with the fact that there’d be no Reinhart Sprint for him tonight. The first one to have a go off the front was VQ Rob, who would be jumping off the front all night long. His first go was brief, and heading in thru the cobbles it was all together. He would next give it another go heading into Mountain Rd, but that was swallowed up for a field led by Tall John and Chris C. Some traffic on the corner for Mountain rd slowed things down a bit, but once thru Joe K would jump off the front with Hunter P in tow. The 2 tore it up the hill and were joined by Crazy Chris and it was officially a break. The 3 went to work together and held a gap for a decent length run, getting caught after the 2nd set of risers after the intersection for Higgans rd. Eric M, Mike McG, Julio L and others were chasing pretty hard to catch the trio.
The rest of the way down Mountain was quick as the lean and mean group shared the work load well and many guys were dipping their wicks into the wind.
The B group was just moving thru the light, no doubt caught by a red, as the A group Peleton was coming up to the intersection. The groups would stay separate as the second group waited out the red light and got rolling along without urgency once thru it. The pace down Moss Farms was good, nothing huge, VQ Rob was again rolling off the front for brief spurts along with a 1st time rider in red atop a sliver bike with yellow Time shoes. Heading into the Chicane, it was all together as Hunter P led the field thru. Yalie Adam and Craig L led everyone up the hill initially, and then Little T busted out some sprint and jumped off the front with Joe K in tow. The 2 ripped thru the corner with Hunter P closing the gap quickly. This made a trio again off the front with a small but respectable gap. The 3 would go to work but would be caught right before the turn into the industrial park. Everyone of course barreled thru and headed to Southington for the extended loop. Once onto Mount Vernon Rd, Mike McG resumed pace making along with VQ Rob, Eric M, and others. The pace was going good and there were a couple of solid but brief attacks. The first coming from Chris C, lasting a quarter mile and then Joe K pushed off coming up to the turn by Briarwood but was soon pushed back by the headwind. Again, work was being spread out well with more than 15 guys rotating thru nicely.
As the field turned right onto Welch to go by the golf course The rider in Red had a go off the front but was eclipsed by Mike McG’s sudden attack coming up to the hill. Craig L and the Yalies were up there to patch up holes in the front as the P’ton hit the base of the climb to West St. Little T, who actually found a way to beat everybody in B Group up the Reinhard sprint, nipping Greg Ciocci to the corner, was back with the A Group and seeing the hill to West St as a good substitute for sprint points, jumped hard after Mike McG. Little t came around Mike with a little room to spare and came thru the corner first. Mike kept up the attack as the hill keeps up past the corner. Hunter P was up there in the mix and went with Mike. The two had a gap when Crazy Chris jumped across and then it was 3 for a little bit. Back behind, Little T had stayed up front along with Chris C and a reshuffling up front, it was Chris and Mike leading the way. As expected, there were guys all over the road during this section as it may be the toughest Sleeping Giant stretch, Winter or summer loop. It all came together as the ride had to slow for a light late on West Street. Once on Canal St., the rider in Red attacked once more, this time taking Hunter P with him. The 2 kept the gap up to the light on 322, which as, usual, was red.
The pack took a couple of moments to recover, and then went up Peck Ln a bit faster than usual. There was a small split toward the end of the uphill section, before it turns to Sandbank Rd, made up mostly of the Stage 1 guys. That turned into a leading trio moving onto Route 10 of Crazy Chris, VQ Rob, and Hunter P. That was short lived and heading into the center of Cheshire it was all together.
There was still plenty of get up and go left in the legs for the stop n shop sprint. And heading into it there were a bunch of guys up at the front and ready to go. Julio L, Little T, Rich on C dale, Craig L, Joe K and the Yalies etc… Mike McG was the first to jump, from quite a ways back and had a gap before Little T, Rich and Julio L responded. Little T had the best shot to come around Mike, and there was some traffic to make it interesting, but Mike held off the Alessio charge to the top with Rich being a close 3rd.
The ride into Hamden was faster then usual. The group, not having lost anyone really, enjoyed the tailwind all the way back. Hunter P and VQ Rob had a brief go at the front, but that was crushed by Little T and Mike McG. The speed stayed at 30mph or higher the whole way back, except for a couple of red lights. Heading into the final kilo, there was again a solid group of guys ready to dive it home. The Stage one guys ( Chris C, Dave H, rider on a colnago, Tall John ) gave the front a final shove before letting Little T go out early and burn out, Then it was Mike McG pulling off, leaving Hunter P and Crazy Chris duke it out with Hunter P getting the final kick to the end.
Dillon P was 5th!
No one went up the Shepard Ave hill.
All in all it was a good ride. The A group ended up riding back thru Hamden about 20-25 min later than the B group probably… Maybe even less.
And as there was some premature talk of doing the winter loop again next week, perhaps the New Haven crowd will keep the timing in mind, as there was still more than 35+ min left of daylight to ride home.
Tuesday the 16th
Everyone seemed to have something to prove tonight as the ride had plenty of punch.
Right off of Route 10, after enjoying the tail wind from the parking lot, the group of about 55-60 was speeding right along. Mike McG was upfront, Rick on a C-dale, and Time Trial Pete Johnson was setting early tempo. Mike McG stepped on it running though Brooksvale Ave. and Hunter P along with Eric M were there to follow it up. Going up Mountain Rd, Mike continued to drive the front along with VQ Rob, Julio L and Tall John. Pistol packing Peter Kenney was up there as well. The pace down the ret of Mountain Rd was good with little break from the soliid tempo. Chris C and Rondo were working well together along with a new (?) Stage One guy on a Colnago.
Onto Moss Farms where Rondo and Hunter P jumped up the road early on along with VQ Rob, but that was shut down pretty quickly as EriC M and Mike McG were also rolling along fast at the front of the main pack. Tall John rode off the front going into the chicane and had a small headstart on the hill up to Marion Ave. The pace kinda dropped here as no one really took the opportunity to attack. Maison from CCR was off the front, semi attacking up the hill. Adam from yale was up there taking the main field thru the corner when Hunter P came off the front and surged past Maison. Hunter P stayed off the front alone for a minute or two, almost making it to the industrial park, but was caught by a strung out pack led by Mike McG, tall John, VQ Rob, Joe K, Julio L and others.
Into the industrial park where the pace remained high, with no one making any separation off the front. Chris B was inching his way up to the front in a move that has hidden from no one. He was first thru the corner for west Johnson but there were plenty of guys to mark his pace and he stayed at the front of the field. VQ Rob was up there again setting pace as everyone barreled thru the intersection of Peck Lane. Rondo may have gotten a flat somewhere at this point (?) The strong guys were setting up for the sprint with Alessio up there, Eric M, Maison, Hunter P, etc. Chris B impressively attacked again before the corner, taking Hunter P along with him for the early snooker shot at the sprint. The 2 stayed together with Chris charging the way up to the hill. They had a slim lead of 40-50 yards. Chris did a good job gathering himself for a sprint and jumping away from Hunter just as the guys in the pack were winding up. Greg Ciocci gave it a good go, jumping early and getting the jump on the rest. Mike McG and Little T were the next to go and nose to nose, swept thru the guys up the road, Ciocci, Hunter and Chris. The 2went pretty much down to the wire with Little T pulling thru the corner at the last moment. Alessio kept up the pace on the backside, but so did most of the riders behind and it was back to fast heading into Peck Lane. Nothing too unusual for the run in to Route 10 and into Cheshire. Chris Mahoney, Thomas B, Tall John and Julio and others were up there setting tempo. There was new faces out tonight, good to see some new guys out enjoying the ride.
The run in to Stop n Shop was quick, with a slowing at the end as everyone watched Little T come up to second wheel and then pouncing. Hunter P gave chase, Maison had an impressive jump and was in position to pass for a bit. Mike McG jumped as well and despite a rear tire losing air, was the only one to take it the long way to the line with Little T. Again Alessio was able to edge it out, but just barely.
Nothing else to report for the ride back into Hamden. Stage 1 was doing a lot of the pace making. Dave H was up there along with Crazy Chris, Julio L and Tall John. Coming into the final kilometer, Little T saw the front of the field a little eary and decided to run with it. He got a gap and looked for a moment to be on the way to the hat trick, but close behind there was an usually large group, maybe 10 guys just ramping up the speed and ready to turn on the afterburners. Dillon P, Eric M, VQ Rob, Ciocci, yalie Adam, etc. In the end Little T was passed by Vq Rob and Julio L who shared the honors of bringing the ride to an end.
Up the hill, Chris B wasn’t tired yet, he jumped up and past Gregg F and Chris Mahoney.
Right off of Route 10, after enjoying the tail wind from the parking lot, the group of about 55-60 was speeding right along. Mike McG was upfront, Rick on a C-dale, and Time Trial Pete Johnson was setting early tempo. Mike McG stepped on it running though Brooksvale Ave. and Hunter P along with Eric M were there to follow it up. Going up Mountain Rd, Mike continued to drive the front along with VQ Rob, Julio L and Tall John. Pistol packing Peter Kenney was up there as well. The pace down the ret of Mountain Rd was good with little break from the soliid tempo. Chris C and Rondo were working well together along with a new (?) Stage One guy on a Colnago.
Onto Moss Farms where Rondo and Hunter P jumped up the road early on along with VQ Rob, but that was shut down pretty quickly as EriC M and Mike McG were also rolling along fast at the front of the main pack. Tall John rode off the front going into the chicane and had a small headstart on the hill up to Marion Ave. The pace kinda dropped here as no one really took the opportunity to attack. Maison from CCR was off the front, semi attacking up the hill. Adam from yale was up there taking the main field thru the corner when Hunter P came off the front and surged past Maison. Hunter P stayed off the front alone for a minute or two, almost making it to the industrial park, but was caught by a strung out pack led by Mike McG, tall John, VQ Rob, Joe K, Julio L and others.
Into the industrial park where the pace remained high, with no one making any separation off the front. Chris B was inching his way up to the front in a move that has hidden from no one. He was first thru the corner for west Johnson but there were plenty of guys to mark his pace and he stayed at the front of the field. VQ Rob was up there again setting pace as everyone barreled thru the intersection of Peck Lane. Rondo may have gotten a flat somewhere at this point (?) The strong guys were setting up for the sprint with Alessio up there, Eric M, Maison, Hunter P, etc. Chris B impressively attacked again before the corner, taking Hunter P along with him for the early snooker shot at the sprint. The 2 stayed together with Chris charging the way up to the hill. They had a slim lead of 40-50 yards. Chris did a good job gathering himself for a sprint and jumping away from Hunter just as the guys in the pack were winding up. Greg Ciocci gave it a good go, jumping early and getting the jump on the rest. Mike McG and Little T were the next to go and nose to nose, swept thru the guys up the road, Ciocci, Hunter and Chris. The 2went pretty much down to the wire with Little T pulling thru the corner at the last moment. Alessio kept up the pace on the backside, but so did most of the riders behind and it was back to fast heading into Peck Lane. Nothing too unusual for the run in to Route 10 and into Cheshire. Chris Mahoney, Thomas B, Tall John and Julio and others were up there setting tempo. There was new faces out tonight, good to see some new guys out enjoying the ride.
The run in to Stop n Shop was quick, with a slowing at the end as everyone watched Little T come up to second wheel and then pouncing. Hunter P gave chase, Maison had an impressive jump and was in position to pass for a bit. Mike McG jumped as well and despite a rear tire losing air, was the only one to take it the long way to the line with Little T. Again Alessio was able to edge it out, but just barely.
Nothing else to report for the ride back into Hamden. Stage 1 was doing a lot of the pace making. Dave H was up there along with Crazy Chris, Julio L and Tall John. Coming into the final kilometer, Little T saw the front of the field a little eary and decided to run with it. He got a gap and looked for a moment to be on the way to the hat trick, but close behind there was an usually large group, maybe 10 guys just ramping up the speed and ready to turn on the afterburners. Dillon P, Eric M, VQ Rob, Ciocci, yalie Adam, etc. In the end Little T was passed by Vq Rob and Julio L who shared the honors of bringing the ride to an end.
Up the hill, Chris B wasn’t tired yet, he jumped up and past Gregg F and Chris Mahoney.
Tuesday the 9th
Report coming?
It was a good ride. Lots of guys out despite the rainy weather. Right off the bat... Literally right from the the parking lot, Chris Butler from Cheshire Cycle, Eric M, Tri Guy with knee highs and another rider in a Medics kit (?) attacked and left the bunch.
Even tho this type of sucker punching may be deemed inappropriate, it should be noted the group was not seen till late on Peck lane.
Hopefully we will get some details posted about what it was like in the main bunch during the ride soon.
> from Chris C <
The ride was relaxed up until the first rise turning onto Mountain Road when Greg Cocci attacked and I went with him. From that point to the light the ride was fast paced. It eased up a bit down Moss Farms road and through the intersection. Once into the Industrial Park the pace picked up again and after we went through the stop sign and turned right onto West Johnson, Mike went to the front and pulled all the way past the Kawasaki dealership. Single file, with no one able to pass. Very impressive! The pace stayed high down the hill and up the Peck Lane hill where we caught the break. There was only a few guys left at this point due to Mikes pull. Me, Mike, Eric M., Pete P., Tri Scott, Chris B., Rondo, Eddy A. and maybe one or two others. We kept pushing the pace all the way down RT-10. It is not far from an exaggeration to say we never went much below 30mph for the last 2 miles of the ride. I could barely hold on. Ron kept "f-ing" with me in the rotation which didn't help much. Great ride last night. One of the hardest in a long time. Definitely sore today.... (Chris C )
Feel free to post whatever details ( strong pulls, sloppy pace-lining, team taunting, flirting etc... ) you remember from the ride in the comments section.
It was a good ride. Lots of guys out despite the rainy weather. Right off the bat... Literally right from the the parking lot, Chris Butler from Cheshire Cycle, Eric M, Tri Guy with knee highs and another rider in a Medics kit (?) attacked and left the bunch.
Even tho this type of sucker punching may be deemed inappropriate, it should be noted the group was not seen till late on Peck lane.
Hopefully we will get some details posted about what it was like in the main bunch during the ride soon.
> from Chris C <
The ride was relaxed up until the first rise turning onto Mountain Road when Greg Cocci attacked and I went with him. From that point to the light the ride was fast paced. It eased up a bit down Moss Farms road and through the intersection. Once into the Industrial Park the pace picked up again and after we went through the stop sign and turned right onto West Johnson, Mike went to the front and pulled all the way past the Kawasaki dealership. Single file, with no one able to pass. Very impressive! The pace stayed high down the hill and up the Peck Lane hill where we caught the break. There was only a few guys left at this point due to Mikes pull. Me, Mike, Eric M., Pete P., Tri Scott, Chris B., Rondo, Eddy A. and maybe one or two others. We kept pushing the pace all the way down RT-10. It is not far from an exaggeration to say we never went much below 30mph for the last 2 miles of the ride. I could barely hold on. Ron kept "f-ing" with me in the rotation which didn't help much. Great ride last night. One of the hardest in a long time. Definitely sore today.... (Chris C )
Feel free to post whatever details ( strong pulls, sloppy pace-lining, team taunting, flirting etc... ) you remember from the ride in the comments section.
Tuesday the 2nd
Entry Fees? 4 corners? The USCF? Forget it man, the Tuesday party continues…
The usual amount of riders were out tonight. Nothing spectacular, but decent as always. Pretty much from the get go - Mike McG was out in front setting tempo, He had help from Eric M and Thomaas B. The ride went slower this week thru the first cobbled section and everyone stayed together going up onto Mountain Rd. Thomaas B, not quite finished yet, jumped early on mountain. Chris Butler went with him and that started the chase in earnest. It was single file but it was all together. Mike kept the pace up after that and things moved along nicely down Mountain Rd. with a bunch of guys working at the front.
Onto Moss Farms where Tomaas B again jumped first and again, it was Mike keeping it the stitches strong. He had help from Eric M and the pace remained high up to the chicane where Richard Sachs Chris led everyone thru. Mike again jumped on the hill leading up to Marion, this time taking Chris C, Todd H, Ed Angeli along for the ride. Mike had a good jump, making the 3 work but once they came together they had a gap. Behind the field was being led up and thru the corner by Little T, Eric M and Kyle F. Kyle took it upon himself to cover the gap to the four and within a quarter mile, had single-handedly brought them back, even though they weren’t really turning screws in unison in the break. Along for the ride was Hunter P and Crazy Chris which made it 7 up front. The new larger group still had a gap but that was being chased down by Greg Ciocci, the rider in yellow and black from Mass (?), Julio L and a few others. By the time the turn into the industrial park came, it was all together again. and Things moved along nicely into the industrial park with no activity off the front. Right after turning onto West Johnson, Hunter P jumped off the front in a an early bid to get up to Reinhard. That was short lived though and He was brought back when Maison jumped hard off the front. He along with Chris B, were attacking, and stringing things out before the corner for Reinhard. Gregg F was up there as well with CrazyChris, Rondo, Julio, etc, in between. Maison was brought back before the sprint started and Chris B started the hill with a 50 yard gap. Rondo had played the position game well though and jumped the best in pursuit of Chris. Back in the main bunch, Little T was too far back, Eric M jumped for bit, and Hunter P jumped hard but was also too far back. Rondo cruised thru first, with Hunter just coming around Chris B before the corner.
Things stayed together till Peck lane. Mike McG shot off the front with an interval and it took up to Route 10 to catch him. From there the field stayed together up to the Stop n Shop sprint. All green lights meant that there was a good roll out bfore the jump, and guys were squaring up. Mike McG was first to leadout, getting the speed up. Tall John was up there, Julio L, Rich from Cuevas, Eric M etc. Little T was sitting 5th or 6th wheel when we went and there was little chance of catching him. Hutner P gave chase but it was a distant 2nd.
From there the pace was good through Cheshire. There was a brief split thanks to Stage 1 guys drilling it by Macdonald’s, but as Johan would say, never attack on a downhill. heading in to the finale, the usual suspects were going good, Tall John, Kyle F, Chris C, John Gregory, The Medics, a Rider from IBC ( Boston ), Thomaas B, etc. There was a brief Team leadout going it seemed with one Devils Gear rider leading out Matt from Devils Gear. That was wrapped up with a kilometer to go though. In the end, a group of about 7 were in position to jet off for the finish. Hunter P was first to go, Little T, was next, Eric M…. In the end it was Crazy Chris and Mike McG spinning past Shepard Ave.
It was good to see a bunch of guys head Shepard up for the real test. Rich on a C-dale, Gregg F, Chris B, Ken just ken, Chris Mo’Money Mahoney, Hunter P, Bill Thompson from Keltic (?), the Devils Gear riders…. No one was stopping Chris B this time and he walked away from the rest to get the top first.
The usual amount of riders were out tonight. Nothing spectacular, but decent as always. Pretty much from the get go - Mike McG was out in front setting tempo, He had help from Eric M and Thomaas B. The ride went slower this week thru the first cobbled section and everyone stayed together going up onto Mountain Rd. Thomaas B, not quite finished yet, jumped early on mountain. Chris Butler went with him and that started the chase in earnest. It was single file but it was all together. Mike kept the pace up after that and things moved along nicely down Mountain Rd. with a bunch of guys working at the front.
Onto Moss Farms where Tomaas B again jumped first and again, it was Mike keeping it the stitches strong. He had help from Eric M and the pace remained high up to the chicane where Richard Sachs Chris led everyone thru. Mike again jumped on the hill leading up to Marion, this time taking Chris C, Todd H, Ed Angeli along for the ride. Mike had a good jump, making the 3 work but once they came together they had a gap. Behind the field was being led up and thru the corner by Little T, Eric M and Kyle F. Kyle took it upon himself to cover the gap to the four and within a quarter mile, had single-handedly brought them back, even though they weren’t really turning screws in unison in the break. Along for the ride was Hunter P and Crazy Chris which made it 7 up front. The new larger group still had a gap but that was being chased down by Greg Ciocci, the rider in yellow and black from Mass (?), Julio L and a few others. By the time the turn into the industrial park came, it was all together again. and Things moved along nicely into the industrial park with no activity off the front. Right after turning onto West Johnson, Hunter P jumped off the front in a an early bid to get up to Reinhard. That was short lived though and He was brought back when Maison jumped hard off the front. He along with Chris B, were attacking, and stringing things out before the corner for Reinhard. Gregg F was up there as well with CrazyChris, Rondo, Julio, etc, in between. Maison was brought back before the sprint started and Chris B started the hill with a 50 yard gap. Rondo had played the position game well though and jumped the best in pursuit of Chris. Back in the main bunch, Little T was too far back, Eric M jumped for bit, and Hunter P jumped hard but was also too far back. Rondo cruised thru first, with Hunter just coming around Chris B before the corner.
Things stayed together till Peck lane. Mike McG shot off the front with an interval and it took up to Route 10 to catch him. From there the field stayed together up to the Stop n Shop sprint. All green lights meant that there was a good roll out bfore the jump, and guys were squaring up. Mike McG was first to leadout, getting the speed up. Tall John was up there, Julio L, Rich from Cuevas, Eric M etc. Little T was sitting 5th or 6th wheel when we went and there was little chance of catching him. Hutner P gave chase but it was a distant 2nd.
From there the pace was good through Cheshire. There was a brief split thanks to Stage 1 guys drilling it by Macdonald’s, but as Johan would say, never attack on a downhill. heading in to the finale, the usual suspects were going good, Tall John, Kyle F, Chris C, John Gregory, The Medics, a Rider from IBC ( Boston ), Thomaas B, etc. There was a brief Team leadout going it seemed with one Devils Gear rider leading out Matt from Devils Gear. That was wrapped up with a kilometer to go though. In the end, a group of about 7 were in position to jet off for the finish. Hunter P was first to go, Little T, was next, Eric M…. In the end it was Crazy Chris and Mike McG spinning past Shepard Ave.
It was good to see a bunch of guys head Shepard up for the real test. Rich on a C-dale, Gregg F, Chris B, Ken just ken, Chris Mo’Money Mahoney, Hunter P, Bill Thompson from Keltic (?), the Devils Gear riders…. No one was stopping Chris B this time and he walked away from the rest to get the top first.
Tuesday the 27th
Good ride tonight despite the cool temps. Must get the bad news out of the way though….. Massimiliano ( Max ) Accaputo who lives in Glastonbury went down in a final lap’s crash in the Pro race in Hartford and broke his femur. Max is a good guy of the Peleton who was enjoying his best season to boot. Bummer is a terrible understatement. Look him up, call Pig Iron Sports, ask a CVC rider, get his info and drop him a line. He will be off the bike for a long time sadly.
On the night’s ride and on a bit of a brighter note, We all got to see Curtis Easton’s beaming face out on the ride tonight. Curtis was back in town for graduation events and came out to play ball with us… Nice!
Right off the start of tonights ride, Matt from Devils gear took off down the road and was quick to get away. It wasn’t long after that that Chris C and Josh Freidman took off and it was clear the ride was going to be good and quick. Chris and Josh got a good gap of about 10 seconds before Mike McG moved to the front to set tempo. That turned into a full on attack\bridge as the ride was going over the cobbles of Mount Sanford rd. The ride splintered as guys were dodging potholes and Mike sped off with Greg Ciocci and Hunter P in tow. The trio started to work together and it was right around the start off brooksvale that they caught Josh F and Chris C. Matt from Devils Gear was still up the road. The 5 were out of sight of the peleton. Back in the bunch it was a bunch of guys doing to the work. Peter P, Chris Mo’Money, Rondo, Curtis too. The break caught Matt early on Mountain Rd and so then it was 6.
The Lead group worked up a good gap with all doing an equal share. They had to stop at the light at Route 68 and that gave the big bunch a chance to catch them, or else they no doubt would have stayed away the whole time.
Onto Moss Farms, D.G. Matt was right back at it. Charging up the road. Curtis, Rondo, and Mike McG went up and also worked up there and for the ride down Moss Farms, it seemed like there was legs that wanted to attack, but the pace was too high to allow it. Mike McG led the field for a solid half mile before and into the Chicane. He had Chris C right on his wheel for the charge up to Marion. Mike's efforts was followed right away by Rondo, Hunter P, and Todd H. That kept the speed high into the industrial park.
Once on the flat roads there, It was Rondo and Mike going good and for a second, they actually rolled off the front as no one was interested in coming thru. Moving onto West Johnson, the ride up to the corner for Reinhard was fast-ish. A lot of guys were working it, no one attacking... Just some solid efforts. Chris B again, for the 11teenth time, rolled off the front and had a good gap in the corner. Other guys squaring up were Mike McG, Julio L, Eric M, Chris C, Crazy Chris, Cuevas Rich, Peter P, Curtis, Hunter P, Rondo etc. A drop in speed just before the sprint kicked allowed a few guys to get ready and Chris to get a little more of a gap. It looked like he might be free and clear this time. Julio L was in good position, 2 bikes off the front when he started the sprint Eric M gave chase with a couple others. It was a true sprint that required a good starting position. Julio needed all the road to first catch Chris, and then come around him just at the last moment. Great job Julio. Chris B is getting closer and closer to pulling off the improbable. Soon, guys will be latching onto his wheel and then we will see some real carnage on the hill before, during, and after the sprint. Eric M, Crazy Chris and Hunter P rolled up through after the Chris\Julio express train started back down toward Peck Ln. Chris C and Hunter P kept the pace high but there were enough bodies coming up from the main bunch to fill in the gaps and it was gruppo compacto once on Peck Ln. Things didnt get going again till up past Cheshire Park on Route 10. The usual suspects were driving it and once again it looked like it was going to be a good run in to the Stop n Shop sprint but the rare red light across from the Police Dept brought things to a halt. Once rolling again it took about 4 seconds for Little T to light it up and try to win the brief match sprint up the hill. Julio L and Hunter P gave chase with Hunter getting the closest, but T had the jump from the stand still and was all over this one.
The rest of the ride was standard issue stuff. No one attempted to move off the front. The Medics, the Stage 1 guys, Thomaas B, Curtis, Peter P, Richard Sachs Chris, etc were all up there going into Hamden. The finale was fast, with a group of 5 or 6 splintering off the front at the right moment. It ended up being Rondo and Josh F riding up and thru the last light together with a few guys also soft pedaling in close behind.
On the night’s ride and on a bit of a brighter note, We all got to see Curtis Easton’s beaming face out on the ride tonight. Curtis was back in town for graduation events and came out to play ball with us… Nice!
Right off the start of tonights ride, Matt from Devils gear took off down the road and was quick to get away. It wasn’t long after that that Chris C and Josh Freidman took off and it was clear the ride was going to be good and quick. Chris and Josh got a good gap of about 10 seconds before Mike McG moved to the front to set tempo. That turned into a full on attack\bridge as the ride was going over the cobbles of Mount Sanford rd. The ride splintered as guys were dodging potholes and Mike sped off with Greg Ciocci and Hunter P in tow. The trio started to work together and it was right around the start off brooksvale that they caught Josh F and Chris C. Matt from Devils Gear was still up the road. The 5 were out of sight of the peleton. Back in the bunch it was a bunch of guys doing to the work. Peter P, Chris Mo’Money, Rondo, Curtis too. The break caught Matt early on Mountain Rd and so then it was 6.
The Lead group worked up a good gap with all doing an equal share. They had to stop at the light at Route 68 and that gave the big bunch a chance to catch them, or else they no doubt would have stayed away the whole time.
Onto Moss Farms, D.G. Matt was right back at it. Charging up the road. Curtis, Rondo, and Mike McG went up and also worked up there and for the ride down Moss Farms, it seemed like there was legs that wanted to attack, but the pace was too high to allow it. Mike McG led the field for a solid half mile before and into the Chicane. He had Chris C right on his wheel for the charge up to Marion. Mike's efforts was followed right away by Rondo, Hunter P, and Todd H. That kept the speed high into the industrial park.
Once on the flat roads there, It was Rondo and Mike going good and for a second, they actually rolled off the front as no one was interested in coming thru. Moving onto West Johnson, the ride up to the corner for Reinhard was fast-ish. A lot of guys were working it, no one attacking... Just some solid efforts. Chris B again, for the 11teenth time, rolled off the front and had a good gap in the corner. Other guys squaring up were Mike McG, Julio L, Eric M, Chris C, Crazy Chris, Cuevas Rich, Peter P, Curtis, Hunter P, Rondo etc. A drop in speed just before the sprint kicked allowed a few guys to get ready and Chris to get a little more of a gap. It looked like he might be free and clear this time. Julio L was in good position, 2 bikes off the front when he started the sprint Eric M gave chase with a couple others. It was a true sprint that required a good starting position. Julio needed all the road to first catch Chris, and then come around him just at the last moment. Great job Julio. Chris B is getting closer and closer to pulling off the improbable. Soon, guys will be latching onto his wheel and then we will see some real carnage on the hill before, during, and after the sprint. Eric M, Crazy Chris and Hunter P rolled up through after the Chris\Julio express train started back down toward Peck Ln. Chris C and Hunter P kept the pace high but there were enough bodies coming up from the main bunch to fill in the gaps and it was gruppo compacto once on Peck Ln. Things didnt get going again till up past Cheshire Park on Route 10. The usual suspects were driving it and once again it looked like it was going to be a good run in to the Stop n Shop sprint but the rare red light across from the Police Dept brought things to a halt. Once rolling again it took about 4 seconds for Little T to light it up and try to win the brief match sprint up the hill. Julio L and Hunter P gave chase with Hunter getting the closest, but T had the jump from the stand still and was all over this one.
The rest of the ride was standard issue stuff. No one attempted to move off the front. The Medics, the Stage 1 guys, Thomaas B, Curtis, Peter P, Richard Sachs Chris, etc were all up there going into Hamden. The finale was fast, with a group of 5 or 6 splintering off the front at the right moment. It ended up being Rondo and Josh F riding up and thru the last light together with a few guys also soft pedaling in close behind.
Tuesday the 19th
Hey the weather was good tonight… Lots of riders out ready to get some good training in.
Pretty much as soon as the ride turned off route 10, Mike “di luca” McG went to the front and set tempo. He was joined by Eric M and things were starting to hot-up nice and early on. The pace thru the “cobbles” of Brooksvale was fast and with guys darting around ever growing potholes a group managed to ride off the front. Mike McG, Eric M, Chris C and Todd H all drilled it and were away briefly before being snagged by traffic turning onto Mount Sanford. The Medic set pace didn’t relent and going toward Mountain rd it was still mostly Mike and Eric up front. They had some help in the form of Ben from CT Coast, Tall John, Julio L and a couple of others. Turning onto Mountain was slow cause of cars but once clear it was again Mike setting early tempo up the hill along with Rondo. Things settled down a bit after that but Mike persisted in the pacing and he had help from Yalie Adam, Chris Mo’Money on a Scott, a bunch of Bubbles and others all the way down to the light.
Once past the light on Moss Farms, Todd H and our favorite rider on a Se7en ( name?) took off but that was reeled in pretty quickly by a couple of guys and it was gruppo compacto for the rest of the way down Moss. Toward the end coming up to the chicane, it was once again Mike up front, along with Yalie Adam and Chris C. Heading up the hill toward Marion, a few guys started darting around looking for a chance to jump, even tho the pace was still pretty decent. Chris C started the surge, Little T was looking ready to go, Mike jumped hard at first and then to that, an even harder jump. He rolled thru the corner first with Hunter P directly in tow. Hunter P put in another surge right after the corner and the 2 were well clear of a rivet popping peloton. Craig L was in control of his bodily functions tho and was able to bridge the gap up to the 2 pretty quickly and so the 3 went to work. Behind in the pack, Julio L, Little T, Todd H, CT Coast Ben and yalie Adam were keeping it close for everyone.
Moving into the industrial park, the trio still had a decent gap and were working well together. Coming up to the corner for west Johnson, Julio L had turned himself upside down and shook enough pennies out to cover the gap. That got things going in the main field and it would be “bunch packed” on West Johnson, halfway to the intersection of Peck. Craig was still looking good and would set some pace before the hill toward Rienhard. Chris B would again charge off the front with brute force and he was getting a decent gap. Ken just ken would also try to the same trick and was halfway between the peloton and Chris. It was brisk turning onto Reinhart, with little chance to slot into position for the sprint. Several guys were looking good for it. Eric M, Chris C, Craig, Mike, etc… Little T was rolling up to the front as well. Chris B had a solid 5-7 seconds at the dip in the road just as it going uphill with Ken still in between but coming back fast. Eric M was the first to jump with Little T right on his wheel and Hunter P right on T’s. They all went up the left side of the road, where Ken had come to a near halt. It was a close call getting around him and Hunter P had to jam on the brakes and was out of the running. Little T passed Eric halfway up and started in toward Chris. Chris was still powering away, but not fast enough as T got him a little before the corner. Eric was there a little ways back and Hunter P was farther back. Great to see Little T back and kicking butt after a few weeks off the bike due to illness. Rumor has it tonight was just his 3rd ride in a month, and he also had other things on his mind as his good friend Mike Regan’s Mother passed away recently. Everyone should really take a note…. Mike’s a great guy who loves riding, was in the industry for a while, and is still more enthusiastic about talking bikes than Rondo is about Gianni Bugno’s new pizza joint. Mike has insurance offices in Waterbury, look him up and say hi.
Over the top, thru the corner, and down towards Peck, Hunter P took off and had a bit of a gap, but toward the top of the riser on Peck he was caught and it was all together for a brief moment. Coming up towards Route 10, Crazy Chris, Chris C, Todd H and a fourth (?) slipped off the front, but that was shot down quickly and it was all together into the wind heading up the hill by Cheshire Park.
Heading into Cheshire was slowed by traffic lights and the run in to stop n shop took a bit to get started but once it did it was Little T rocketing off again. Mike McG was chasing as well. The best guy to beat T was America’s Team Rich on a C dale. Good to see him out again for the whole ride as well. He came close but Little T stayed in front all the way to the light.
Heading into Hamden was pretty standard issue. Craig was up front, Adam, the Medics, Tall John, etc. Guido was up there as well. Guido missed the start of the ride by like 15 short seconds which sucks. Heading into the final kilometer, after Rondo and Mike McG had put in the last dig and peeled off, guys like Little T, Hunter P, and Guido were a bit boxed in, leaving Craig and Todd H to charge in. the 2 rolled in together with a clear gap over the rest…
Pretty much as soon as the ride turned off route 10, Mike “di luca” McG went to the front and set tempo. He was joined by Eric M and things were starting to hot-up nice and early on. The pace thru the “cobbles” of Brooksvale was fast and with guys darting around ever growing potholes a group managed to ride off the front. Mike McG, Eric M, Chris C and Todd H all drilled it and were away briefly before being snagged by traffic turning onto Mount Sanford. The Medic set pace didn’t relent and going toward Mountain rd it was still mostly Mike and Eric up front. They had some help in the form of Ben from CT Coast, Tall John, Julio L and a couple of others. Turning onto Mountain was slow cause of cars but once clear it was again Mike setting early tempo up the hill along with Rondo. Things settled down a bit after that but Mike persisted in the pacing and he had help from Yalie Adam, Chris Mo’Money on a Scott, a bunch of Bubbles and others all the way down to the light.
Once past the light on Moss Farms, Todd H and our favorite rider on a Se7en ( name?) took off but that was reeled in pretty quickly by a couple of guys and it was gruppo compacto for the rest of the way down Moss. Toward the end coming up to the chicane, it was once again Mike up front, along with Yalie Adam and Chris C. Heading up the hill toward Marion, a few guys started darting around looking for a chance to jump, even tho the pace was still pretty decent. Chris C started the surge, Little T was looking ready to go, Mike jumped hard at first and then to that, an even harder jump. He rolled thru the corner first with Hunter P directly in tow. Hunter P put in another surge right after the corner and the 2 were well clear of a rivet popping peloton. Craig L was in control of his bodily functions tho and was able to bridge the gap up to the 2 pretty quickly and so the 3 went to work. Behind in the pack, Julio L, Little T, Todd H, CT Coast Ben and yalie Adam were keeping it close for everyone.
Moving into the industrial park, the trio still had a decent gap and were working well together. Coming up to the corner for west Johnson, Julio L had turned himself upside down and shook enough pennies out to cover the gap. That got things going in the main field and it would be “bunch packed” on West Johnson, halfway to the intersection of Peck. Craig was still looking good and would set some pace before the hill toward Rienhard. Chris B would again charge off the front with brute force and he was getting a decent gap. Ken just ken would also try to the same trick and was halfway between the peloton and Chris. It was brisk turning onto Reinhart, with little chance to slot into position for the sprint. Several guys were looking good for it. Eric M, Chris C, Craig, Mike, etc… Little T was rolling up to the front as well. Chris B had a solid 5-7 seconds at the dip in the road just as it going uphill with Ken still in between but coming back fast. Eric M was the first to jump with Little T right on his wheel and Hunter P right on T’s. They all went up the left side of the road, where Ken had come to a near halt. It was a close call getting around him and Hunter P had to jam on the brakes and was out of the running. Little T passed Eric halfway up and started in toward Chris. Chris was still powering away, but not fast enough as T got him a little before the corner. Eric was there a little ways back and Hunter P was farther back. Great to see Little T back and kicking butt after a few weeks off the bike due to illness. Rumor has it tonight was just his 3rd ride in a month, and he also had other things on his mind as his good friend Mike Regan’s Mother passed away recently. Everyone should really take a note…. Mike’s a great guy who loves riding, was in the industry for a while, and is still more enthusiastic about talking bikes than Rondo is about Gianni Bugno’s new pizza joint. Mike has insurance offices in Waterbury, look him up and say hi.
Over the top, thru the corner, and down towards Peck, Hunter P took off and had a bit of a gap, but toward the top of the riser on Peck he was caught and it was all together for a brief moment. Coming up towards Route 10, Crazy Chris, Chris C, Todd H and a fourth (?) slipped off the front, but that was shot down quickly and it was all together into the wind heading up the hill by Cheshire Park.
Heading into Cheshire was slowed by traffic lights and the run in to stop n shop took a bit to get started but once it did it was Little T rocketing off again. Mike McG was chasing as well. The best guy to beat T was America’s Team Rich on a C dale. Good to see him out again for the whole ride as well. He came close but Little T stayed in front all the way to the light.
Heading into Hamden was pretty standard issue. Craig was up front, Adam, the Medics, Tall John, etc. Guido was up there as well. Guido missed the start of the ride by like 15 short seconds which sucks. Heading into the final kilometer, after Rondo and Mike McG had put in the last dig and peeled off, guys like Little T, Hunter P, and Guido were a bit boxed in, leaving Craig and Todd H to charge in. the 2 rolled in together with a clear gap over the rest…
Tuesday the 12th
The ride route relocates to Northern Belgium so that the weather can be deemed “pretty good”
More rain and cool temps today forced the ride down to about 25-30 riders. Everyone was feeling very lovey dovey and let the Stop n Shop crew take a tinkle at 6:01 without booking off in abandonment. Right off route 10 young Kyle F lit a match and took off down the road. The front of the ride hesitated, watched and that let him get down the road and outta sight. Late on Brooksvale, Chris C jumped off the front in pursuit and was joined a bit later by Eric M and Time trial Pete Johnson. Good to see Pete out there mixing it up. A traffic pause at a corner slowed the lead group down a bit and then Hunter P dragged the field up to them pretty quickly on Mount Sanford. Coming onto Mountain road there was still no sight of Kyle F. Turns out he had met up with Rondo, who had snuck off right outta the Sleeping Giant parking lot and was up the road. The two were working together and had a gap that kept them out of sight until mid way thru Mountain rd.
As the field turned onto Mountain, Mike McG and Hunter P looked ready to attack at the front but just ended up setting tempo for everyone else. Once past the hills and when it all came together, a bunch of guys were rotating well and putting out a decent, if not a little slow, pace up till Route 68\70. There was some “talk” from a Stage 1 rider to Guido… Something about Guido’s pulls and how meatless “turkey” bratwurst is a complete waste of money. We say leave Guido alone…. Its obvious he doesn’t enjoy riding with people unless you are his 30 second man and he is putting your bike in an ass vortex.
Onto Moss farms where there was a couple of hard to recognize riders (Ciocci? CT Coast Ben? Jeff Weaver?) punching it early along with the Medics. The pace picked up as the Youngster Josh from Fiordifrutta who is not so young anymore came up to the front and got things going. Peter P looked to be the first thru the chicane, and the pace was respectable heading into the industrial park. Tho once there some sloppy riding opened up a gap to a trio, Mike McG, Rondo and another rider (Ciocci ?). Guys like Chris C, Todd, H and Thomas B(speckled) worked to sew things up. Some traffic in the corner to West Johnson slowed everyone down and it was all together for the push up to Reinhard. Chris Butler moved up to the front and then rolled off alone with 2 chasing him…. Chris C and another ??? Chris was riding off and away from the chasers and everyone else when Hunter P jumped hard from the field and bridged up to him just as the road went up before the corner. The 2 worked for a bit to hold a gap but lasers were set to kill in the field behind. Mike McG, Eric M and a rider on a Cerevelo with mudflaps worked to bring everyone back together. That led to a small group of about 9 being ready to pounce on the hill up Rienhard. Mike McG started the sprint at the base and took Eric M along him. Maison from CCR was there, Ciocci, Crazy Chris, Julio etc… Mike gave it up at the end and Eric rolled thru the corner first. Eric kept it going on the backside tho and Hunter P pressed go on the go button as well. But some strong efforts from Thomas B(speckled) and young Josh got it all back together as the ride was getting onto Peck Lane. Josh kept the pace up along with Chris B and a couple of others. Seemed like everyone was getting pretty gassed as it slowed down moving toward route 10.
Rondo, Peter P, Eric M and others took charge of the front on the hill going past Cheshire park. A red light at Maple slowed the run into town down and once things got rolling toward Stop n Shop it was pretty much single file. Julio L jumped early on the hill and got the better of everyone. Maison jumped too but could close the gap to the Jumping Bean.
A couple of lights in town allowed a few guys to re-connect with the ride and things got going decently once out of Cheshire. Peter P used the start off the last light at Cook Hill to move off the front just a bit. Hunter P once again jumped up, bridged the gap and took along the rider on the Cerevelo. The 3 worked up a bit of a gap with the Cerevelo doing a crap load of work and making it hard for everyone else. Eventually the field would catch up and that led to a pretty good showdown with a kilo to go. Rondo, Eric M, Mike McG, Josh, Todd H, Guido, Kyle F etc…. Lots of guys wanting to stand up but knowing better…. In the end Mike McG got the best of everyone, Guido was right there as well.
More rain and cool temps today forced the ride down to about 25-30 riders. Everyone was feeling very lovey dovey and let the Stop n Shop crew take a tinkle at 6:01 without booking off in abandonment. Right off route 10 young Kyle F lit a match and took off down the road. The front of the ride hesitated, watched and that let him get down the road and outta sight. Late on Brooksvale, Chris C jumped off the front in pursuit and was joined a bit later by Eric M and Time trial Pete Johnson. Good to see Pete out there mixing it up. A traffic pause at a corner slowed the lead group down a bit and then Hunter P dragged the field up to them pretty quickly on Mount Sanford. Coming onto Mountain road there was still no sight of Kyle F. Turns out he had met up with Rondo, who had snuck off right outta the Sleeping Giant parking lot and was up the road. The two were working together and had a gap that kept them out of sight until mid way thru Mountain rd.
As the field turned onto Mountain, Mike McG and Hunter P looked ready to attack at the front but just ended up setting tempo for everyone else. Once past the hills and when it all came together, a bunch of guys were rotating well and putting out a decent, if not a little slow, pace up till Route 68\70. There was some “talk” from a Stage 1 rider to Guido… Something about Guido’s pulls and how meatless “turkey” bratwurst is a complete waste of money. We say leave Guido alone…. Its obvious he doesn’t enjoy riding with people unless you are his 30 second man and he is putting your bike in an ass vortex.
Onto Moss farms where there was a couple of hard to recognize riders (Ciocci? CT Coast Ben? Jeff Weaver?) punching it early along with the Medics. The pace picked up as the Youngster Josh from Fiordifrutta who is not so young anymore came up to the front and got things going. Peter P looked to be the first thru the chicane, and the pace was respectable heading into the industrial park. Tho once there some sloppy riding opened up a gap to a trio, Mike McG, Rondo and another rider (Ciocci ?). Guys like Chris C, Todd, H and Thomas B(speckled) worked to sew things up. Some traffic in the corner to West Johnson slowed everyone down and it was all together for the push up to Reinhard. Chris Butler moved up to the front and then rolled off alone with 2 chasing him…. Chris C and another ??? Chris was riding off and away from the chasers and everyone else when Hunter P jumped hard from the field and bridged up to him just as the road went up before the corner. The 2 worked for a bit to hold a gap but lasers were set to kill in the field behind. Mike McG, Eric M and a rider on a Cerevelo with mudflaps worked to bring everyone back together. That led to a small group of about 9 being ready to pounce on the hill up Rienhard. Mike McG started the sprint at the base and took Eric M along him. Maison from CCR was there, Ciocci, Crazy Chris, Julio etc… Mike gave it up at the end and Eric rolled thru the corner first. Eric kept it going on the backside tho and Hunter P pressed go on the go button as well. But some strong efforts from Thomas B(speckled) and young Josh got it all back together as the ride was getting onto Peck Lane. Josh kept the pace up along with Chris B and a couple of others. Seemed like everyone was getting pretty gassed as it slowed down moving toward route 10.
Rondo, Peter P, Eric M and others took charge of the front on the hill going past Cheshire park. A red light at Maple slowed the run into town down and once things got rolling toward Stop n Shop it was pretty much single file. Julio L jumped early on the hill and got the better of everyone. Maison jumped too but could close the gap to the Jumping Bean.
A couple of lights in town allowed a few guys to re-connect with the ride and things got going decently once out of Cheshire. Peter P used the start off the last light at Cook Hill to move off the front just a bit. Hunter P once again jumped up, bridged the gap and took along the rider on the Cerevelo. The 3 worked up a bit of a gap with the Cerevelo doing a crap load of work and making it hard for everyone else. Eventually the field would catch up and that led to a pretty good showdown with a kilo to go. Rondo, Eric M, Mike McG, Josh, Todd H, Guido, Kyle F etc…. Lots of guys wanting to stand up but knowing better…. In the end Mike McG got the best of everyone, Guido was right there as well.
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