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…