Lots of love on display tonight... awwww, everyone gets along so well.......
Tough ride tonight as the southerly wind made sure no one got a free ride. There was a decent sized crowd out tonight, maybe 35 guys and Robyn. A couple of faces, strong legs, fast bikes, need to be ID'd.... ( Tall Saturn jersey, Devils Gear, Cervelo rider ).
Heading off route 10, no one was really in a hurry. Eric M, Dillon P and Tri guy on a LeMond were setting an easy pace. Then Eric M, who this weekend prolly raced more miles than you drove, stepped it up and the rest was content to watch him ride away. Chris C then decided to meet up with him and the 2 were away by the middle of Brooksvale ave. That didnt last very long and soon, they were sitting up and everyone was back together. There was some strange gaps that opened up thru the next sections as motivation seemed lacking... Heading onto Mountain road, Chris C, Eric M, Dillon P, and one of the new guys took off thru the intial risers. Again, a slow responce time from the rest meant that they would get up a bit of a gap. Moving thru the small step-ups past Higgans, Hunter P shot off the front with an attentive Crazy Chris from Stage1 right in tow. He covered the 40 yard gap pretty quickly but it also got the rest of the field going and soon it was all together and for the rest of the way down Mountain, back up to respectable speeds.
Onto Moss Farms, where the scappy Todd H snuck off the front with Rich Foley. The 2 worked up a good gap as the rest were sorting themselves out behind. Eric M, Hunter P, and Chris C chipped in and covered the bill... Leaving a bit of a tip as well. Heading into the chicane it was Eric M, Chris C, and Hunter P driving it with Rondo leading the field up and thru in pursuit. But things calmed down again heading into the industrial park. Moving up to the hills before Reinhard, Joe K moved up to the front and helped Eric M and Mike McG with tempo setting.
For the sprint, there were a bunch in the mix... Eric M started it off first, Chris C was there, Hunter P and Joe K. Mike McG was sliding back... Little T, rocketed it off from his usual spot and the only one that was going to try was Joe K... Joe did a good job keeping close on the wheel, but T, as expected, had little problem in staying in the front thru the corner. Hunter P and Chris C led the rest up and thru. Onto Peck ln, Luekens ( Craig ) Rondo, and the new guys were up front. Rondo pushed the pace on Sandbank a bit, but everyone seemed to be getting ready for the Route 10 headwind.
After pausing for the light at Maple ave, Rondo jumped off the front in a bid to snooker everyone to the sprint. He made it about halfway before being pushed back by the wind. Crazy Chris, Hunter P and Daddy Luekens were up there bringing everyone up. Luekens lept up for the sprint... Hunter too. It's hard to win a sprint unless you are keeping track of Little T and Mike McG and sure enough the 2 came rifling thru everyone else. Anthony saw the top of the hill the whole time but Mike is getting the credit for this one... Slipping past just at the last moment.
Heading back into Hamden, everyone did a good job working together into the wind. Toward the end, Todd H & Crazy Chris (?) tried to TTT it off the front but that got cock blocked pretty quickly. Speeds were crisp heading into the finale, with a good amount of guys trying to time it better than last week. Eric M, Mike McG, Rondo, Chris C, Luekens... The usual suspects.... Little T was in good position again and throttled it, in-saddle, clearing the field... Hunter P was right there on his wheel and was able to come around him for the finish.
