Lights, Cameras, Action!
The ride continued to have unseasonably cold temps as approx 45-55 rolled out. Rondo, sporting the second camera in the Peleton, drove a unsettling pace right out of the lot and down route 10. He had help from Dave H and Chris C. Some on-coming traffic cut into the ride as the front was turning off of route 10. It stopped 2\3 of the group dead as as the 10 or so eager beavers lit it up. Eric M moved up as well and for about a mile, it looked as if the ride was fracturing into two. It took some hard pulls from guys like Chris Mahoney, Dillon P, Devils Gear ( Jeff W? ) and others to keep it together. Next to hit the front hard as the ride turned onto South Brooksvale was Jacob H. VQ Rob moved up to the front as well and it looked as if another gap would form… But with more solid pace making from the trick or treaters and Chris C, it was all together and fast heading onto North Brooksvale. It got crazy fast for a bit as Guido, who revealed that he keeps a cyanide pill taped to his top tube in case of enemy capture, and Joshy G spared no red blood cells in pinning the rivot. Lots of oncoming traffic at the corner of Mountain rd gave guys a chance to catch breath. Ciocci hit the hill on Mountain rd. hard.
The ride down Mountain was again nice and fast as many guys took pulls. Jeff W, Rondo, Stage one, Eric M, Hunter P, Guido, Ben G, VQ, and others all up in the mix. Coming up to Route 68, Hunter P took a flyer in anticipation of a potential green light but everyone rolled up and together under red. Once onto Moss Farms, Chris B and Pete K from Cheshire Cycle, Yalie Adam, and the Jeff W rider hit it hard enough to get a small gap going but Joshy G and the CCBer’s were having none of that. The pace stayed high and the group following Joshy G rolled out a subsequent gap that took hard pulls from Chris B and Jeff W to shut it down coming right up to the Chicane. Jacob H rolled thru there in a good position to hit the hill first and his efforts got another kinda sorta gap going. It became the real deal tho after 12 or so riders kept up the pressure after the corner. Chris C, Hunter P, Guido, Larry M, Joshy G, Eric M, Jacob H, Crazy Chris, a new guy in a CVC kit and others had a gap of about 30 yards max before it got pulled back by big efforts from Kyle F and an assist from Gregg F ( riding strong atop his new Scott Addict R3). Thru the industrial park, VQ Rob, Eric M, Guido, Larry M, etc, worked the front and the ride didn’t really slow down at all the whole time.
Heading up to Reinhard, with Little T missing, the sprint was as wide open as the two zero one zero Giro d’ Italia. Late on West Johnson ave, Jeff W, looking to play the role of Vino took a flyer but under the CCB \ CVC pace he was overhauled before the corner. Rondo was up there with Eric M and Hunter P in tow. Joshy G and one of the CCB dudes punched it on the first little riser and hit the dip with a gap. Rondo peeled off behind after sprint-leading out Eric M a quarter of the way up the hill. Eric hit it and just as the catch of the 2 up front was happening, Hutner P was able to get around all with Jacob H in tow. Hunter kept on the throttle enough to hold off a late surging Hacker to the corner. On the backside, Hacker kept on it and had a healthy gap that didn’t get erased till the turn onto Peck ln.
Some D-bag driver got things riled up when he tried to pass with incoming traffic right before Route. Ben G for a second looked like he was gonna go Batman on the dude but once onto Route 10 everyone calmed down for the crazy ride home. Joshy G was still up there pushing the tempo along with Eric M and a couple of others. Heading into Stop n Shop was a little slower than usual. Eric M again tried early to jump with Hunter P in tow but behind a CCBer, Mike McG and a couple of others had this one staked out pretty good. It went down to the line between CCB and Miles&miles Mike with the CCB just getting it at the post. After the sprint a couple of guys were thinking break but traffic and red lights kept it together. If there is one good argument for starting the long ride ASAP, it’s to thin out the peleton that rolls thru Cheshire. Next week anyone???
The rest of the ride was standard fare. Respectfully fast and well mannered despite the headwind. Jeff W had another flyer that got swallowed up. In the last half kilo, Guido was the first to peel off, Jacob then hit the front with too far to go and was passed by Hunter P and VQ Rob, coming up thru them all in the last moments was Yalie Adam, and it seemed like VQ shut off the gas at the last moment, giving Yalie Adam the final award for this week. Footage for the ride will no doubt be available soon on Entertainment Tonight.
