Tuesday the 30th

      Long Loop goes out with a bang 

    The cancellation of the last East Hartford Crit meant that four of the CCNS guys rolled on up in the van ready to dispense their weekly allotment of pain. Add in a couple of Bikers Edge guys, a couple of Benidorm guys and the ride had a fast crowd. The SG usuals were ready to oblige. Right off the start, Mike McG was patrolling the front. Perry the new guys was also up there along with Hunter P and the Otto-inator. Everyone followed Perry Thru the crap road section and it got pretty quick. Then one street later it was Hacker taking advantage of te next corner, attacking and getting a small gap. Koski, Rattatatat, one of the CCNS guys and Hunter P were right on that and it didn’t get very far. Then Joshy G hit the front along with Rattatatat. Ratta and one of the CCNS guys (?) kept up the pace all the way to Mountain rd and were able to ride up a little gap for the corner. Back in the peleton once onto Mountain there was some brief sitting in by teammates. That left the chase work to Mike McG and MoMoney and a couple of others. The 2 were brought back on the risers. Some car traffic slowed things down before the next set of risers, with Chris C being the next to go into the deep end of the pool. From there it was single file all the way to the light. The first quarter of the ride was in the books and it was faster then usual.
         Right away on Moss Farms, Otto and Hacker lit it up and rode got a gap. A chase group quickly formed ( Ratta, Mike McG, Little T ) and were making ground on the 2 up front. Then the Teany NY rider went into no man’s land. The group up the road all came together within 750 meters and with some CCR guys choosing not to chase Ratta down, the peleton was briefly on cruise control. Just as Sasha from CCB rode up and onto the front, getting everyone’s attention, the motivation went out of the front group. Maybe too many cooks in the kitchen, and it seemed no one was going to carry them along. That gave the field a change to bring it back and it was all together by the chicane. Ratta, CCB and Mike McG charged up the hill to Marion, getting a gap past the corner. Aiden, Chris C and hunter p would come across the gap shortly after, making it another dangerous group up the road. The field behind wasn't ready to roll over dead yet. Todd H, Eric M, A.Zane, Otto, Tall Dennis and a couple of others headed up the chase efforts and it was back to together by the industrial park. Joe K hit the front and Ratta was still up there. CXCchris and A.Zane also hit it giving that four a gap that they kept to the light on 322.

       Hacker, Otto and A.Zane were pushing it to Mount Vernon after the light and tore off a respectable gap initially. Joshy g was spearheading the efforts in the pack. Chris C drilled it, followed by Hunter P and that was enough to get a chase group clear. Aiden and BigBadBenWolfe rolled thru another CCNSer, Mike McG, and CXCChris. The peleton was in high alert chase mode but there was still enough horsepower up the road to stay clear. Soon the 3 leaders would get swallowed up, making it a cozy 10 up front. The group would rumble along for another couple of minutes and despite some good turns of speed from Mike and Ben, it would get brought back. Perry and Joshy G doing a lot of work to pace the rest up. The speed came down a bit after the catch, leading to an eventful ride up the false flat section.         Things sped up again after the false flat, with CCNS, Mike McG, CCB and Otto drilling it. It was fast enough to create a gap halfway thru the field. When the pace slowed dramatically the entire back end of the ride swapped with the front and a new group of riders set pace for the road remaining to the corner.

        A couple of CCNSers and Otto led the way onto Welch. Jordan Lynn then hit the front and set a solid tempo for nearly the rest of the way, in the process, gobbling up Otto and an attack from Hacker. Mike McG jumped from the base of the hill and went hard all the way to the corner. Hunter p and Joe K were the only ones to respond. After Mike was done, Hunter P hit the front and the trio was clear. Joe K took over as Hunter P fell back. Joe had a decent amount of road to cover but threw in a sprint anyway. Mike was able to sneak past him by half a bike length for the sprint. Joshy G was the only one to try and bridge the gap and he nearly monstered across it in time. The red light district slowed everyone down back to bunch.

        Aiden was off the front again after going over the highway, which led to a record speed down the rest of West St and onto Atwater St. Ratta rode off the front once the group reached Canal St. Hunter P would also make a jump for the 322 crossing but it came back together there at the light. The ride stayed fast after the light and onto Peck lane. Hacker was up there, Chris C was up there, CCB as well as Dillon P. As soon as the ride hit Route 1 again, Aiden, Wolfe and Hutner P jumped off the front, getting a gap up the road by Cheshire Park. Those 3 would stay on the gas for a while, making it hard for the rest of the field to catch up. Hacker, Perry ,Julio L and Joshy G were up there going hard as well. Thanks to the hard pace and little gaps that opened up, Little T got a head start on the stop n sprint with Jacinto. Jacinto would do most of the leading out on this one, letting T come around at with room to spare. Hunter P and Ratta were trying to flying across the gap but had no chance in making it up once Little T got going. Once the stop n shop plaza lights were done with, Aiden and Wolfe jumped on it again, taking along Hunter P, Hacker, and a couple of others. The peleton had to wait at a light that the front group got thru and that was all that was needed to spring em free for the rest of the ride. Little T, Joshy G, Aidan, Hunter P, Wolfe, Hacker, Otto, and Jacinto. That group worked well and stayed away. In the end, Little T escaped very early on, but got swallowed up before the finale, letting Hacker and Jacinto duke out the final bit.

      Back in the peleton, as the peleton barreled thru the Cook Hill rd intersection, there was a some weird braking, some overreaction to it, and a touch of wheels. Down went CXChris (?), Knee High Tri Guy Scott, Gregg F and one or 2 others. Everyone was pretty much ok. Maybe someone will fill in some details regarding the crash.

Other then that, it was a good ride. Fast Fast Fast thanks to the new faces. A good way to perhaps end out the long loop. There is sure to be some discussion as to whether or not do one more week or switch to the short loop. Check back here on Tuesday to find out.