Tuesday the 24th

The 1 Percenter's power increases even on the SG Ride....    

      The tailwind got everyone going out of the parking lot. What goes around comes around though and the turnaround would be met with just as much or a response. Off route 10 there were a group of guys bent on making it fast early on. Hacker, Eric M, Jacinto, a couple of Yalies, Neumotion, Todd H, and probably Chris C as well. It stayed fast going thru the rough sections and up thru the next corner of two. Hacker doing most of the pacemaking... Good to see Larry Legend Merling up there as well. Bad to see an idiot driver try to pass 50 bike riders going over the speed limit.

      Gaps started to open up on the run-in to Mountain Rd. Couple of guys sat up and suddenly there was a good group up the road. Hacker, Special Ed, Todd H, Hunter P, YelleSnoop!, Chris C, DJ Dan,Todd H, Eric M, Larry M, and a CVC rider with square rim glasses ….(Jeremy Brazeal ??? ). The group went to work, hammering up the initial steps of Mountain road, pulling the gap up to a couple football fields or so. Back in the peleton, it was Condition-1 thruout the fleet as everyone realized the break was looking strong and the tailwind was only going to get the speed so high. In the panic, the front of the chase was anything but organized. The ponies that wanted to be up the road starting thinking only of themselves. Splintering ensued with Guido, Jacinto, Little T, Rondo and a couple of others all trying to bridge the gap at various points on Mountain Road but falling up short. Towards the end of Mountain Rd with the gap slowly coming down but still nearly 100 meters, Nuemotion and the Yalie with the “Team Handlebar”shorts ( Ian Forsyth ) bridged the gap. A red light at route 68 sealed the deal though and brought it all together. One of these weeks someone is going to hit the lottery and sneak thru that light.

     Onto Moss Farms where the IanForth and Hacker took off early on. Everyone was regrouping so they were given some slack. Shortly after, Dillon P, Nuemotion, and another Yalie rolled off to bridge. YelleSnoop also left the station, tho by then things were starting to get going again. The duo stayed off the front as Chris C and one other (?) also jumped up to make the gap but they couldn’t break free and by the hill up to Marion Ave, chase 1 was absorbed. The pace stayed high and Hacker and the Yalie were caught soon after. Coming up to the light on 322, Eric M and Mr Voss, Julio L stopped to fix a sliding seatpost. Mike McG also may have stopped. There was some debate on whether to wait and for a bit it seemed like the group was holding up. By the corner of Mount Vernon, that was distant memory though and it was game on again.

      Onto Mount Vernon where Todd H, CVC, Hacker, Special Ed, and Antonio D got things going. When Special Ed rolled off the front Chris C jumped up again to try to get off the front. He was joined by CVC, YelleSnoop, Hiunter P, DJ Dan and Nuemotion. The group didn’t get very far and it just served to speed things up nicely along with the tailwind. 28 mph average for the trip down Mount Vernon. As everyone set up for the false flat section a move was pretty much inevitable. Sure enough, Chris C, Special Ed, Jacinto, Guido, Hacker, and CVCJeremy went and quickly got a gap. Late to jump was Larry M but he would eventually get up there. With some teammates up the road and the peleton thinking now of the turnaround, the gap was allowed to go up. Jordan Lynn and Antonio D, teammates of NO ONE on Tuesday nights, started the chase soon after that and had MoMoney and DJ Dan up there for backup. That brought the gap down a bit. Close enough for YelleSnoop! and DJ Dan to try the jump across. Along for the ride was Hunter P. That brought the break to a stone's throw but by the corner for Welch the gap was going back up again. The chase had hit the group hard and gaps were everywhere, so once onto Welch there was no immediate push from the field.... Instead just a lot of re-grouping. The break, however, was going hard so it quickly became evident that the sprint would be up front. That didnt stop Chris Butler and on other (?) from trying to get across the gap. They were halfway there as Hacker jumped the group at the base of the hill. He hit the corner alone and was into the headwind. He went unchallenged to the line, scoring some “smart & strong” points and the 1^st long loop sprint of the season.

     Behind, the headwind smacked everyone like a veteran pimp. The rest of the break was mopped up and the speed dropped like a “Nibali”. On the backside, with Hacker's job done, it was gruppo compacto. Soon after, Little T would then have a dig, followed by another Crowle attack. Nonetheless, it stayed together all the way back over 322. Not too many guys wanted to get there hands dirty up front with the wind. Credit Guido, Special Ed, Dark Yalie Nick ( pure this week in his white kit ), Chris C, the re-joined Eric M, and Hacker with keeping the pace high into the wind heading to Peck Lane.

      More of the same once onto Route 10, solid pace but far from fast with the headwind... Things started to get interesting coming up to Stop n Shop when a couple of Yalies, Pescatore, and Jacinto started creeping off the front. Response was slow but no one was escaping completely off the front. That meant that anyone back 10 bikes was scrambling to close tiny gaps, not setting up for the sprint. DJ Dan was in a good spot and jumped with Eric M on his 6. DJ Dan gets this one on account of Eric M pulling a “Valverde”.

      There was traffic and red lights moving thru Cheshire. IanForth, CVC Jeremy, Rondo and a couple of others keeping the pace high. For the final kilo's, there was lots of shuffling and re-shuffling up front with most guys sitting in and not pulling (and the discrepancy between pulling and sitting in was huge). About a mile out DJ Dan got tired of it all and decided to drill it. He was joined by the German and Hacker. They created a brief (unintentional?) gap, but it served the purpose of thinning the front out a bit. Once the 3 of rotated off though the pace dramatically slowed and the 30 people sitting in all bunched at the front, making for another interesting finish. Props to Dillon P for a good save when he got bumped from the side in the final kilo. In the end it was Mike McG sneaking thru last minute and hitting the front with enough speed to hold it to the end. Up the hill John Gregory was first up the hill second week in row, beating out Hunter P and MoMoney... ( though not enough Money to buy a name-brand bike )

Good ride everyone!