Tuesday the 26th

The Rattlesnake Ride.... It'll bitecha!

    The year of injuries continues....Everyone was bummed to hear in the parking lot how Robyn's fall was as bad as it was imagined. Broken C-bone and lots of cuts and bruises. Robyn, if you are reading this, Everyone hopes you feel better real soon and get back out there not much later then that.( Congrats for what it's worth on a good women's race )
    The ride started out real mello this week. There was a stiff headwind coming in from the west \ north which seemed to dampen everyone's spirits. Tall Dennis and VQ Rob got things going along wth Timmy Nice-a-new-bike Ratta. Even so, there were no real attacks all the way to route 68. A new guy from Amity bikes tried to get off the front but that was short-lived. The trip down Mountain Rd was slower than usual. Seemed like everyone saw the front on the way to the light.
    Once onto Moss Farms, it picked up a bit with Ratta and MTB Owen up front picking up the pace. The headwind was making some guys a bit dodgy out there and it was far from smooth pretty much wherever you were in the bunch. Ratta tried to tear a couple of guys off the front leading into the Chicane but a car at the intersection stopped them, allowing Ciocci and Hunter P to sneak thru and start in toward the hill first. They had a bit of gap that OttoVan Gaul ( good to see him stateside ), the Full Nalini and a couple of others closed down. The pace was still high going onto Marion but no one sent out to really put everyone on the rivet. After a brief slow-down Ratta got it going again again leading to an attack from Hunter P which also brought Mike McG off the front, but those 2 couldnt get it going and it was all together heading into the light. A few Zanes guys, Ratta and one of 2 others rode thru the turning light but elected to sit up and wait. From there the pace was decent going down Mount Vernon. Nothing to brag about though. Ratta, MoMoney, Luekens, Nalini, The Sernyak, and others leading the way. On the false flat section Hunter P rode off the front near the top, taking along Gregg F. Those 2 worked up a brief gap that lasted for a couple of kilo's. Bridging up to them was Yahor from CCB, and Neumotion, but by then the peleton was bearing down and it was back all together soon after. No counter attacks though and it was all together leading into the turnaround.
    Luekens broke out of jail on Welch, heading up the road toward West St. Joe K and MTB Owen set out after him and were just about getting up to Luekens' wheel by the base of the hill. Behind a small group was  barely riding off the front of the rest. Traffic at corner forced everyone thru a bottleneck, slowing down everyone but the front 6 or so. Then a near crash between a couple of guys going thru the corner slowed it down even more, letting that gap go up to the front 7 or 8... Who had now caught the leading trio. Mike McG led out Eric M for the prize, fighting past Chris B and Ratta. On the descent it all re-grouped. Chris B made it thru a light near I84 fair and square as the rest of the pack had to wait. Chris B needs only an inch and he had way more then that so he was all in for the night. Once the pack resumed, Eric m, Todd H, and the Mountain Man rode off the front as everyone else went into lazy mode. No one was chasing and the trio were free to track down Chris B. Only till the underpass did Ratta move up to the front and spur a tempo increase but that was brief as the light going back over 322 was red. Ratta stayed on past that, riding off the front heading onto Peck Ln. Nuemotion, MTB Owen and Dillon P bridged up but by then the pack was bearing down. Up the road the 3 chasers were working well together and had Chris C in the sights. It would take a little while but they finally latched on past the hill by Cheshire Park on Route 10. From there the leading 4 were not going to be caught as they now had a decent tailwind to bring them back into Hamden. Eric M took the Stop n Shop sprint and behind more red lights slowed down the peleton. Todd H would get hit with a flat in Cheshire and had to peel off. The remaining 3 rode back into Hamden together. Chris B took the final prize on the Shepard Ave climb over Mountain man as Eric M was content to get to the corner first.