Tuesday the 2nd

Who's schooling who?

The Sleeping Giant Ride rolled into its 2nd proper week with a vengeance. The winds were pouring in from every ol direction which made for some interesting opening miles. As soon as the ride turned off route Chris C was the first to jump, taking along Hunter P, Mike McG and a couple of others. The Yalies were out again, 3 or 4 of them depending on who you ask and if riding a CX bike matters to you. Early gaps started to form when the Yalies ( White Cervelo? White\blk Specialized? Names? ) would punch it after chasing down repeated pedal molesting attempts from Chris C. Def a few guys getting spit out on the run into Mountain Rd….. And it wasn’t even getting started yet.
    Once onto Mountain Rd, Chris C hit it hard again, taking with him Hunter P, the Full Nalini and the Yalies on the White Cervelo. That 4 got a gap that stuck for a little while and looked like it could take more but lack of team work let the peleton catch back with enough time to reshuffle the deck before the light.
    After the light, onto Moss Farms, Chris C hit it again, this time with Thomaas B and 2 Yalies. That group would also get a bit of a gap before being joined by The Gilbertoni, making it 5 heading into the Chicane. It would all come back together on the rise toward Marion as the other Chris ( Butler ), Mike McG and Hunter P sewed things back up. Chris B and Hunter P would try to tear off a new gap but no one was having it and it was all together heading into the industrial park. The New Haveners were still at it, trying to ride away ( sometimes down the wrong road ) and in the process, keeping the pace high as everyone was doing battle with the wind.
    Once onto West Johnson. Chris C would try again to get things going but it stayed together all the way up to Reinhard. White\blk Specialized was one of the first ones to get the sprint going along with Steve Grey ( Gray…. Whichever ). It was all soon an after thought though as Little T and Hunter P were winding it up and lighting it up. T started it with Hunter P right there and in position to come around with room to spare. On the backside, Chris B tried to sneak away on the lead-in to Peck lane, but there was plenty of bodies to pick up the slack. Up the way on Peck, a small group mashed its way of fthe front ( Yalies, Steve G, Mike McG, Todd H, Chris C, etc ) but Silent Steve, Hunter P, the Full Nalini were there to wrap it all back up by the turn onto Route 10. Chris C, Todd H, and a couple others kept it going on route 10 and there were some more small gaps that opened and needed covering. A red light before the run-in to the sprint stopped all. Well actually, 2 guys ( who usually don’t need headstarts to get gaps ) jumped the red light and got the old “Disqualified” cause of it. When the light went green, Thomaas B, Jacinto, a dude on a CX bike with tires that embarrassed the rest of us, and a Yalies or 2 jumped right on it. Even thought the peleton was pretty quick to get moving again, the group was quicker, and getting farther up the road. Jacinto jumped from his spot as the others were getting redlined and took the Stop n Shop sprint uncontested.
    From there, back into Hamden, the group had to stop at nearly every light, which made for an uneventful end. The last kilo was all Nalini and White Cervelo, as the 2 duked it out with the Full Nalini getting the last laugh. No one of note when up the hill for the real man’s finish.

Great ride everyone! Let’s be even sneakier and faster next week!