A slightly smallish field for the night. New Yalie faces ( girls and boys ) which was nice as it was thought that once done with school for the year, they all would have something much better to do with their time then ride fast in a dangerous group of guys who were either:
A) Looking to kill time before the next race…. Or
B) Riding like this IS the race.
No one was that surprised when Chris ( every ride is a race! ) C scampered off right off route 10. Guido was the next to go, taking Hunter P with him. Then Timmy the Hipster rode across along with John Pescatore and a Yalie ( name? ). Initially it wasn’t smooth sailing for the group but after a couple of corners things were starting to click. Behind, it took a little while but soon the response to the threat up the road was real. Nuemotion, Mike McG and Jacinto were all up there fighting to cover the gap. Tall John and Todd H were up there as well. By the corner onto Mountain Rd, it was all back together again. Little T, Hunter P, Chris C and Timmy Hip would push the pace up mountain rd for a bit but it was all together for the long run to the light.
There was some stacked up traffic on the main road after the light, making for some awkwardness. The front 15 guys rolled thru easily and got a bit of a headstart onto Moss Farms. Todd H rode across the gap taking a couple of guys and that was enough to string it all back together. It was strung out for the chicane but no one took advantage of the opportunity. Chris C jumped hard on the hill up to Marion, taking along Hunter P, who took over after the corner. That was enough to get a substantial gap on the rest. Guido charged across it, along with Ciocci ( ? ) and Young Suto but the peleton was having none of it and it was all together again soon after. Hunter P would try to get a gap before the light but that didn’t go very far either with the light red.
Once onto Mount Vernon, Chris C was back up at the front, looking a little ansty, he had Thomaas B up there and a couple of others, but it was all together up till the false flat. The pace there was solid despite the road work construction mystery bag. Guido was the last up front as the hill ended and he used the opportunity to get a gap. He took along Nuemotion, Chris C, Hunter P, Young Suto and maybe a couple more but that move as well……… Didn’t last long.
The usual slowing down before Welch occurred. The field was down to maybe 25 guys by this point. Robyn, Rondo and a couple other riders slowed down when a dog was getting a little too aggressive back by the route 322 crossing. They got gapped and didn’t make it back until taking a shortcut to head south. Back up front as the field made its way up to the turnaround, guys were getting less and less daring as the corner came up. Chris C was the first to jump from a long line of the usual suspects…. No surprises here today. Chris C, first onto West St followed by Little T, Mike McG, Ciocci, Hunter P and Jacinto. Chris led out the front, now down a couple of guys due to a car in the corner, for half the drag to the sprint. Little T assumed the role of final leadout, depositing Mike McG and Hunter P with a great gap on the rest. Hunter jumped first and took it easily.
On the backside Tall John was the first to decide to push the tempo on the fragmented field. He took along Chris C, Rustic Dave and John Pescatore (?). That group caught a light by the I84 interchange and that was all they needed. The field behind got caught by a couple of lights and that was that.
Props to the group up the road who stayed away for the year's first solid breakaway right?. Chris C was able to get the Stop n Shop and herd the cats all the way back into Hamden where there was no one clear guy going for the sit n sprint cause they were all winners by that point.
Behind the field would ride the normal ride.... Pretty much unaware that the group was well past them going back over 322.
Good ride everyone. Maybe one magical day a breakaway will succeed based on horsepower alone and not on a roll of the traffic-light dice.
15 comments:
Jacinto got to the white line on the road first with Little T getting under the light first.....
You mean 5th
To be fair, Tall John went through the light when it was green. The other three . . . .
Tall Dennis
Dennis,
You know what they say about tattle tails???
Chris C.
To make it clear, "Tall Dennis" should be renamed to "Kind-of-Tall Dennis".
Signed,
The original "Tall" John
I'm coming next week and when I do you will all learn the real meaning of creating a "gap!"
I'm an amazon on a mission.
( :
1) What do they say about tattle tales, Chris? And why would you ask? :-)
2) I didn't give myself that nickname, and I happily admit that you are taller than me!
3) On a completely different note, here is an (old) blog posting about group riding that may be of interest:
http://www.bikelaw.com/blog/lost-art-of-the-group-ride/
KoTDennis
Yes, with a little red light assistance, we were able to get clear, but with the combined age of our little group at 190yrs (assuming that the Devils Gear guy was at least 40), I'll take whatever help I can get at this point.
Chris C.
Great Read Dennis!!!!! Lessons we could all use.
Chris C.
I personally think that a discussion 'break away up the road or not' misses the point. Instead, maybe it would serve the ride better if for a moment we revisited one of the essential conversation we seem to have every year: what to do about a red light?
The thing is, we all have run a light here and there. And I am by no means holier than holy. But there are ok lights (some in Cheshire for instance) and then there are really bad lights. The highway exit ramp on Tuesday no question belongs to the latter. There were a dozen cars lined up in two lanes about to start, including a large 18 wheeler. John had a good momentum and went through on bright green. No problem. But the chasing peloton approached the light AT RED. It wasn't turning on us, it WAS red. The front 3 or 4 guys slowed down and THEN crossed it. This is as bad a move as can get. If it wasn't for Mike and some other reasonable voices calling for a stop, the whole peloton would have crossed disregarding the pressing traffic. My point is that it's one thing for a rider to run a light, or a small group. But it's another dimension when you are at the front of a large group. Then, in addition to working hard for a good pace, you also carry responsibility. Chris, you are one of the longtime veterans and animators of the ride and I know for sure that you would think the same way if you had seen the same scenario with our eyes.
We, the SG veterans and riders at the front, need to be aware that every year there are new faces joining the ride and if we don't set good examples but instead foster risky moves, the ride dynamic can easily spoil. We had plenty of close calls, we don't need more.
G
Whoa, hold on there a min. The three of us chasing, from what I could tell looking back, had a gap. We ran the light at almost 30MPH. At the time it seemed safer to run the light at speed than to lock up the breaks and have Dave and the Devils Gear guy plow into me, however I would not have run the light if there were 50 guys on my wheel. The light was red when we went through but just red. It was yellow right up to the time we hit it. I'm not saying it was the smartest thing to do, but at almost 30MPH, I think it was the best option at the time.
Chris C.
Nice weather we're having lately....
What does this mean?
.....Maybe one magical day a breakaway will succeed based on horsepower alone and not on a roll of the traffic-light dice.....
Nice weather we'er having lately
Well put, Guido.
Dennis
There are no red lights at TheRent, maybe you all should take a fieldtrip to test your horsepower without the excuses of red lights and dogs..... or just find a parking lot in cheshire and ride around in circles....
LoL, TheRent
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