Tuesday the 21st

The rain held off!

     Southerly winds kept the rain up north but didn't help get the ride get going any faster than normal. Nothing really happened for the opening 20 minutes tonight. The pace was decent but all-together a bit boring as everyone seemed to be taking their time adjusting to the heat. Better get used to it, we're stuck with it for a while y'all.
    Fast forward through the backroads... The only notable was Larry M taking a flyer that he held for most of the way to Mountain Rd. No one seemed to be in much of a hurry to catch and he was rolling with the punches and not really caring to stay away much either. The trip down Mountain was quick and there was no one, 2 or even 3 specific riders going above or beyond.
   Onto Moss Farms where a small group ( Dillon P, Dana R, Nuemotion, Thomaas B, Timmy Hip, The Sernyak, and maybe one or 2 others) was allowed to ride off the front. Again, the response was lethargic and slow. The lead group had broken down to just Nuemotion and Timmy Hip by the hill up to Marion. Just as Nuemotion was jumping off the front of that, going thru the corner alone, Hunter P jumped hard off the front of the field and joined up with him soon after, making for the first "maybe-we-should-take-this-seriously" break of the day. Even still, the response was a bit slow and the 2 leaders quickly got a gap of about 50-60 meters.
    Approaching the corner for the short loop, as the field was bearing down, the 2 leaders blew by a slow moving tractor and collected the dickwad move of the night award. Unbeknownst to them, the field was close behind and naturally, had more trouble getting thru the 3 feet between said farming device and the yellow center lines. It allowed for a little more life to the break and an opportunity for opportunistic bridge attempts. Young Suto and Special Ed were up to the task and quickly made their way up. It soon became just Special Ed, being chased by Hunter P and Young Suto, but it was all for naught as the light at 322 was red.
    Once onto Mount Vernon, the action subsided again and it was status quo up-till about 500 meters before the false flat section. There is where Mike McG turned up the heat. Mike still puts the booties in the seats as it were as plenty of guys took note and bought tickets to the show. It became Mike McG, Chris C, the new guy on the Red Specialized ( for the love of a saddle-sore-free-taint, someone please get a name on that guy - Rusty Dave! thx), Hunter P and maybe 2 more charging up the false flat. That surge turned into a decent looking break by Chris C, Mike McG and Joe K, who shuffle-stepped his way into the move. That was allowed some room as Cheshire Cycle riders came up and rode some defense. It took some strong jumps from a new Central Wheel rider, The Full Nalini and Timmy Hip to start the process of regrouping. That turned into a brief exodus off the front by Jordan Lynn and Special Ed but they must not have felt good about the cards they were holding as they throttled back well before the turn onto Welch.
    Gruppo Compacto heading toward the turnaround and boy-oh-boy was it slow. That gave plenty of guys a chance to jump when Chris C, Little T, Larry M and Jacinto took off toward the corner. Their prize for getting there first was a solid smack in the face by the headwind now popping a stiffy. That let even more guys get on board for a run to the sprint line. But the cream always rises to the top folks. It soon become a 3 horse race ( Little T, Jacinto, and Joe K ) with Little T easily taking it after Jacinto was stuck in the front too soon, too far out. Behind, Larry M got stuck in no-mans land and The Full Nalini led the peleton over the crest of the hill.
   Joe K kept up the assault on the backside and got a light in his favor initially, but then was slowed by a red light, but then jumped up off the front anyway and then got another light in his favor. He rolled off the front, but in proper gentlemanly style, didn't really hit it until after the turn onto Atwater St. Once he did, he was gone out of sight. A few riders started up the pace behind. Young Suto, New specialized guy Rusty Joe, Pescatore, Thomaas B etc. Hunter P jumped hard off up the front as the ride went underneath the overpass and was allowed to go free. He would come up to Joe K waiting at the red light on 322 just as it was turning green. Behind the field was starting to chase back and this is where it gets interesting.
   There was a group of about 8 or 9 with a slight gap who pushed it at the last moment when it was apparent the light was green. That surge was enough to create a gap to the peleton that forced them ( rightly so ) to stop at the light which was, by now, red. Did a couple guys go thru a red light? Yep. Were they following guys who went under a yellow light? Yep. This group was made up of Both elder and young Suto, A new yalie, Dillon P, Mountain Man, Thomaas B, The Sernyak, Central Wheel, The Full Nalini, New guy on a Calfee, and maybe one or 2 others. When they caught up to Joe K and Hunter P it completed the group that would stay away for the rest of the ride.
    For the remainder of the night, up front, the Stop n Shop sprint was contested by Dillon P and Young Suto with the Youngster clawing a bit longer at the pedals to get there first for a well deserved win. During the run-in to Hamden, the shenanigans started with Hunter P and Young Suto trying to break the field up with The Full Nalini and Central Wheel sewing things back up in time for the sit n sprint. Young Suto opened that up, with The Full Nalini giving chase. Hunter P rolled thru though and got to the corner first. Up the hill went only a couple from the break, with Mountain Man gettin to the top first with little problem.