Tuesday the 30th

Long loop or die

    Glorious glorious day. Perfect weather AND the return of Hacker. Although he brought back one of those "euro" helmets and like the girl that developed before everyone else in 6th grade, the boys didn't quite know how to deal with it today. Pretty soon surely everyone is going to want cup a feel. At any rate, the ride rolled out amidst murmurs of how the peleton was going to deal with the worsening situation on Mount Vernon rd.
The usual doods and a new BMC pushed the pace thru the backroads and with little regard for safety, the ride blew thru the crap road section... Flat #1 on the day. ( hope everyone was invested in petrochemicals and\or rubber producing heavy industry ).
    Onto Mountain rd where there was some brief gaps opened up, mostly at the behest of Hacker, but it stayed together. The pace stayed high all the way to route 68 with Ciocci peeking out and looking to snooker the light. Little T followed suit but low n behold, the light was green, allowing everyone thru. Hunter P jetted off the front and onto Moss Farms with a gap. Road work there made it slow for the field, fast for the leaders. Max from CVC rolled off in pursuit, taking along Young Suto. They got up there with Hunter P and with another group ( Chris C, Ciocci, Hacker, Nuemotion and one or 2 others ) making the bridge up to the trio. That made for a pretty solid group charging toward the chicane. Behind the peleton was ramping up and not allowing much room. Little T, Guido, Joe K, Bike Doctor, and even a couple of new faces chipped in helped limit the losses. By the road up to Marion it was all back together. Little T jumped on the rider there, taking along Chris C and Ciocci. That trio held a gap for a little while but by the turn for the short loop, it was all back together and the field was given a chance to regroup before the light on 322.
    As soon as that light went green, Chris C and Joe K took off. Response was slow at first as the field become obviously more concerned with the road conditions up ahead. That allowed for the 2 to build up a quick gap. One team that was missing the front spotlight was Central Wheel. Rory D and Ralph Rouleur took off to bridge the gap. The speed got going eventually in the peleton, erasing the Central Wheel advantage. The gap to Chris C and Joe K would take longer to peg back and it was the construction on the false flat that ended their run. Rory D would be hit with an immediate flat and right away guys ( and girls ) were stumbling to their feet in the new gravel layer. It made for a long slog thru the section. At least 4 flats during the gravel and one right after. The peleton would end up soft pedaling for a mile or so as it took some riders much longer to get thru the gravel and no one wanted to be guilty of leaving those behind right away. Even still, a couple of riders resorted to taking a shortcut. Needless to say, there will be real protest next week if the road hasn't been repaved by then.
    The ride got going about half a mile out from the corner to Welch. Everyone picked up tempo without too much fuss and it was Ralph A taking up the pace making for the first sections. Joe k followed it up for the 2nd half, giving Little T a good launchpad. His jump was quick enough to get a gap at first but soon Hacker was on it with Chris C on his wheel, only a few bikes behind Little T. It soon became a 2 horse race to the line with Little T getting over the top of Hacker at the very end. Those 2 stayed on it but it was all together soon afterward.
    The pace stayed crisp all the way back over 322 and up peck. No one put in any real attacks. Getting close to Route 10, action ensued when Hacker attacked right into the corner (crit racing 101 ). The attitude and response to that move was "metered" at best. Admittedly it did look quite dangerous although the Professor certainly had damage control worked out well before the corner. Some words of disapproval waved through the pack. Hacker used the chance and kept the gap going up the hill past the prison, despite a few guys putting in some solid pulls up front. A small group loyal to the principles of Animated Riding / Attacking Style made their way off the front with Hacker but inexplicably the lights went out of that move ( at a red light ) before the Stop n Shop sprint. ( remorse perhaps??? Naaaaaah ). The start back up to speed for the sprint was labored. A bunch of guys used the opportunity to show their claws.... Mike McG, The Sernyak, The Full Nalini etc. It was all playing-cards to Little T, who video-gamed his way off the front and up the hill in plenty of time to take the sprint.
     The ride thru Cheshire was made interesting by a couple of yellow lights, and the guys who sped thru them. Still, it was all together into Hamden at an ok pace. Guido took the reins with a click and a half left and powered off the front, taking along Hacker and the Sernyak. He shot them off on their own with a bit of a gap but the field was revving up and getting ready for the finale. Mike McG and Dillon P emptied the tanks and that was followed up by strong pulls from Chappy and Todd H. Someone is going to have to fill in the blanks as for who took the sit n sprint.

Good ride everyone! Kinda..... Thanks for being good sports!