Tuesday the 6th

The reluctant highlight of the week. The SG Ride!

     Just another Tuesday night right? Nope... It's SG time! And the weather is perfect for a bike ride. Smoke if you got em kids... And there was a good sized group out tonight for the throwdown. The ride had it all, chicks, dicks, guys too fast for the Special Olympics, squirrels, sledgehammers, and the occasional superhero. Let's get it on!
     You didn't need to be a genius to sense that something was up as the ride rolled up route 10. Subtle as a sphinx Chris B was at the front. So you know something was going on. Sure enough, pretty much once the ride took the left off route 10, Chris B hit it and took along a dude in a generic jersey. Maybe Nate from Amity? After a couple of moments, Hunter P was up there as well and those 3 started working up a gap. No one was about to let that roll though and by the nasty section on South Brooksvale, it was coming back together. Ciocci, Hacker, Mike McG Chris C, a couple of others chipped in to bring it back. From there the speed stayed higher than normal and got going even a bit more on Mountain Rd. A small group ( Special Ed, Chris C, Ralph A... Do we have a nick name for him yet? and a couple of others) worked their way off the front and were steam rolling a small gap but some big trucks in the road slowed everyone down and reset the peleton. Some guys still were looking to jet off thru the light (Little T, Hunter P) but it was red.
    Wreck-it Ralph was the only one to jump on Moss Farms and he was allowed a "send-a-real-warrior-to-our-gates" type gap. The CCB Toss-up was in attendance and in true strong man fashion, hit the front and didnt care to look back. Several others, as expected, responded and followed. Ralph was covered in a moment and for the rest of the way down Moss Farms and up the hill to Marion, the field was strung out with some very hard to cover gaps thrown in there. Probably about 10-15 riders got dropped and didn't have time to recover by the light on 322. Although an exception was made for a couple of riders as the field opted to pause a little bit past the light.
     The ride slowly got going again on Mount Vernon with no one putting any real attacks in. Everyone approached the now newly paved section like puppies and kittens.... Once the coast was clear it was ok to play again. Chris C jumped late, along with Hunter P but there was plently of guys to cover it. From there to the corner it was solid pace, with no attacks. Going thru the corner for Welch, Hacker was on the front and running. He got a gap pretty quickly and then Rhino-man, aka Bike Doctor, started off in pursuit. It took a few meters for the front of the peleton to sort itself out but once again, it was CCB up front leading the charge. Hacker would the hit the corner with maybe 20 meters on the field, next thru was Chris B, who would be the first to chase down the Professor. Behind it was a mix of Chris C, Julio L, Hunter P, Mike McG and the Giant of Provence... French Casey. Soon it was Hacker, Chris B, and French Casey up front as the sprinters strapped in. Hunter P led it out, going past the leaders with 100 meters to go. On his wheel was Little T, who came around in enough to time to take it home to the line. French Casey, riding like a man possesed, would briefly lead an attempt to get a gap on the backside but it was all together soon after.
     As the ride went by the light for Jude lane, Special Ed jumped off the line hard, taking along Wreck-it Ralph and Chris C. Those 2 snuck off on the downhill and quickly got a gap as no one chased for 20 seconds or so. The response would come eventually, and as the peleton reached the corner, the trio were sneaking thru the light there to get onto Atwater St. The field had to pause a bit there at then at the highway off ramp stop sign, letting the leaders get further up the way. They were working well together and had a solid 25 seconds by the highway underpass, where Guido jumped off the front, followed by Hunter P. That was enough to get a real chase going. The leaders were held up by the light on 322, and as they were getting thru it, the front handful of riders from the peleton also barged thru. It was decided to wait and so the leaders soft-pedaled until the rest came up on Peck Ln. No attacks there to the turn for Route 10.
    The pace stayed fast up the hill past Cheshire Park. Hacker was leading a charge off the front along with Mike McG, Tall Dennis, Rory D and a couple of others. Again it was CCB drilling it back. Heading into the sprint, the new building across from the police station has set a new pattern for the traffic light there. It was red as the field plowed into it, forcing the front half to slow way down and pretty much negate the sprinting action. Little T still took it to the line but the light really messed things up. It remains to be seen if this light will be red more than it is green and if so, the Stop n Shop sprint will never be the same.
     Heading thru the center of Cheshire, there was plenty of guys who were looking to try and sneak off. Rory D, Ralph, Hunter P, The Gibertoni etc. Once all that blunderbuss got over with it was back to serious riding to get into Hamden. The usual suspects were up there. Credit the ladies on the ride Sarah (and Karen?) for both making it up there when it got going fast. They've been killing it lately! Guido put the icing on the cake, allowing for a few guys to try to snag the last line, Hacker and Little T foremost. Little T gets this one as well. Up the hill went the usual handful of guys. Hunter P took it over Chris B.

Solid ride one and all... Keep working on building up the cajones....chutzpah....fegato.... Whatever you want to call it...... And we'll all have some good rides to look forward to.