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!
