Tuesday the 13th

The SG ride... Maybe the most unselfish thing you’ll do all week!

   The usual crowd + some not so usual faces were out for the ride tonight. The most eventful part of the start  to this week’s ride was the motorbike rider who was hanging around repeatedly. It didn’t look like Tall John on a nice new touring moto but who knows. Maybe someone can fill us in. Anyway, with the temptation to draft in a couple of places, there were more than a couple of guys looking to snooker the bunch behind the engine. Nothing came of it though.

    The first real move happened and Chris C split a group of 5 off as the ride sped toward Mountain Rd. Once Guido got up to ride across, the rest of the ride responded and it was all together making the turn onto MTN. Hunter P attacked up the hill but was alone and with Chris C chasing hard up the first risers, didn’t stay out there too long. From there the ride was all together to the light, which was green, allowing all through. The lack of a break would spell a bit of trouble for some riders in the back who would go on to get unhitched later on Moss Farms.

     Back in the pack, Hacker used the green light to get a jump on the bunch. He rolled off a bit of a gap before Chris C jumped in pursuit. Then Keith Mullaly (who may or may not have finished 3^rd at the rent the week before) also jumped to bridge the gap. Neither chasers were making up much ground on Hacker, who was using the tailwind to set down a pretty vicious tempo. After a bit, Hunter P and Mike G jumped hard, going by and collecting the 2 chasers on their way to Hacker. Young Mullaly couldn’t cut it and dropped back leaving 4 up the road. That group went thru the chicane with a solid 6 or 7 seconds on the pack. From the back, Nuemotion came flying up and thru all to get to the lead group before the riser to Marion. After the corner, the gap started coming down and by the turn for the short loop it was all back together. Hacker and Chris C would keep on it though but they would again be corralled before heading over 84. Little T countered with a good attack that send him off the front in chase of green light on 322. It indeed turned to green as the ride came up to it, but by then it was gruppo compacto. The only one who really used the chance to keep the attacks/surges going was The Sernyak. He split off the front for a quick bit but was brought back by the corner onto Mount Vernon.  

    From there the next to go was Sasha from CCB and Hacker. Those 2 hit the front hard and got a gap of 70 meters or so before the rest started to wind it up. The 2 up the road, benefiting from the tailwind, kept up a good pace that made pack cohesion start to wither. The crappy roads didn’t help the chase and the 2 up front stayed out there all the way to the false flat section. There was lot’s of gaps opening up in the chase as the riser came up but then the gas ran out up front. As Hacker and CCB sat up, the rest took the cue and also slowed down, probably more out of necessity than laziness.

     The Sernyak kept on it though, as did Tall Dennis. The Sernyak gets the “most combative award” for the night as he managed to stay out there all the way to the corner for Welch. The chase behind wasn’t full gas, but was decent, especially as the corner came up. Credit Rory D, Julio L, Chris C and Hutner P with last minute pulls to get the field going again. Hunter P led it out on Welch, followed up by Chris C and a couple of others. The speed was high for the whole stretch of the road, but not so high that Hacker couldn’t attack and find daylight. He took along Ben Bruce as well and those 2 rolled thru the corner with 15 seconds or so. Behind, Nuemotion, Chris C, Jacinto, Hunter P, Little T and maybe 1 more were quick to drill it. That made for a chase group of 6 that was quickly pushed back by the wind. The gap to the leaders came down, but then it went up as it was evident that whoever sprinted from the front 2 would be able to get it. Instead, Hacker and Bruce just stayed on the gas and Ben Bruce ended up rolling thru first without a contest from his more aero-helmeted companion.

        On the backside, there was some effort to roll away, but red lights allowed all to catch back on. From there, the ride back was uneventful with the headwind. Jacinto and The Sernyak again tried to get away by the highway but that was brief. Once on Peck Ln after crossing 322 again, Guido would attack, but traffic at the intersection there stopped that. From there, it was mostly everyone just sharing the workload into the wind back onto and up Route 10.

       For the Stop n Sprint, red lights caused a bit of a cluster funch for the run-in. There was about 8 guys in a group all in a position to slowly sprint for it. Little T jumped out halfway up the hill to take it from Nuemotion and Jacinto. From there, back into Hamden, the ride was fast as the headwind seemed to stop being such a nuisance. For the final 500 meters, again, there was a crowd in place to go for it. Little T again rolled away with a final surge that no one was able to answer.

Great ride everyone! Lot’s of “let’s keep it fast because it’s better fast” riding out there!