Tuesday the 17th

Hondurains? Hondurasites? Hondurans!

     Hot and humid for the ride tonight. It seemed to slow things down overall a bit. 2 guys that weren't waiting for the heat were Jordan L and The Sernyak. Those 2 took off pretty much right awat off route 10. They got a bit of a gap before Chris C jumped to cover. Then Cristiano, the new guy, originally from the South American capital of fire road mountain bike racing, Honduras, jumped up and quickly bridged the gap. The multiple corners at the very first parts of the ride allowed the lead group to get an advantage while the peleton was sorting themselves out. Ben Bruce took up the early chase. Jacinto and Hunter P as well. Traffic in a corner slowed the leaders down and gave every one a chance to recollect. Jordan L stayed on it though but once the gap was closed, no one was allowing another one to develop.

      Cristiano stayed up front for most of the way towards route 68\70. The speed was good as there were others to pitch in with the pacing. Gregg F looked to sneak off the front as the light came up but he didn't get too far. The Sernyak was back up and off the front on Moss Farms, and once again, Cristiano jumped hard to cover the gap once it was semi-established. This time guys were attentive and so there were plenty of bodies to fill the gaps.

       After the chicane, Chris C and Ciocci led a group of guys up to Marion but it wasn't enough to create a meaningful gap. Jordan L tried once again to ride of the front as the pack went by the industrial park but the speed was constant and it stayed together all the way to the green (!) light over 322.

Onto Mount Vernon were a bunch of gus tried to push their way off the front. A group of about 5, anchored by Cristiano, Chris C, Jordan L and one other ERRACE guy had a brief gap, but Silent Steve, Tall Dennis, Todd H, Mike McG, Ben Bruce, his twin on the Calfee, and a couple of others chipped in to close the gap down. That led to gruppo compacto heading up the false flat. No one attacked and so the pace stayed high from there all the way to the corner on Welch.

Early on Welch, Chris C and Jordan L were sneaking their way up front, but no one threw down anything so it stayed together the entire run into the corner. Everyone was no doubt in anticipation of a pretty kickn headwind once the ride went south. Once on the hill before the corner, Ciocci was the first to give it a real dig, followed by Chris C and Ben Bruce and then a bunch of others. Chris C and Ben Bruce would stay on the throttle well through the corner, and they had the gap to the very end. Jacinto was the only one to try to sprint-bridge across it but it was too far to run. Up front, Ben Bruce was the first to jump for the sprint but Chris C stayed with it and was able to come around in time for the line.

      The ride downhill was uneventful. Tall Dennis gave it a dig after the zigzag intersection at the end of West st but he didn’t get very far off the front. Going under the highway, Rob Dux, Jordan L and one other attacked and got a gap that they would hold to the light. It was red though and that gave all else a chance to get back on, or else it very well have been lights out for the chase.

      Peck Lane was steady and quick... No attacks. Chris C tried a dig at the end, and it did result in gap, but once Cristiano, and then Mike McG, flew across it, all others responded and it was brought back in time for the corner on route 10. No incidents heading up to the stop n sprint. Chris C tried a couple of times to get off the front but with Cristiano just kind of riding hard tempo up front, the pack had wheels to follow up to the front. For the run into the sprint, Todd H led out the front of the pack, with Mike McG taking over and keeping the speed high. Hunter P jumped off his wheel for the long sprint to the top of the hill. A couple of guys tried to jump late but only Jacinto was able to make up the gap. He came from quite a ways back and it was neck and neck at the top. Hunter P got to the white line first with Jacinto's momentum taking him under the light ahead of everyone else.

       The usual characters tried ( unsuccessfully) to get off the front going thru Cheshire. Instead the speed stayed high despite the headwind and for the final 500 meters, after Tall Dennis and Ben Bruce burned their last matches, it was The Full Nalini taking it to the corner ahead of 2 or 3 chasers.

      

      Phew! Where's my beer???