Tuesday the 8th

Where real cycling stars are made... Forget about winning actual USAC races!

   The storms held off! The heat did not! Great to see good crowd out despite the threat of rain. Everyone played nice (sort of) on the route 10 construction zone. Big thanks to the police officer who let us all right thru separate from the cars. Once off the main road, Jeff Weaver started the fast riding with a move off the front he held until the crap road section. A small group of guys behind, headed up by Joe K and Dillon P, also briefly broke free in pursuit. Once guys like Nuemotion, Silverback Randy, Hacker and Mike McG moved up thru and to the front to help things along, it all came back together quickly. Hacker tried to get away a couple of times, at one instance getting off the front with The Sernyak and one other but corners and traffic slowed them down.
    Onto Mountain Rd, where a car in the intersection forced all way around the corner... The front riders took that as a sign to slow down and take those initial rizers easy.... Gregg F was allowed to go clear but once the group got going again, it was all together and fast to the light. Hacker and Nuemotion hit Moss Farms hard but they were kept on a short lease by Rob Dux, CCB Sasha, Chris C, Mike McG and a couple of others. The field was strung out but most had assistance hanging on, thank to the pretty strong tailwind. Hacker and Nuemotion were caught but Hacker kept on the attack. In the ensuing re-shuffle, a group got off the front and charged hard into the Chicane.... Mike McG, Chris C, Hacker, Hunter P, Nuemotion, The Sernyak and maybe one other. The group fell apart as Hunter P rolled away going up the hill to Marion. The catch of all was made soon after. Hunter P rolled off the front again going over the highway, but no one else made the jump, leaving him to dangle out there before the light on 322.
    The light was green again which made for a quick trip onto Mount Vernon.... But no real attacks. The tailwind was whipping and the speed was high all the way down Mount Vernon. Only a slight slowdown on the false flat, which gave most a chance to recollect and get ready for the final fast push to the corner. Over 27mph for an average for the first half of the ride, assisted by the tailwind...
    Joe K attacked in the final few hundred meters before the corner, but there was enough get up and go from riders (College ST and Yalies predominantly) to corral Joe pretty quickly. That led to a small group off the front with a slight gap... Behind most of the chasing field went into Cat5 mode as the tailwind disappeared and seemed to become like a cross wind from northern France. Riders were all over the place. A couple guys made it across the gap but just as soon as the leaders (Hacker, Joe K, Rob Dux, Chris C, CCB, Nuemotion, Little T, The Sernyak) went free, they pulled the ripcord and came back to the field. The bombs kept going off in the field heading up the hill and thru the corner.
   4 or 5 riders stayed on the throttle despite the strong headwind (Hacker, Nuemotion, Mike McG, Chris C) and went clear. Behind, the new (yalie?) rider from Cornell led a small group in an attempt to bridge/catch but with Chris C and Mike McG going hard into the wind, the leaders would stay out in front. Hacker and Nuemotion were left to sprint it out. It went down to the wire with Nuemotion getting it by a thin margin.
    The group came together and attempted a further push off the front but lights kept that from materializing. The ride back into Cheshire was uneventful. Guido tried to ride off the front with Special Ed going up the hill under the highway, someone nearly got their head taken off by going over the yellow lines on the first section of Peck ln, and Hunter P tired unsuccesfully again to get oof the front later on the uphill section of Peck.
    Once onto Route 10, it got downright leisurely into the wind for a few moments. Thankfully that didnt last long as the usual suspects came up and started rolling again. Lights before the sprint slowed it down but once thru, it was Little T jumping up ahead of the other sprinters to get it. A quiet, but quick ride back into Hamden was made interesteding by CCB Sasha rolling off the front with The Sernyak and the new Yalie rider on the alloy Trek (name?).... A+ for effort for that group but it would be eventually brought back. In the re-shuffle, Guido charged off the front and nearly stole the show. A solid group of about 4 or 5 ramped it up in the final key moments and caught the Bavarian Diesel... From that group, Little T slipped out last and hung on to take it.

Another great ride everyone!