Tuesday the 21st

Spring has sprung!

Best group yet for the ride tonight. The weather was good, winds were unpredictable and post-battenkill spirits were high. Off we go!

   The pace seemed high right out of the parking lot. Nuemotion and Ben Bruce were perhaps finishing up unfinished business from Cambridge NY. The high pace continued once off Route 10 as Cheshire Cycle black n blue came up to the front to set pace. Dillon P, Gibertoni, Christian D, Burgiebaby and Ben Bruce, all up in the mix with the usuals such as Rob Dux, Chris C. A couple of corners in Gibertoni and Burgster took off a bit with Hunter P jumping up to grab on as well. That was short lived as the pack came charging up with the Full Nalini and Big Red Cornell taking up the slack. There was a reshuffling of the deck and another group went clear running into the corner for Mountain Rd, but there was little activity off the front once thru the corner and up the hill. Hacker tried to jet off but that was initially brought back. He stayed on the gas though and soon after got off the front with Big Red and Burgster. That trio was allowed to roll and they kept their gap at 75 meters or so for most of the way to the light.
    After a pause for the light, the peleton slowly got back going again on Moss Farms. Again, Gibertoni and Ben Bruce were up front riding hard with Nuemotion, Hacker and the Sernyak looking for openings. Ben Bruce led things off up the hill to Marion, with Gibertoni and Hunter P close behind. Hacker again jumped off the front, and this time pulled off a gap with Big Red and one other. That trio was going pretty good to the industrial park but the pack behind was going gooder. All together again for the corner. Thus it stayed for the next mile or so, with the pace actually getting almost slow before the corner to West Johnson. Once on the riser there, Ben Bruce took off with Gibertoni and The Sernyak. The chase wasn’t going to come from the black and blue, so they worked up a decent size gap.
    A tail wind was helping along the pack and by 200 meters to the corner of Reinhard the front of the chase was all over the road. Ben Bruce hung tough tho up front, giving it a good dig to be the first thru the corner. Behind, Hacker jumped hard with Hunter P right on his wheel. Ben Bruce would have to throttle back at the crest of the hill, just as Hacker was going by, now separated from the rest of the peleton. Hacker started things up the hill but couldn’t shake Hunter P, who came around and got the corner first. On the backside, Nuemotion looked to get something going, then Chris C, but it was all back together by the corner for Peck Ln.
     On the rise up Peck Lane, Gibertoni rode hard to pull off a gap with The Sernyak and Chris C. Those 3 stayed on the gas and the response was tepid for longer than usual. They hit the corner for route 10 with a 12 second gap and then got the light at the base of the hill by Cheshire Park. Hacker and Nuemotion would try to jump the gap once thru but it the response to that was quicker. Meanwhile the 3 up front were working hard to stretch out the advantage and they got to the base of the Stop n Sprint Hill with enough of a gap so that no one was going to sprint up and thru. Gibertoni waited out his breakaway companions and then jumped around to get the sprint there. The trio stayed together and got thru a red light that the pack had to stop for. That usually would be all that’s required to stay clear, but the peleton made good time thru Cheshire, benefitted from Dillon P’s aero tuck. Mike McG then drove everyone out past the lights and got the speed up quickly. The leaders had to full stop for the light at Cook Hill and that allowed the pack to catch back on.
    From there the pace stayed high. For the finale, Gibertoni was able to get back up to the front and he rolled off the rest with The Full Nalini on his wheel. Those 2 had a good long dook-a-roo and Gibertoni was able to stay on the front all the way to corner.