Tuesday the 27th

Good Lord Alan B Wins A Sprint! (Sort of)

Perfect weather and a big group again for the ride. Filled with drama and intrigue at every corner. Read on!
Fireworks off the front of the ride tonight right away. Hunter P and Steffen Huber launched it off the front within 300 meters of turning off route 10. Those 2 went to work on a gap that was looking good until Alan B and Aaron Black got the front and cut it down quickly. The leaders were back within 1 kilometer. There were some moves off the front after that, but it was nothing too intense.  Little T was up front pushing the pace early on!
On Mountain Rd, Hunter P launched it again to sneak thru the light on 68\70. Aaron Black took after him, but the two were held up by the light. Then Alan B surged with Little T, but that didn't get too far. When Aaron Black and Chris C got involved, it looked a little more serious but it was all together going thru the chicane. No moves to speak off for the next couple of kilos. A strong surge from Aaron B, Chris C, Alan B, Brian Girard, Hong, Ben Bruce, The Senryak, and a couple of others as the ride got close to the light on route 322 split off a dangerous group. If that light is green, that group is hard to catch. It was red though :(

There was some posturing early on once everyone got onto Mount Vernon. Aaron B, and Alan B were the guys that were pushing the pace mostly. As the group got back together, the attacking started. There weren't any huge nuclear bombs dropped. Instead, it was a solid back to back of attacks from the strong guys (you know who they are). By the time the ride got to the 25mph hill on Mount Vernon, everyone was suffering. Chris C, Alan B, and then Hunter P led an attack that finally got some day light going. A group of 5 or 6 was off the front for a little while. The pack would not rest though, and it was all together with about 1k to go to the corner for Welch.

Hunter P attacked and everyone was content to let him roll free. There was too much road to the sprint point. Hunter kept that gap up thru the corner onto West St. Brian Wolfe was allowed to jump across the gap, but no one else went with him. Brian caught Hunter before the hill to West St but was sliding back towards the chase group that was now getting a gap thanks to Alan B. Alan, Hong, Ben Bruce and 2 others had jumped off the front and were tracking Hunter P down. They came by with about 300 meters to go to the sprint but no one in the group jumped for it. Hunter P jumped from 10 bikes behind the group and was able to go thru to get the points. Ben Bruce came thru next.

On the downhill, it came all together. Then there were red lights that brought it really all back together. From there, there was little action off the front. Hunter P and Alan B attacked going under the highway but were held up by the red light on 322. College-bound Kyle B, in his last SG ride for a while, punched off the front after the light. Alan B joined him, but there was traffic at the corner for West Johnson Ave. From there, the peleton stayed together all the way to the climb. Well, before the climb, Kyle C had one more go off the front. Then Jeff Scala and The Sernyak attacked and were perhaps looking to sneak an attack up the hill. Brian Wolfe put his head down and closed the gap down just in time for the trio of Alan B, Hong, and Hunter P to hit the front. Alan attacked first, then Hong. There was a decently long line of guys behind holding pace on Hunter P's wheel. No one dared came by Hong or Alan though. Everyone had a clear shot thru the light and towards the sprint. All three ramped up the pace, but Hunter P was able to jump clear to get the sprint. Alan and Little T were next over the line.
From there to the end, it was fast, and there were more hard attacks off the front. Alan B and Hong a couple of times, Aidan C once, Dan Smith hit the hill on Boulder Knoll again quite hard. Chris C was going hard up the hill to Tuttle. Alan and Hong had one last dig going downhill, which had less than a zero percent chance of making it. Then Hunter P attacked over the rollers 750 meters before the end. Alan B took advantage of that and used it to catapult away from the sprinters. Hongster came thru for a last-minute lead out, and Alan B rolled thru with his first sprint of the year! Took him long enough! Little T and the Sernyak there to collect the rest.
Great ride everyone!