Tuesday the 3rd

 
Good weather returned and so did the crowds for the sleeping giant ride this week. A bunch of new faces out there today. Highlighted among them was Matt Armstrong down from Fairfield county up from Fairfield county. Matt, is the lead protagonist of the Wednesday Night Worlds Ride, which leaves from Greenwich High School during the season. Check that ride out if you can. It's a fast one, just slightly slower than SGR. ;-)

In addition to Matt, we had a few other riders from down in the Greenwich area, some Mogodanononongon riders. It was great to see young Alejandro Huber back out for his second full go with the ride. It was also great to see Aaron Black back out for the first time this season.

Kicking off the ride on route 10 was Hunter P. Who surged away but it was all grouped together for the turn off of route 10. After that. Keith Mullally was on the front a lot. Never quite attacking, instead pulling away with good old, solid pacemaking. There were plenty of fresh legs to respond, and it kept the pace high for the first 10 to 15 minutes of the ride.

It was all together heading on to mountain Road, and there were no attacks on the early. Chris C punched it off the front and was allowed to roll. Behind him, a chase formed with a small gap off from the rest. In the chase was Keith M, TF, Hunter P, and a couple of others. It came together by the intersection midway down Mountain Rd. From there it stayed together with everyone pulling nicely and politely. Steffen H rolled off the front with about a kilometer to go to the intersection and that was followed up by Hunter P. He was chased down by the usual suspects and it all came back together at the red light on route 68/70. On Moss farms it was more of the same with Chris C, Keith M, and a couple of others setting the early pace that kept it fast. Damien R. rolled up to the front and hit it hard, but nobody allowed any gaps. Plus the attacks weren't all that strong. The pace was good enough to let a small but strong group get a tiny gap going into the chicane but nobody drilled it enough up to Marion Avenue to keep it going.

The pace on Mount Vernon was decent but nothing crazy. The usual cat n mouse started before the turnaround. A couple of guys tried to sneak away but it was cuing up behind. Little T got a solid jump and hit the corner with a 5-second gap. He held it all the way to the line. Behind, Chris C traded pulls with Hunter P and Dan Smith. Hunter P jumped to come across next, staying out in front of TF who rolled in 3rd.

On the backside, Dan Smith kept the pace going with TF and this eventually led to Chris C, Hunter P and Dan Smith off the front fighting for a gap up to the top of West St. They had a gap going down but got hung up by traffic near Atwater street. Once through that, Dan Smith attacked again and was allowed to roll off the front. He stayed on it just enough to carry a gap to the intersection of 322. Behind, a newer rider (big guy in blue) powered the front and was bringing the gap back. Dan got the light though, which allowed him to get away for good.

However, reports began circulating that Dan was pulling off the ride early, so we would not get credit for the winning breakaway. The ride got back going again, and the usual pace unfolded for the last third of the ride. Damien R tried to get away on East Johnson again. The pace was lazy after that heading up to the Greenhouse climb. TF rolled off the front with Rosey. Those two were allowed to go. Rosey dropped off the pace halfway up the climb, and TF was able to stay out in front. Big Red set the pace in chase, and then Little T rolled thru the sprint line.

The pace got mellower in the pack after that. Only just ahead of the final sprint did it go back up again. Cedric B and Dillon P both had well-timed moves late on Tuttle to sneak one in, but there was enough pedaling at the base of the hill to bring it all back together. Going for the new sprint line was just Hunter P and Litle T. Both mistimed the jump to the speed limit sign on the right just past the River Road intersection on the right. T had the momentum and rolled in. A few guys still sprinted for the old line and hopefully everyone will be on the same page for next week.