Tuesday the 23rd

 

SGR Rookie Ignites a Proper Showdown

Another good-sized crowd out today for SGR. Once again, the medium loop was chosen at the start. Long loop fans will have to wait for next week or the week after. 

Once the ride started, the pace was decently quick, with accelerations coming nearly right away from Steffen H, Steve B, Brian O, and a couple of others. 

On Mountain Rd Turner French hit the gas and that split off a group of about 7 or 8 of the strongest. The group kept the gas up the series of risers early on Mountain, but the gap would start to come down as enough guys were in the chase to bring the pace up. As the connection was being made, TF surged again, and only New Haven resident Andrew Suzuki stayed with him. Those two got a gap going as there was no immediate response. The gap was about 12 seconds at the light, which everyone got green. The chase was on now, but fewer bodies were willing to bring the pace up on Moss Farms. TF and Suzuki stayed on it and the gap was holding steady at 100 meters. 

The leaders had to do some traffic dodging right the chicane, but that didn't slow them down too much. Going past the industrial park, the gap came down to just a handful of seconds after Sean M had a long pull at the front. Even so, the two up front came into the light with a big enough gap that when they squeaked thru the changing light, the chase had to hold up. That was it for the night. The breakaway was back in sight briefly as the ride came back over 322 in the opposite direction, but once again the peleton had to stop and wait the light out. 

The leaders would roll the rest of the ride together. Behind, the next "action" was Brian O sneaking off the front at the base of the Greenhouse climb/sprint. He had the gap but eased enough to be nearly chased down by Little T right, meaning the two split the points.

Moving to the last part of the ride, Steve and Brian attacked again a couple of times. Sean M did a bunch of work reeling them back in. Steffen H had a solid dig off the front trying to play spoiler going into the final sprint. Steve B and the Little T were able to catch and come around though. Still well-behind the breakaway though for the 4th or 5th week in a row. Next week should be another barn-burner! 

Tuesday the 16th

 The Raspberry Rush Keeps the Pressure On

The weather was great for the ride tonight, and there was a solid-sized group out tonight.

Early on, there were a few guys that tried to get off the front. Dillon P was pushing off the pace. He was joined by Tom Krol and at another instance, Nate Belke from New Haven Angels.

Then it started getting real, with Brian O attacking a couple of times in the first 20 min of the ride. When he went, the other Magenta guys would stop and admire for a bit, then go about figuring out who was going to go next. CBrits shot off one or twice. Steve B tried. Turner French also,  but each time that set off the front 1/4 of the pack and just served to ramp up the pace.

Onto Moss Farm, where Turner French launched it as soon as he could. Hunter P and Steve B went with it, and once again, the stronger riders in the pack responded quickly. Sean Maher and Hacker foremost and urgently chasing. The attack was caught but Turner kept on it. He rolled through the chicane and up onto Marion with a 50-meter gap. Behind a chase group was forming with Hacker, Hunter P, Steve B and a couple of others. Sean M took to the front and closed the gap down a bunch, and then Brian O jumped but it was all coming back together at the light. Turner was held up as well.

As soon as the ride got going again, Brian O surged off the front along with Ben Bruce, Hacker, and Sean M. That trio had the blessing from the five families to go clear. Steve B jumped across the gap as the ride turned left onto Mount Vernon. He would eventually make the bridge up to the group. The peloton behind waited to see what would happen, and nothing did. The break would ride clear and stay clear, at least from the rest.

Later on, just past the Greenhouse climb, Steve B attacked the group. Hacker responded, taking Brian O with him. Sean M and Ben fell off, and that is the order they all finished on the night. 

Next week, the long loop returns, and with it, more opportunities for everyone else to practice their spectating skills!

Tuesday the 9th

The Ride Gets Going, and So Does the Break

The first big ride of the year, featuring perfect weather and more than 35 riders out. This one was wrapped up early on. Turner French, Hacker and Chris C rolled off the front on Moss Farms and stuck the landing. 

They stayed off the front for the reminder of the ride. TF did the lions share of the work pushing the break and there was no sprinting or attacking within the trio. 

Behind, the pace was decent, but a couple of teams were playing defense for the break.

Tuesday the 2nd

rain rain rain.
today the ride was rained out.

Tuesday the 26th

Steve B takes the sprint solo, and Turner French takes the finale with a group split by late attacks.

Tuesday the 19th

More Team Dynamics = More Successful Breaks

Turner French and Chris C rolled off a gap early on and were allowed to roll clear.

Tuesday the 12th

 SGR is back in action!

There was a decent turnout for SGR#1 (short loop edition), with about 25-30 riders at the start. Naturally, the Central Wheelies (Wheelers, Wheelites?) had the numbers forming about 1/3 of the group at the start and about 1/2 by the end.

The pace at the beginning was pretty reasonable. Everyone seemed in good spirits and the weather was about as perfect as you could hope for, especially for mid-March in New England.

Many of the guys out tonight were getting the outdoor bikes back into shape, and there were many mechanical issues to be had. Right at the start, on the ride up Rt. 10, there was a loud clang in the back and someone commented that (apparently) Soft-spoken Paul's wheel had broken a spoke. Heading up to Mountain Road, Rusty's gear kept slipping and catching and he had to grind up the short little hills for a bit. And on the ride down Cheshire Road, TK broke his saddle and had to ride the rest of the way either standing or gently perched on it - avoiding any potholes, of which there are aplenty. (If you follow him on Strava, you can see his picture.) And there were several of us with very squeaky chains and rubbing gears. Christian D's high-pitched chain was a contender for the most annoying but that's probably because he (and probably everyone else) heard it the whole ride. And no, he won't be pouring vegetable oil on the chain as a CW rider begrudgingly suggested, but he will use some chain lube (for the first time in about 4 months) or maybe it's time to wax that sucker.

As mentioned, in the first half, there were a few attempts at breakaways, but they were either brought back pretty quickly or thwarted by a traffic light. It seemed Central Wheel would have a rider attack while the rest helped block. But Crowell and his CVC cronies along with some of the CCR regulars did the necessary work to bring those back. Some of us just were happy to sit in the pack and watch the fireworks unfold.

We shed a few riders along the way, but it was pretty much gruppo compacto as we turned onto Cheshire Road. Just a bit down Cheshire Road, Turner F. from Central Wheel attacked. Up until then, Steffen H. from CCR had not done any attacks but had been willing to help bring breakaways back only to have someone counter attack once they bridged back up. Having had enough of that, the big German jumped on Turner's wheel and the two of them sped off. The CW squad did their usual tactic of riding in the front at a tempo pace blocking any half-hearted attacks. The CCR boys weren't going to help with the chase, leaving it mostly up to the CVC riders.

Either they didn't have the legs, were recovering after the last chase, or didn't think the two of them would last very long, but they let them go. And we all watched as the two of them rode off into the sunset never to be caught again.

Not for a lack of trying. Once the lead had built up quite a bit, going up to the Greenhouse sprint, there was a small breakaway group that included Little T, Crowell, and some CW riders. Little T won the intermediate sprint for third place. For anyone keeping score for the season, the jury is out on who won first, but since Steffen H. commented that Turner held up on that climb to let him rejoin, the money is on Turner getting first and Steffen second.

The chase continued down the Cheshire/Wallingford border while the grupetto now down to about 10 riders at best gently and without any urgency pursued the leaders.

In the final sprint, Turner got first, Steffen second, and a bit further back, Little T outnumbered by a crew of CW riders again was the best of the rest for third place. And for anyone worried, TK delicately made it with the back of the main field on his broken saddle - the darkness made it that much harder to avoid the potholes.

Enjoy the weather folks! Hopefully, next week is as nice and has an even bigger turnout. The days are getting longer!