Two Breakaways for the Price of One
One week the ride is boring, the next week it's back to being excited as finding that last fry at the bottom of the bag.
The group was smaller tonight. Just 23 or so out there. It was anyone's game out there. The ride got off to a rocky start though, with traffic hanging things up turning onto Mountain Rd. Then there was some aggressive overtakes by cars later on Mountain Rd. By the time that all cleared Sean M was in place to push hard to the light on route 68. Hunter P and Noah B were along for the ride, making three off the front pushing hard for a gap. The light was red though so it was all back together.
Things calmed down a bit on Moss Farms. Steve B fired it up going into the Chicane, but he was not allowed too much of a leash there. Little T and Hunter P were bridging the gap, which got everyone's attention. Steve B kept the gap going though. Going past the industrial park, the front of the ride was breaking up a bit as the chase hotted up. In the end, it would come all back together by the light on route 322.
Onto Mount Vernon, Sean M pushed off the front with Aaron B and Hunter P. That move lasted for a km or so. As it was all coming back together, Chris C pushed off the front. Then Jeff Gelt bridged strong, along with Nic Villamizar. With CVC and CW represented up front, there was little chase. The trio rolled clear, getting about 250 meters at one point. Dan Smith, CedricB and one other Angel were at times ramping up the chase. The leaders had an insurmountable gap at the turnaround. Behind, Little T would launch into the deep, and there were a few to go with him. There was a brief moment when perhaps a bridging effort to the trio could be made, but that door closed quickly as the leaders were getting thru the I84 interchange lickety-split. .
The chase developed, with Hunter P and Jon Fecik getting involved it keeping the pace high. Heading back to the 322 crossing, both the leaders (or course) got thru the light quickly. But the peloton also didn't have to come to a full stop.
The leaders still had a solid 200 meters heading to route 10. Just about out of sight from the chasers. But lo- the chase got the green light going across 10 so it was clear that it would all be coming back together. the gravel construction was cleared up and it was all back to route-normale. The catch happened at the top of the hill on E Johnson, turning onto Meriden Rd.
Things calmed down for about 12 seconds. A group of 6 pushed off the front, led by Sean M. Chris C stayed up front as well, but that gap was never more than 100 meters. Sean Cahill and Steve B were getting into position coming up to the Greenhouse Climb. That rounded up everyone for the climb.
The ride split up again on the climb, with the front 5-6 guys pushing off the front early on, and stronger riders hanging back for the second half of the climb. Steve B took acorss the gap with Hunter P and a few others on his wheel. He went across the gap and then off the front as the climb was ending. That led to a proper sprint for the line, which Little T jumped late for and nabbed, with Noah B and Sean Cahill on his wheel.
After the turn off 70, Sean M rolled off the front again but was not allowed to go anywhere alone. More gaps during the next couple of streets, but it stayed all together as there were no big attacks. the next big move was the one that was going to go the distance. Steve B pushed off the front on the Tuttle uphill. Sean M and Jon Fecik were there as well. Behind, the Black Bros slowed the chase down just enough for the group to go clear by the 4-way stop sign/intersection. The chase was moderate. The leaders were drilling it.
The break stayed clear by a plentiful margin,. Steve B was first across that final sprint line.
Great ride to wrap up the month of May. Next week, the CCAP's TNC kicks off at Rentschler Field. There are just 4 weeks of that series (June 4th, 11th, 25th, and July 2nd) but each week will feature full results reported to USAC. The next big week at SGR will be on the 18th.
