Tuesday the 7th

     Big crowds tonight as the ride picked up quite a few that would normally be riding hard up at the Rent. The large group started out slow enough and it allowed a small group to pounce on a chance to ride off the front. Joe K, Nuemotion, Chris C, Burgster, Big Red, Peter Petrillo (holy cow he returns), and one or 2 others. That group jumped on the gas and quickly got out of side. A chase group formed, led by Ben Bruce and that served to help the front group, as the peloton was more focused on catching the second group on the road. The leaders would be caught late on Mountain Rd. Pressure from Mike Marko, Aidan, and a couple of others sealing the deal. The whole pack didn’t wait long at the light and soon on Moss Farms, Big Red, Ben Bruce, Hunter P, and Nuemotion started driving the pace up once again. Big Red lead a couple of guys off the front as the chicane neared and Rusty led the rest into and up to Marion Ave. Good luck on Saturday Rusty!
     From there the CCAP boys punched it and drove the pace up a good bit. Dave Hoyle (sorry girls, he’s taken) rolled off the front and took a couple of quick to act guys. Mike Marko also jumped. Soon there was a chase group that did the brunt of the work to get bring it all back together. That didn’t last long tho as the pace going by the industrial park and then over the highway was kept high. Special Ed, Jordan L and Crazy Chris along with a couple of others forced another split. Behind, a couple of new guys, who’ve obviously learned the ropes, did quite a bit chase the group down, but as the light on 322 came up, there was still a 75 meter gap. The front group got a green light and the pack slid thru a red light as Hunter P and Dave Hoyle bridged across quickly. That led to the whole pack coming back together soon after.
     Mount Vernon was the usual combination of surges, swearing and gutter diving. Dave Hoyle attacked a couple of times down the long stretch. Pete Petrillo was up there as a new face driving the pace. At the turn around sprint, it looked like it might go to Mike Marko and Chris C early on but as they crested the hill and turned to go south, the chase was right there. Burgster, Mike McG and Hunter P were at the sharp end. When the leaders came back there was slowdown, allowing Ben Bruce to come up from a few bikes back and jump first for the sprint. Little T and a couple of others would go for it, but Ben Bruce strongly stayed out in front and held on for it.
    It came all back together soon after. Then Henk P rolled off the front and managed to keep a gap all the way to the underpass at Atwater. After that, a couple low key moments as the ride went back over 322. Aidan lit it up on Peck Lane, leading to Mike Marko, Nuemotion, Hunter and Nick Sabatelli hitting the front hard. The headwind was pretty severe but that didn’t stop Mick S from attacking at the top of the long riser on Peck. He put his head down and hung on to his gap until route 10, where some traffic forced him to slow for the corner.
   The start of route 10 was fast, as Dave H, Mike Marko, Jeff S from Cycling Concepts, and a few others drilled it up the hill. Special Ed and Jordan L did some solid work to keep it together and chase down those that were looking to sneak off the front. The run in to Stop n Shop sprint was clean, and Little T wasn’t going to be denied this time.
    From there it was uneventful heading back into Hamden. The final 2 k’s were fast (and sketchy), as the headwind kept everyone ducking for cover, and the larger number of guys who are good at riding bikes made for more than the usual number of wheels to follow in. Pretty much everyone had a chance at the final 500 meters and that turned into 5 of 6 really going for it earnest. Stacked up traffic and cars passing negated the already nebulous sprint point.
     Great ride everyone! Good to see some ballsy-ness out there!

Tuesday the 30th

All kinds of riders out tonight!

    The ride is back with a vengeance. There was so many bodies out there that it seemed like it slowed down the start of the ride a bit. Too many people to navigate around to get up front. However, the ride north was aided by a tail wind that soon made for a pretty solid pace without much fuss up front. The first rider to have a go was Keith M. Then there was Dillon P and a couple of the other Cheshire Cycle Racing guys up front trying to get a gap. It stayed together though. Chris C jumped as the pack was dealing with some traffic entering the Mountain Rd sector. Hunter P went with him and that brought out Mike McG, Hacker, Ben Bruce and a couple of others off the front of the chasing pack. The separation didn’t last long and it was all back together for the rest of the ride to the light at route 68/70. The high pace was enough to start thinning the herd by this point though.
      Ben Bruce, Hunter P and Hacker kept it going on Moss Farms and that would lead to a split in the field going into the chicane. Up front, a group of about 10 riders, led by Special Ed, Hunter P, Hacker, and Chris C, drove it up to Marion in pursuit of Ben Bruce, who had gone a bit too hard off the front. The lack of cohesiveness let several riders cross the gap as the ride went past the turn for the short loop and the split maintained all the way to the light at 322. That light was red for enough time to let a good number of riders back on. The pace once everyone got thru the light was not that fast, letting more recover and catch back up.
      With the tail wind and large field, it ended up a record breaking time going north on Mount Vernon. John Morgan and O’Shea from Keltic, Big Red, Chris C, Ben Bruce, Nuemotion, Pescatore, Jordan L and several others chipped in and drove it fast thru the new “cobbles” sector. A couple of riders were hit with flats. Soon enough it will be repaved!
      Halfway up the false flat, Sean Cahill jumped off the front and built up a small gap that he held onto for a kilo or so. By the time he was reeled in, everyone turned their attention to the turnaround. Once onto Welch, it was Ben Bruce and Hacker leading the way early on. Behind, the Burggie Baby closed down most of the gap for the pack before the hill kicked in. With no one off the front, it became a drag race after the corner. Nuemotion, Burggie, Chris C, Big Red, Cahill, Hunter P, Hacker, Keith M, and a couple of others, were all in position to ramp it up for the sprint. The light at the base of the final ramp was red and there was traffic stopped, which is unusual for that point in the ride. It brought the front of the pack to a screeching halt and a couple of guys nearly bit it trying to combine fast braking with narrow lanes. It negated the sprint for the week.
    Once everyone got going, only a few noticed that French Casey, buoyed by his new Cheshire Cycle Racing kit, slipped up and away off the front. The pack had to deal with a couple of lights and with Casey’s propensity to ignore them, certainly the odds were in his favor to staying away for good, especially with the headwind. The pack slowly rolled downhill and by I84 to find that Casey had sat up and was basically waiting to be brought back into the fold.
     From there the pace stayed pretty normal, all the way to route 10. Heading up the hill early on there, Hacker, The Sernyak, Hutner P, Keith M and Nuemotion drilled it into the wind and broke off a gap that took some pretty hard chasing from behind to bring back. More riders popped off the back. After the hill, red lights didn’t really figure in, and a couple of the guys kept the pace high, sensing the opportunity to get an early jump on the Stop N Shop Sprint. At the base of that ramp, Ben Bruce jumped hard and managed to out-muscle Big Red, and Sean Cahill to the top of the sprint.
    With the headwind making everyone climb slower than usual, a group formed going thru the center of town and started to work at getting a gap. Keith M, Hacker, The Sernyak, Hunter P, Ben Bruce, Sean Cahill, Big Red and one or 2 others ended up rolling away and holding the gap for good. The peleton was slowed down by a couple of lights but once the gap was made, it was a sure thing done deal. For the finale up front, Ben Bruce powered away after a late attack by Big Red came up a bit short.

Superb ride everyone!

Tuesday the 23rd

Motopacing behind storm cells
    The rain ended with plenty of time to spare before the start of another semi-wet SG ride. It was small crew out tonight, not quite 20 riders. The pace for the most was on the slower side. Certainly slower than the last couple of weeks. The usuals were up front early on. Henk P was a notable addition to the action and pace setting this week. He tried to slip away on Moss Farms, Mount Vernon, and West St.

    The first real action came on Moss Farms, when Hunter P took off and initially took Chris C, Henk P and Mike McG. That group made some headway on the pack heading into the chicane. Dillon P tried to slip off by pushing it on the wet roads in the corners and the chicane but there were guys that latched on and that led the catch of the break shortly after the turn onto Marion. Nick Sabatelli jumped off the front after that and held onto a small gap going by the industrial park before Hunter P jumped up and bridged the gap, this time with Rob Dux and Henk P again. It was together shortly after that and all the way onto Mount Vernon. Besides Henk trying to slip off the front early on, Mount Vernon was pretty run-o-the-mill. The smaller group obviously was leading to less overall speed.  
     After everyone turned onto Welch, a couple of guys started getting into position for the sprint. Dan I’m Back Smith jumped up off the front as the hill started, but was roped back in when traffic at the corner slowed him. After the corner, plenty of guys were there to keep the pace respectable. Notably, the Mullaly boys along with Kyle C, were up there drilling it up front and Little T was missing. He had gotten hit with a flat in the choppy roads early on Mount Vernon. For the sprint, Hunter P jumped hard at the usual spot. Mike McG gave chase but Hunter P stayed out in front. That was it for the sprinters. Pescatore brought all others up the hill to the sprint point.
    On backside, everyone came together, including Little T, who took a shortcut to rejoin. Heading back into Cheshire, downed powerlines, or construction, detoured everyone off Atwater St, onto the bike trail. Hunter P broke protocol, and slipped off the front as everyone went neutral for the detour on the empty bike trail. Hunter P kept up the gap until route 10, when a red light right after the corner brought it all back together. From there, no surprises up to the Stop n Sprint, where Little jumped up from 2 or 3 bikes back to easily nab it. Again, Mike McG, giving chase, this time with I’m Back Smith as well.
     Heading thru the center of Cheshire, Henk P drilled it, taking along the Mullalys and Kyle C with him. The old guy and the 3 young kids got to worked pretty hard, and they actually kept up a gap that took some real digs to bring back. Mike McG put his head down after passing Cheshire High and erased the gap. From there it was standard stuff heading back into Hamden. Little T rolled off the front with a little ways to go to the finish. A late regrouping on the front put a group of 3 riders in position to perhaps catch him. Pescatore, Henk P, Keith Mullaly and one other. Little T hung on though for it. The only guys with the Testes enough to head up the Shepard Ave for the uphill finish were Nick S and Hunter P.
     Next week, more riders, more attacks!