Tuesday the 5th

 SGR stays Habenero Hot for Week 3

It was good to see a few new faces out there on the ride tonight for the "Middle Goat Loop". Jed K and Xander Beck came down to represent the CCAP. Aidan C was out. Hacker was back along with Wild Bill. Steffen has his son Alejandro out for his first time at SGR. All the right ingredients for a great ride!

The pace was a bit slow to get going. Early moves from Damien R from CCR, Thule Tom, and Dan Smith set things in motion. Hunter P got involved, and a couple of early moves had brief gaps, but it was always brought back from good pace-setting from Rich D, Little T, Chris C, Wild Bill, and a couple of others.

Heading onto North Brooksvale, Hunter P rolled up to an attacking Dan Smith, who had Ben Bruce up there. Then Turner French (TF) joined the group, making it four up the road. They rotated through and had 30 meters or so heading towards Mountain Rd. Behind, the chase was getting organized and it was all back together as the ride rolled up the first risers on Mountain. Wild Bill stayed up there, along with Aidan C to set the pace. The rest of the ride down Mountain was quiet. Dillon P made a move for the light, to which TF responded, to which Hunter P responded.

Moss Farms is where Steffen H took off. He dangled a bit out there, and then a couple of guys (Hacker, Erin Rand) made a few accelerations to connect. Steffen H stayed hard on the gas thru the rolling terrain and rolled clear as the ride was coming up to the chicane. Rich N, Chris C, and a couple of others jumped hard but gaps were forming. A bit of traffic thru the intersection allowed it all to come back together for the most part but there were a bunch in the pack that were gasping for air.

Little T used the opportunity to jump hard on the hill to Marion, taking along Hunter P. Then Rich N and Chris C joined the group. The pace behind was for realz, so the move didn't go far. Chris C stayed on the gas after it came back together, but nothing got away as the ride made it to 322.

Past that, Hunter P attacked hard on the first uphill after the light. TF joined up. Those two took a 50-meter gap onto Mount Vernon. Then Hacker charged across the gap. The rest of the pack was briefly subdued by Cheshire and CW riders not chasing, allowing the trio to get a sizeable gap that went up most of the way down Mount Vernon. As everyone turned the corner onto Prospect St, the chase was on though. Wild Bill, Dan Dudzik, Aidan C, Scott Rosenthal, Chris C, Rich N were all chipping in. There was some hesitation in the break as the corner to West Street came up and it was all back together soon after.

Onto Atwater, Gibertoni and Damien R pushed off the front. Then Thule Tom and Rich N created a bit of separation. That led to a group of 3 or 4 with a bit of gap as the 322 crossing back up. Dan Smith put in a big dig on the front to bring it all back before the light, which was green. The momentum allowed Ben Bruce and TF to attack off the front and carry a gap onto West Johnson. Hunter P bridged, but the light on route 10 was red.

Past that, Damien R hit it hard early on East Johnson and got a gap. He held it all the way up the hill to the stop sign and right turn. TF jumped across soon after the corner along with Rich N. No immediate chase allowed that trio to roll clear. Big Red got the group going soon after, and other riders not on the bige teams chipped in to hold the break at 100-150 meters as it hit the Greenhouse climb.

Upfront, Damien R tried working with TF to set a decent pace up the climb. TF was, however, biding his time. Rich N was mostly sitting on, waiting for what seemed like the inevitable attack. Behind, Wild Bill hit the front of the pack and towed everyone the entire way up the climb, reducing the gap to the break to just 60 meters or so. TF rolled away from the other two soon after the trio had to pause briefly for the light. As the chase made its way past the intersection, Little T jumped hard, taking along Dan Smith and Ben Bruce. That trio sailed by TF in that order with about 50 meters to the line, and Little T went over first with little fuss from the others.

Dan Smith stayed on the gas after clearing the intersection at route 70. Chris C and Hunter P joined him, but it was short-lived. Everyone stayed together until the climb up Boulder, where Dan Smith attacked with Chris C. They took a small gap onto the first sector of Tuttle and kept it going from there. TF and Hunter P jumped on the climb but then sat up, which brought a big drawdown from everyone. The chase got going again on the backside of Tuttle, but it was too late to bring back the two up the road. Rich N collects minor points for being willing to sprint it out in the dark in front of the peleton.

Once again it was great ride!

Tuesday the 29th

 Winter has its revenge... Brrrr

There was a smaller than usual crew out tonight as the weather it was cold. A solid core group or stronger riders meant that the attacks were sure to keep coming this week.

The pace was steady but controlled as the ride took to the back roads. Dan Smith and Rich Nadeau took a small gap heading into one of the early corners but there were a few guys that pounced on it soon after. Little T had a dig on Mountain Rd, but it was all together heading down to the first light on course.

On Moss Farms, there were a couple more moves. Dan Smith, Steffen H, Kevin M, Chris C, all with digs off the front. There was a solid move off the front from Dan Smith, Hunter P, and Rich N just past the chicane on Marion. That was given a very short leash, and it was all together going into the industrial park—no big attacks heading up to the light this week.

Going up the hill on East Johnson Ave to Cheshire Rd, Little T put in a huge dig. Turner French, Hunter P, and Ben Bruce all responded and shut it down. There was a gap to the group after the corner, but there were too many fresh legs upfront and not enough cohesion in the break to keep it going. That let everyone sit up a bit, no doubt to prepare for the Greenhouse climb.

Steffen H used the drawdown to roll off the front with 750m to go before the climb. The only chasing came from Turner French, who lifted the pace at the front just enough to start eating into the gap. Steffen H was caught by the climb but stayed out there in front for a bit, setting the pace. Then Turner attacked, taking Hunter P and Rich N with him. Behind, Little T led all other would-be's 20-40 meters back.

The three up front traded pulls and rotated for a good portion of the climb, then Turner attacked once more, with only Hunter P following this time. They came up to the light at the top of the hill with an empty intersection, a solid gap behind them to the pack, and the light turning red by a couple of seconds.

Turner waited, Hunter kept going to roll thru the sprint. Hunter P then rolled thru a green light at route 68, whereas the rest had to stop at red. That was enough of a gap for him to roll away solo on the night.

Tom K slid out after a flat tire and the pack waited. That was basically the end of the action. Let's hope for warmer temps next week!

Tuesday the 22nd

 

Week 2 does not disappoint

This year's SGR is off to a flying, tough start! Week 2 featured a few less riders out there, but there was more action upfront. This season is going to be fantastic.

1. The battle between CCR and CW is starting to get good. Everyone else in the peleton benefits from thinking a bit more about where they burn their matches.
2. The Tuesday Night Criterium Series at Renschler Field features a few Thursday night races this season, which means that more of those riders will be coming down to SGR on those weeks.
3. This also gives the SGR crew a chance to prove their worth as human beings at the crit up there.

Back to the action tonight, where Dillon P hit the front with Erin R and Brian Suto early on to drive up the pace. Ben Bruce was also up there a bit. Soon after that, the CW crew started attacking. Steve B, Dan Smith, and Turner French all took turns rolling off the front. Each time a CCR rider, or Kevin M or Chris C would bring it back. By the time the ride hit Mountain Rd , multiple attacks had come from CCR (Steffen H and Hunter P) along with attacks from CW's Brian Oliver. BrianO was making this SGR debut. He comes to us from Colorado Cat3-dom, which is most of the time good enough for CTCat1 status. He lives in West Hartford now, and he wasted no time getting involved upfront on SGR.

Rolling up to the light on 68/70, Dillon P had a good move to snag the light, but it was red. Onto Moss Farms where Suto put in another dig, then Steffen H. It all stayed together though as the ride cruised into the industrial park. Dan Smith was pushing the pace there but it stayed all together. Then BrianO took a strong flyer on West Johnson. Despite accelerations from Chris C, Suto, and Rosey, BrianO rolled clear. Hunter P attacked hard to bridge the gap just in time for the route 10 crossing, but that light was red as well.

Onto the other side of the light, heading up to the intersection for Cheshire St, Turner French bolted off the front and quickly got a small gap. Behind, the chase took a bit to get organized, but with BrianO sitting on the front, the gap went out. Kevin M and Ben Bruce upped the pace for a bit to chase, but that was short-lived. As everyone rolled up to the Greenhouse hill, it was clear that TF was not going to be caught. 

Fighting for sprint scraps, BrianO launched a big attack which Steffen H and Hunter P responded to. Hunter P rolled thru the spring next, with Steve B close behind. From there, there were a few more attempts at breaking clear. Nothing worked until BrianO jumped off the front on the climb on Boulder Rd. Hunter P jumped soon after, making it two off the front. Then Dan Smith rolled up and caught them on the climb up Tuttle. Those three were able to get to work on a gap, which nearly lasted to the end. It was all for naught as Turner French took the solo escape win. Dan thru the sprint next, then Hunter P. 

Great ride everyone!

Tuesday the 15th

Can we Subtract Points from Someone???

SGR is back babeeeee!
Riding down Route 10, everyone was in good spirits excited for the first ride of the season. There were about 30 riders at the start.

The turn onto River Road started off smoothly. No real attacks. A few riders did a few short attacks Dillon P takes the cake for first attack of the year! Nothing that stuck for very long. There were surges in pace every so often stringing us out into paceline mode but that usually settled down, and the pack would always blob up again.

The first real news happened as we got to the light on W. Main in Cheshire. The Sernyak took a flyer and got a nice 20m gap or so on the rest of the group. He caught the light just as it was turning from green to yellow and cleanly made it through. Then some newbie who doesn't understand the rules of the ride completely blew through the red light to join up with him. Everyone else, including the riders alongside him, stopped at the light. Sure as sunlight, it was Chris Crowell. The pack determined he was now DQ'd for the ride for hypocrisy. He was docked 5 points on the season for blowing Sernyak's chance at breakaway glory, because Mike was good enough to wait with Chris on Moss Farms to let the group come back. A lessor man would have said "screw you Chris."

The pace throughout the day was high with surges but again not really any attacks that stuck.

Past the halfway point, as the ride turned on to Cheshire Road towards the sprint point and the climbing to come, the pace seemed to start to pick up. The Central Wheel folks took control of the ride and pace. They took turns doing attacks on the climbs. 'Lil Mulally, Little T, A Black, Joe K, and others were there to keep everything together. Everyone was cool with letting the Magentas control the pace in the tough parts. 

 

The Sprint went to Steve B and then Turner French in second. 

Onto Coleman where it was more of the same, The Central Wheels folks did some surges on the climbs putting the brakes on any real attacks by anyone else. When we hit the last segment after the stop sign by Tuttle and Mansion, four Central Wheel riders were up front. Noah Black and Dan Smith made an attack while other CW riders eased up. No reaction meant that they rolled clear and there able to hang on for the W. Noah took the sprint, Dan in 2nd. Little T took the field sprint. 

 

Great first ride of the year everyone! 

Sunday January 30th

So, we had our first SGR Club ride race this morning, 8AM, early for some, late for others, a decent compromise. The start was the same as a regular race - right in the starting pen with a countdown banner. Nice. A bit more race-like than a meetup.

We had 8 riders: Hunter P., Steffen H., Steve B., Christian D., Dana R., Dan S., Erin B., and Brian O.  (Proper nicknames forthcoming by Huntiecakes.)

Someone (Erin?) suggested just before the banner drop that we drop the neutral flag at 3 miles. When the banner started though someone didn't quite get the memo and started to ride off the front right away. Not going super hard but not in the neutral zone either. All fair, we "chased" down the rider slowly. 

Hunter P chose the Dust in the Wind route. Not a bad choice, a bit of climbing, a dirt loop (flats are not an issue at least), just around 1.5 hours. But it does start with the Titan's Grove climb. A neutral start until the top of that climb would be great. It would give everyone a chance to get warmed up and give more riders a chance to stay with the group longer as there is a long descent and flat section leading to the Jungle circuit. Just saying...

As it was, the pace up the climb was a bit of a decent effort and we dropped a rider before he even had a chance to get warmed up. Hunter dropped back to help out but eventually made chase to catch back on.

At the top, Christian made the idiotic move to check his Discord feed to see if anyone from the group was online to chat. Nobody was. But when he was done, he realized he had been gapped. So, instead of cruising down the hill and recovering he had to make chase the whole descent.

By the bottom, Hunter and Brian, who had also dropped back for a bit to help, had bridged back up. And the pace stayed relaxed heading towards the climb up to the Jungle entrance. On that climb up the hill to the bridge, Steffen put in a solid effort and got a bit of a gap. Christian and Brian dug deep and got back on his wheel. Hunter and Steve followed just a tad behind. Dan and Erin weren't having any of it and took it at more of a Sunday ride pace, smart move.

Just after crossing the bridge and heading into the turn towards the glowing green entrance to the Jungle area, Hunter P came across along with Steve but Hunter refused to let up. He just continued to ride on. The rest of us unwisely just let him. But hopefully having him do solo effort out there alone would tire him out (it didn't).

The four were content to let him get a decent gap but after crossing the rope bridge they started to bring the gap back. By the turn-around they were essentially on him. But Hunter still managed to cross the gate in first, with Brian just behind. For those that don't know the course, halfway along the Jungle circuit is a finishing gate, it is a perfect intermediate sprint as it is essentially the turn-around point.

A short cool down followed, but it was quickly destroyed when Brian went on the attack, hard. Before we left the Jungle, he had a good 10-second lead. It took a long time on the flats before that gap was brought down. Solid effort - and the dude wasn't even on a Tron bike like everyone else. It looked like a gravel bike (which would explain the gap in the jungle but not how it held up once we left the jungle). Heading to the second pass up the Titan's Grove, the group was still Brian, Hunter, Steffen, Steve, and Christian. After some goading from Hunter, Christian made a poor attack attempt on the initial part of the climb. The rolling hills helped keep the chase from getting a rhythm. And he managed a gap of about 8 seconds before the main climb came up. But it wasn't enough. Hunter and Brian put it in 5th gear while Christian was stuck in 1st. And they slowly started to bring that gap down, leaving Steffen and Steve to eat their dust. Halfway up, with about a minute to go, Christian saw the writing on the wall and eased up. He was passed with about 200m to the top. Not sure who got the points at the top of that climb but it wasn't Christian. Stuck in no-man's land, Christian had the option to try to chase down the mad riders up front or ease up and wait for the Steves. He sensibly opted for the latter.

Hunter and Brian took turns pulling up front on the Tempus Fugit portion and were never seen again by the other three. Eventually Hunter won the final sprint to the line. Meanwhile Steffen, Steve, and Christian were doing turns at pulling in a TTT attempt but as the gap opened up ahead, that cooperation quickly ended. After a gap opened up while Christian was doing a pull, he realized the truce was gone and rode off ahead forcing Steve to eventually chase back on while Steffen rode his draft.  As we approached the finishing sprint, Christian did his best to set a hard non-sprinting pace to force Steve to go a little harder to stay on the wheel and letting Steffen sit in a nice third wheel position, perfect. With 300m to go, Steve took off but Steffen was right on his wheel and zipped around him with about 50m to go... getting bronze for the morning.

Legs are now thoroughly sore for the day. So, who's up for joining the race with no entry-fee NEXT Sunday morning? Invite your friends, your enemies, even Crowell!

Tuesday the 24th

 Back to the Regular Hyjinks

With Rentschler Field being done and dusted for the year one could expect that there would have been a huge number of riders out for tonight's ride. SGR did pick up a few (Wild Bill, Don Kimball, Aidan C, Kevin Mullaly and a couple of others)

Right from the start, the Cheshire crew was up front drilling it with a concerted effort. Wild Bill got involved, along with Chris C and Mullaly. That made for a very fast first 15 minutes, and more than usual got dropped because of it. After Hunter P pulled thru on South Brooksvale, A group of about 6 had a gap from the oppressive pace. A bit off traffic turning on Mountain Rd, plus hesitation up front gave the group a chance to come back together. 

Further down Mountain Rd, after big pulls from Gibertoni and Damien Roy, another group rolled clear (Chris C, Brian G, Cedric Baylor and 1 or two more), but that was brought back after a little while. The pace onto Moss Farms was solid, with Chris C, Steffen H, Mullaly, Wild Bill, and Hunter P hitting the front. More gaps to the peloton, but not enough up front to make it stick. The next move came after turning onto Marion, where Hunter P jumped off the front with Chris C, Ben B, and a couple of others. That was short-lived though, with Mullaly, Brian G, Mike Williams and others pulling it back.

The pace stayed high going over 322 and onto Mount Vernon. Steffen H rolled off the front with Mullaly. That was chased back primarily by Big Red. Later on, Hunter P rolled off again with Mullaly and Brian G. The chase was fast. Thomas B was also one that pushed off the front as the pack made its way to the turnaround. 

For the sprint there, a bit of traffic turning onto West St interrupted the hard riding for most. Once it got going again, Ben Bruce was the first to go for the sprint, but Little T was able to come around, with Mullaly in second place. Hunter P and Wild Bill tried to sneak away on the backside, but couldnt get by the traffic lights. 

The Henk and Max pushed the pace after the highway, but no gaps from it. Gibertoni got an earful rolling thru the empty intersection at Marion. In the dramatic moments that followed, Hunter P slipped off the front and rolled toward 322 with a gap. Brian Girard gave chase, and was in striking distance as the 322 and the red light came up. It turned green just in time for Hunter P to go under but the chase slowed down more for it. Gibertoni also timed it well, and joined Hunter P up front. Those two stayed clear until after the Hickory Hill Orchard sprint point, and Gibertoni rolled thru there to collect the points. Behind, Aidan C led a big charge up the hill to close down the gap in time for the last 20 min of the ride.

From there, no big moves off the front. Wild Bill tried a couple more times to create separation. Then, a group of 4-5 rolled off the front on the early slopes of Tuttle. That was brought back in plenty of time to set up for the sprint, which was taken by Little T, with Mullaly close behind.

 

Tuesday the 17th

The SGR Takes on the 'Rent! 

The CCAP goes out to make the final Tuesday race at Rentschler Field each year a bigger-than-normal deal. The Cheshire Cycle Racing crew got involved an donated the funding needed to get a results person there. That, combined with other fun details like "Wear a Retro Jersey" and an ice cream truck giving out ice cream to the racers, tonight's race featured record breaking attendance for a TNC. 

There are many in CT that would debate which ride is better, and for anyone living in the Southinton/Avon/West Hartford area, you know the struggle it is sometimes deciding what to do on a Tuesday. With that in mind, the last Rentschler Field crit has traditionally been the night that SGR riders are invited to come up to try to unseat the crit regulars at the top of the A and B races in a battle of "who is stronger."

Tonight, there were many SGR riders taking part, and it gave everyone a chance to ride together against a common enemy. In the B race, that enemy was the juniors from TTE of Fairfield County. The trio of Ben Stokes, David Thompson, and George Elias put on a clinic for the rest. Ben and David escaped the pack in the first 8 laps or so, and never looked back. For the SGR crew, Steffen Huber placed 5th, Damien Roy was in the top 10, as was Cedric Baylor. Those were the high points for the visiting team. Oh and the fact the Craig freakin Luekens was racing! Craig can be remembered for viciously tearing off not just the legs of the SGR ride but the entire Northeast racing scene numerous times in the early 2000's. We hope he keeps riding! 

In the A race, team SGR had Hunter P attacking a few times early on. Aaron and Noah Black, and Costa Rica John as well. Eventually, the trio of Chris Pendergrast, Geno Villafano, and Ben Gorodetsky, all TNC regulars, broke clear and would hang on for the win. Behind, a second breakaway group of 5 formed in the closing laps, with Joe K riding for team SGR in that group. Little T caught a couple of those riders at the lap, so he was the top SGR finisher on the night in 7th place. Joe K in 9th. 

Thanks to all for supporting the night. And a big thank you to Dillon P for announcing the race action. One rider had this to say, "I was listening to the A race with my son, who doesn't know much about bike racing, and hearing the announcer talk about what was going on in the race made it much more enjoyable for us both."