Tuesday the 23rd

Aren't you glad you rode tonight?

The passing thunderstorms kept the field on the light side tonight. By ride time thought, the rain had stopped for the most part and as everyone headed further north, the roads were dryer and dryer...

    Chris C was up front as soon the flag dropped. Mike McG was there as well the Gibertoni to make sure he wouldn't sneak off. The ride mostly was quiet for the first several miles. No one was attacking on the early on. A disruption in the paceline up front as the ride got closer to the light on route 68 triggered a shift response and a few guys jumped up to try to nab the lihgt. It was green all the way and everyone made it thru no problem. Construction on the first part of Moss Farms closed everyone down and it took a little while to get back going again.

      Once it did, guys like Ciocci. RalpheeBaby Allen, Nuemotion and a couple of others were pushing the pace and got a bit of a gap but it was all together for the rest of the way to the Chicane. Chris C upped the ante on the riser up to Marion and a few guys followed him.... Pescatori, Ciocci, Hunter P, Special Ed, etc. Again, gaps were few and far between, although Chris C and Special Ed looked to keep the hammer down as the ride went by the turn for the short loop. They had help from The Best-Looking-Ralph-Ever, and Hunter P. Gruppo Compacto to the light on 322.

      After the light, it slowed down a bit and everyone recollected. It took a but to get going again and Guido ( good to see him back ) was ever so patient with the ride as the field lolly-gagged its way to the construction zone. The more delicate guys in the field held sway and it was declared a neutral section thru the dirt road. Guido helped spark interest in going fast once everyone got thru the dirt and had a chance to wipe down their Asian-made plastic bikes. From there it was fast as a few guys hit the front running ( Rusty, Chris C, Nuemotion, Rory D, Mountain Man, etc ). As the ride came up on the turnaround, Ciocci ride off and was allowed to go. Chris B then poked out of the field and quickly took a gap in the crucial 150 meters before the corner to Welch. The only one to go with him was Hunter P and the 2 rolled off a gap, went up and over Ciocci and extended it nearly the whole way to the hill thanks to Chris B's blatant disregard for the sprint coming up. Behind the peleton seemed content with letting the chips fall as they may, giving the break the chance to fall short. Chris C and Ralph A? did jet off the front right before the hill kicked. Up front, the 2 leaders worked well together and Hunter P easily got the points as Chris B didn’t contest after being the early afterburners for the escape.

      The ride came back together on the backside without any incident or anyone thinking about attacking. Chris C did seem feisty during a couple of moments but the field was attentive or the lights were red, keeping everyone together. Together aaaaaaaaall the way back into Cheshire and over 322. The pace was tempo at best. Guido again picked up the slack up front on a couple of occasions. Going up the false flat on Peck, no real action... The ride has gotten too friendly as of late. More people need to be less concerned with looking like they are calm and composed and actually try to fight their way off the front.

      The run in to the Stop n Shop sprint was fast, with a few guys getting an early jump, ( Ciocci, Nuemotion, Chris C, The Full Nalini, etc ) Chris B was back at it and this time he brought Little T up across the gap, T had little problem taking it over Chris C and the 1 or 2 others that put up a fight. Moving thru Cheshire was uneventful, as an early red light let all catch back on and gave no one the chance to sneak off.

Once past all the lights, Ciocci fired things up on the front and then Guido continued pulling the field single file. It settled down but with the smaller field left on the road, the battle for the sit n sprint would end up shredding the peleton. The Full Nalini.The Gibertoni, and Little T ended up in front of the remains, with T taking it with a last minute surge, coming out of the Gibertoni's shadow. Up the hill chris B took it over Mountain Man, Hunter P, and the Gibertoni.

Good ride everyone!

Tuesday the 16th

One of those weeks....

    The SG ride seemingly came back from vacation today with a good sized crowd out. Good to see several new faces out today. Still missing Hacker and Guido but soon enough they will be back. The ride got going pretty soon after route 10 and by the crap road section it was full gas. Mike McG led the field thru there at a good clip but there was no real attacks to try and break the front. As the ride was barreling toward Mountain Rd, a small group was pushing off the front led by Ryan RazzleDazzle Serbel from Aetna, new rider L.A. recently moved in from Cali, Max from CVC, Rusty, and Timmy Hip. Timmy Hip was rockin hiking shoes / MTBike clod hoppers today but still managed to mix it up in the front when he wasn't blowing by corners. Maybe the shoes are a new type of resistance training among the hipster elite. Sure enough, with no one calling out "take a left you turkeys" that handful of riders blew by Mountain Rd. They didnt all make it back to the peleton despite a general slow-down for a unusually generous 100 meters or so.
    There was plenty of firepower up front heading down Mountain Rd with a bunch getting involved up front. A small group was breaking free by the second set of risers but it was soon back together again. Dillon P once again lined up the troops for a fast run at the light but gaps formed and he ended up leading no one out.  The light was red as red gets anyway. The speed slowly got going on Moss Farms, giving Young Suto, Spencer from Yale, Special Ed and one more a chance to ride free. The responce was slow with a couple of riders trying to get a bridge going ( Ciocci, Mike McG, Tall Dennis, Danbury Audi, etc ) The gap held up to the corner and then the Chicane. Once on the hill to Marion, Chris C led the charge and came up and thru to the group, taking along Ciocci with him. That made a pretty solid group up the road by 50 or so meters. The gap would slowly come back down and by the turn for the short loop, it was all back together. Hunter P countered with an attack, taking along a new rider from Central Wheel but that was short lived after the newbie shut off the throttle.
    Mount Vernon was slow to start and a Yalie ( CXC Chris?! ) took advantage by slipping off the front for a while. He dangled out there until the run-in to the false flat which is still an eighth mile of packed dirt and gravel. The ride slowed up for the narrow passage over the dirt but near the front and stomping it was Joe K. Close behind and bridging up was Gregg F and Hunter P. Those 3 made it out of the sector at speed and with a gap and went to work on the Team Time Trial. Behind, the pace quickly got back up to speed after the crappy road and the strong guys in the peleton went to high alert with the threat up the road building a gap. Mike McG, Special Ed, Little T, Rusty, The Gibertoni, Spencer etc. Several involved in a fast chase. The gap held up nearly to the turnaround, Special Ed jumped out at the last moment to bridge and try to coax a counter but it was it all coming back together.
    Going into the corner for Welch a new guy in a Zane's kit who's done the ride a couple of times but has been racing a lot this year dove a bit too hard and snapped his wheel out from under him. He went down hard. Everyone stopped. It took a little bit to ascertain the damage. Hopefully he is not that hurt. He rang the ol bell a bit and got a little scraped up but was on his way to remounting and riding it off when the first shifts of the bike drove the rear derailleur into the spokes and tore the hanger off. That made for a further delay and eventually one rider ( Andy Lawson? ) elected to stay with him and wait for vehicular transport. Again, hope he is ok and back up near the front soon!
    The pace picked up slowly after that. Some guys had already elected to ride on, some detoured home, and still others who were backtracking for whatever reason where stymied in the search for the missing peleton. Eventually, after 20 minutes or so, it was all back together, heading south on Atwater. Ryan S was back in the fold as well as Max and that seemed to motivate the pace up front a bit. It didnt get going though till Peck Lane when Young Suto, Alec C, Thomaas B, and Spencer? got off the front early on. That was soon brought on the false flat with Mike McG, Max, and Ryan S driving the front. That would split off a dangerous group of 5 or 6 heading over the old train tracks and toward route 10. The response from the field was swift and it was all together for the corner back onto Route 10.
     The pace stayed high though as the run-in to the Stop n Shop sprint came up quick. Chris C lead out all but behind him directly was the new Central Wheel rider and Serbel, both pretty much unawares of the sprint point. They did their best at responding when Little T and Jacinto came shooting by but it was a 2 man dance to the line with T staying out in front of Jacinto just barely. Those 2 kept up a gap heading into the center of town and would be joined by the new Central Wheel rider (name?) and Hunter P. That made for aa group of 4 with a gap, although Jacinto would drop off, making it 3. That trio would get some breathing room when a couple of red light stopping the field. Once it got going again past the center of town, it got quick again on the front. The leading 3 would work well into Hamden but broke apart with about 750 meters to go as the peleton came into view and was bearing down hard on the front. Little T just barely escaped Ciocci and The Gibertoni, who had distanced themselves after a solid leadouts from Dillon P and Mike McG. Up the hill was mostly stragglers and Chris B was the first to the top to claim that prize.

Tuesday the 9th

The ride that never takes no vacation!

A slightly smaller than the usual crowd out tonight for the ride. Vacations and injuries ( heal up quick Guido! ) taking the toll on attendance. It was also a special night up the 'Rent so there were a few SG regulars up there... But they ( and others who rarely venture south to Throwdown ) will surely be checking this write-up so which is the better ride???

Anyway, the ride was kicked off by Dillon P, Mountain man and Peter K. The field kept up a decent clip to Mountain Rd where it kicked it up a bit thanks to a lot of guys cycling thru the front. The peleton came up to the light on 68 and made it thru without any drama which kept the speed up for Moss Farms. The usual suspects led the way thru the Chicane and up to Marion.... Mike McG, Special Ed, Nathan C, and Little T as well.
    Once onto Mount Vernon it was more Mike McG and Special Ed, trying to spur everyone else on while simultaneously looking for a opportunity to get off the front. The field was riding no-nonsense tonight though and it was mostly all together. The road construction on the false flat section helped tamp down any would-be attackers as the ride went thru the now 200 meters of dirt at a safe, neutral pace.... Let's all pat ourselves on the back for being reasonable bike riders!
    Once it got going again, all eyes fixed on the turn-around... And without anyone to upset the script, Little T walked away with it with little fuss. Chris B tried to sneak one but to no avail. Once everyone got up and over the hill, the speed slowed a bit and the ride back over 322 and into Cheshire was slower than usual. Fast forward to the Stop n Shop sprint cause there was little action till then. Jacinto has been on a tear lately with the sprint there and maybe got a bit a little too eager to nab another. He ended up leading out Little T textbook style and had to settle for runner-up.
     From there the ride got a pleasant dose of green lights heading back into Hamden and the Po-Po left everyone alone. Yay again for the SG ride. No accidents, crashes, or intervention from law enforcement... Can the Renshlerrr race say that?!
      Little T took the end sit n sprint and up the hill Chris B nabs a prize for the night, going up and over Mountain Man.
     Hopefully the ride is back at it's full YEE-HAW strength next week.

Tuesday the 3rd

Safety check required?

     It was one of those weird kind of rides tonight. The weather held out it and it was as nice as it been for any week so far this year. There was a decent size crowd out for the ride. Good to see Alec C back on the back after taking a few weeks to heal up after being "curbed" by a car. The usual suspects got things going once off route 10. Mike McG took a good pull to stretch things out thru the crap road section and that led to Owen F and Hunter P getting a gap that didnt last too long. Chris C stepping up in the role of bridge-ehh-chase-ehh-just-go-hard. From there things stayed quick up to Mountain Rd. A late surge on the initial risers there spit a group off the front. Mike McG, Hutner P, Paul Casey, a Bikers Edge rider and one other. Despite some good speed from the group it was brought back soon after. From there it was fast with the tailwind heading to the light. Late on Mountain, Dillon P kept the pace high at the very front for a little longer than what's usual for the ride, giving Hunter P a chance to jump off in a good spot to perhaps get the light. Along for the ride was Tall John and Special Ed. Sure enough the light showed green for longer than usual, probably thanks to the 2 cars that were there tripping the sensor. Hunter P, Tall John, Special Ed made it thru clean and in the gap to the peleton was Little T, Chris C, and Rory D. Those 3 squeezed thru the light and the rest of the peleton stopped and waved bye bye to the group of 6. 

        The leaders jumped right into breakaway mode, although even early on, a couple of the riders were skipping pulls. The pace up to 322 in the lead group was solid, if not slightly unimpressive. Behind in the field, the strong guys left in the group who were feeling left out got straight to to the task of upping the pace to try to mount a chase. Nuemotion, Guido, The CCB Toss-up, Jacinto and Mike McG foremost among them. The break was in sight as the peleton stopped for the red light on 322 but it was still going to take some strong riding to bring it back.

       Nothing much to report on either side of the ride for the next few miles. In the peleton, a couple of noteworthy turns up or off the front were had by Joe K, Nathan C, Yalie Adam and Ciocci. In the break, Special Ed, his own best client, apparently reached the prescribed riding for the day and decided to peel off halfway down Mount Vernon. That left the lion's share of the work to Little T, Chris C and Hunter P. No deal was struck approaching the turnaround, no breakaway truce made, so the speed went down as guys were eyeing each other or trying to collect themselves for the fireworks. The break was still out of sight on Mount Vernon, but once on Welch, the peleton could see the riders up ahead, which definitely put some more motivation in the pedals.

       For the sprint, Chris C, Hunter P and Little T took turns with Hunter P ending up in front for the last section. He tried the ol surprise jump from a little too far away, off the front, and it was enough to get a quick gap on Little T with a solid 175-250 meters to go. T clawed back but a late surge kept Hunter P in front by half a bike. Behind, Mike McG has rocketed off the front and was alone for a while, quickly making up the gap. Joe K and Chris B tried to team up on the chase and that got the rest of the field going. The leaders slowed to led the rest of the break come back but instead of the 2 guys, it was the whole field bearing down and so gruppo compacto once again and the elusive long bomb breakaway stays out of reach for another week.

      The ride back from there was uninteresting and slow-ish in the headwind. Chris C stayed up there and Guido rescued the pace at a couple of points heading back to 322. There was no full stop at the changing light there which made for some abrupt breaking, shouting and wheel molesting. Couple of guys went down but it was more like a mountain bike dab with a little game of twister thrown in. That slowed things down and it took a little while to get going again.... Long enough to not have anything to say about the ride till the Stop n Shop Sprint. Guido, Paul Casey and Mike McG were up there driving it along. Jacinto snuck up at the last moment and jumped hard, taking along Mike McG. Mike put in a good sprint but Jacinto get this one for the second week in a row.

      The only interesting part of the ride back from there was the unscheduled pit stop the group made for Cheshire's tallest police officer. He kindly reminded the group that 2 abreast is the law and that anyone who rides a full Proteam kit with matching bike needs to have the legs ( and twitter followers ) to back that up. Seriously though, he makes a good point. Let's take this moment to thank whatever residents of Cheshire ,Southington, ( and their Police forces ) that put up with our crap every Tuesday night. You all are the best. We are just a bunch of sissy bike rides... And some of us can't even do that very well. Let's all try to ride more civil-like while in the center of town.

       Back to the ride where it again took a while to get going. The finale was Little T up against Guido, who was a little late to the party. The Full Nalini, Thomaas B, Ciocci (?), Rusty, and Paul Casey were up there in the mix but Little T gets this over the hard charging German. He gets rewarded for this by promptly being taken out by the flying squirrel by the bike trail crossing. No real harm done. Though it was a weird way to end up a weird night. Up the hill Mountain Man and Tall Dennis started things out, Chris B took over, and then Hunter P sprinted all else to the top.

Tuesday the 25th

Back to your regularly scheduled ride

    The weather finally held out for the most part and we had a ride. Chris C and a couple of others ( Timmy Hip, Dillon P etc ) drove the pace early on. There were a couple of points when there was a brief gap to the front 5 or 6 riders but after everyone got going in the heat it was game on. Downer moment of the week when the ride, moving fast after re-connecting with the lead group, came up on the corner for North Brooksvale and some hesitation ( read; flying thru the stop sign was not happening ) caused some riders to chain reaction break and Dave on the Jamis went over his bars. The ride full stopped to make sure he was ok and ride worthy and then slowly got going again.
    It took a little while to get back up to full steam but the action started up again on Mountain Rd. Half the field was still getting going from the stop and the other half was ready to rock n roll, the heads of state were behind the action which made for an interesting cruise down Mountain Rd. Chris C was leading a bunch of riders off the front along with Nuemotion, Dillon P, and a couple of others. Guys were in between, not able to bridge and unwilling to get caught. No one took advantage of the situation with a well timed attack. The wind seemed to be turning into the faces with dark clouds up ahead and that buffeted the motivation to really turn the screws. The Peleton would slowly come around and round everyone up just in time for the red light on 68.
    Once onto Moss Farms, it was Hunter P and Matt F from Devils Gear kicking things off, with Kyle Foley ( good to see him out on the ride ) and Mike McG picking up the slack after that. Late on Moss Farms, Hunter P, Mike McG and one other tore off a gap that they could have taken into the chicane, but cars at the intersection brought it all together. Chris C hit the front on the hill up to Marion and that turned into a trio of Nuemotion, Hunter P and Chris C off the front for a brief bit but as is often the case, attacks are rarely held from there to the light on 322. The CCB toss-up worked well at bringing the gap back and then pressing on but it was gruppo compacto to the light.
    Mount Vernon = boring, anemic pace as the stormy headwind plus wet roads distracted everyone from riding with any kind of respectable speed. The only one to peg it during the long run in to the corner was Mike McG, who took off and held a solo gap going into the false flat. A surge in the final meters for the corner, led by a couple of Yalies ( Spencer mostly ) and Thomaas B got things going toward the sprint. Once on Welch, Hunter P kicked it off followed by CCB. By the end of Welch, it slowed again and was bunching up. Huge amount of guys hit the hill in front... Plenty of strong accelerations but it was all into stacked up traffic waiting to turn so the whole front of the ride slowed to almost a stop for the corner onto West St.
    Chris C lit it up after thru the corner with a couple of guys in tow. Chris B moved up along with the Real-Brian-from-Stage-1. Late getting up to the front, coming across the gap was Jacinto. Behind Little T and Hunter P left it too late and couldnt bridge the gap. The trio of Jacinto, Chris B and The Real Brian went up and over Chris C and from there it was Jacinto getting to the sprint ahead of all others.
   The usual downhill attacking was there afterwards but it was all sewed up by red lights once again. From there it was business as usual heading back towards Cheshire. Once onto Atwater, Hunter P and a new guy from Zane's teamed up to try to pull a fast on the field but that wasn't going to be allowed.
    Fast forward to the incline on Peck ln where Timmy Hip, CCB and Chris C were drilling it single file but not enough to get a gap. That turned into Thomaas B getting to the hill on Route 10 first, followed by Hunter P with a gap to the next traffic light. The run to the Stop n Sprint was held up by a red light but the pace picked up pretty quickly after it. A small group had the gap needed to sprint it out and it was taken by Little T over Yalie Spencer. After the sprint, a group stayed on the gas on got a light in their favor. Little T, Jacinto, Half the CCB duo?, Danbury Audi, Timmy Hip and a couple of others... Maybe someone can list all the names as credit is due the group, who stayed off the front easily after the peleton got caught by a couple more lights. To the guys in the pack who threw caution to the wind to try and get somewhere ahead of the rest, sorry... No shout-outs here... Next time, work harder, earlier to make sure you get in the group that takes all the marbles. We will however give some props to Stephen Gibertoni, who very nearly got taken out by a SUV coming out of Mount Sanford Rd late down Route 10. Glad he swerved so fast... That woulda been ugly.

Tuesday the 18th

Rain!

Tuesday the 11th

The ride at the end of the Rainbow....

    The weather looked ominous but it didnt stop a hardy crew of about 25 from hitting the soaked tarmac. The pace out of the lot was pretty quick as everyone wanted to get it started to take the minds off of the rain. Thank fully the pace wasnt too fast for Guido and The New Tommy D to catch on. They were a little late and had to use the length of Route 10 plus a little to catch up with the group. Up front, the ride was quickly made fast by Hunter P and Chris C. Those 2 plus Tall John would trade attacks/surges for the opening 20 minutes or so. Gaps, when they happened were brief, never more than 30-50 meters. Guys like Todd H, The Full Nalini, Pescatore, Rusty, Little T, Ciocci, and maybe one or 2 more were up there, keeping the pace high behind the guys who thought they could escape.
     The ride moved onto Moss Farms where Chris C kept the pace high and when Learner's Permit Tommy moved up and started to pitch in, it was enough to split a group off the front along with Ciocci and Pescatore and Special Ed?. That would be brought back a little before the Chicane and the next one to go was Hunter P who took off halfway up the hill He was allowed to go up the road for a bit but was reeled in as the ride was heading over the overpass. 
    Once the ride was past the light on 322, Guido moved up and pushed the Mount Vernon intro pace along with Special Ed. Hunter P took off again after the left and no one went with him. He would get maybe 8 meters up the road and held it for a little while. Tommy D, Guido and Chris C were the ones to do most of the chasing and it was all together as the ride came up to the false flat section. Little T and Hunter P led the group up thru that section and after the false flat, Rory D found himself alone in the headwind. He put his head down and rode out a gap as the rest of the pack seemed to be re-grouping. Central Wheel Paul soon jumped up and bridged to his teammate, making it 2 up the road. That got things going with quick responses from Ciocci, Pescatore, Chris C and others. It would come back together 500 meters later and when it did, Special Ed, Chris C, and Hunter P jumped off the front. They were joined by Rusty and the group of four started to work on a gap as the turn loomed ahead. The field wouldn't take it lying down and it was brought back to a couple of seconds as everyone when thru the corner. Hunter P kept on the gas and led all the length of Welch with Ciocci the only other one touching the wind. Hunter P opened it up on the hill but was it was soon Chris B, Chris C and Little T getting up front and making their way on West St. Chris B would end up leading out Little T straight into backed up traffic which minimized the sprinting action. Even tho there were plenty of riders cued up behind Chris B and Little T, it was easily taken by Alessio.
     There were a few guys up there ready to keep the pressure on and sure enough Chris C and Rory D got a good hand and made it thru a light that was turning. It stopped the field aaaaaand put the group in contact with an irate driver who didnt like having to watch out for the pack as we all went over the highway. Plenty of car horns were sounded. The riders in the pack responded like any self-respecting SG rider would.... By more disrespectful riding! It was soon a distant memory and everyone resumed chasing the leaders down. Hunter P, Tommy D , Chris B, all drilling it down the hill and on to Atwater St. The pace was enough to split the group and that situation was only exaggerated by Chris B and Hunter P hitting it hard as the ride came up to 322 again. Hunter P got a gap on the hill by the underpass and he made it up to the 2 leaders just in time to be stopped by the red light on 322, where both groups of the peleton came back together.
     French Casey got things going as the ride got to Peck lane, more drilling it by Chris C and Hunter P split a group of 4 off the front ( HutnerP, Chris C, The Full Nalini and Tommy D). That made for a dangerous group up the road and the field responded as such. Nearing the top of the false flat on Peck, wit the lead group shedding a rider or 2, the peleton caught back on. From there it was status quo getting back onto Route 10 and heading up to the sprint. Guido and Chris B made no attempt to hide their solid leadouts and it let Little T get another as he went unchallenged for the sprint point there.
     On the backside of the sprint effort, Todd H hit the front to get the jump on the group as the deadly lights of Cheshire came up next. As per usual, cars and lights kept the action sedate and everyone rolled thru together. There were no surprised heading back into Hamden. For the finale, more strong riding up front from Chris B broke off a little gap for a couple of guys. It looked like Nuemotion and The Full Nalini would run away with it but the wind left the sails just as quick as it came.... That gave a chance for Little T to ride up thru plenty of riders and use the momentum to get to the final meters first.
    Up The hill, Little T went for the unheard of "Baker's Dozen" and tried to get all the prizes on the night. Hunter P was able to out kick him up the hill in front of Tall Dennis and Chris B.