Tuesday the 25th

Sweet Summer Rain... Like Hong's Own Mercy

Good on everyone for getting out there despite the thread of rain. Sure enough, the sky opened up right at 5:59 in the parking lot. But just minutes later up the road over the Cheshire town line, the rain stopped. A few minutes later, it was back to dry roads for everyone. 

Early on Lucas Curly Huesman and Aaron B, both fresh off of podium'ing nearly every Tuesday night crit at the 'Rent were pushing the pace up front. It stayed fast for the first 20 min, and there were a couple of new faces pushing off the front with strong flyers. Julio L, Tautkus, Alex D'Sousa, Rosey, and Jordan Lynn, were all up front as well. Heading towards the end of Mountain Road, Erin Rand and Hunter P had a jump off the front but the light was red.

Aaron B tired to push off the front on Moss Farms and had a couple of guys willing to work (Alan B, Tautkus, Jordan Lynn, Noah B, Alex D, and maybe one or two others but it wasn't enough to break clear. Once Hong jumped across the gap, everyone kicked into 6th gear and it was all together heading past the industrial park. Heading towards 322, Aaron B continued to lead up front, as well as Jordan L. 

Once onto Mount Vernon, the pack reshuffled a bit but once back up to speed, the front was occupied once again by all those already mentioned. Estaban S, fresh off scoring some sprint points, put in a dig or two to bridge gaps to bring it all together before the set up for the sprint. Hunter P jumped and got a gap before the corner but that wasn't going very far. Jordan L, Dan Smith, Chris C and Aaron B were up front chasing but also trying to set up for the sprint. Once Hunter was caught, teammate Hongster rolled off solo and was allowed to get an initial gap that didn't look all that intimidating. Hong put in the real attack up to the corner and had enough to hold it all the way. Behind Steve B put in a solid attempt the bridge, but came up a bit short. Once everyone was onto West St, Aaron B took off at max speed, and only Hunter P was able to go with him. Those two created separation quickly and Hunter P was able to come around in the last meters to get second for the sprint. 

Hong kept on the gas and got a green light near I84, whereas the pack got held up. Magnanimously (or perhaps it was a big-time show of confidence) Hong turned around and rejoined the pack as it got going again. Either way, Hong showed himself as the strongest one out there, as he would still go onto take the finale of the ride solo. 

But to get there, everyone had to get thru the second sprint and the climb. Dan Smith attacked from 1k out, but was swallowed up on early slopes of the fast climb as Hong and Tautkus took off with an attack. Behind, Little T and Curly were able to get on and soon it was just Hong, T, and Curly flying thru the sprint alone in the break. Alan B was caught in no-mans land between them and the chase and just quite couldn't get across. 

That's the way the ride would end for the peleton. Up the road, Hong attacked the break on Coleman Rd, shedding Little T. On the next grade, he would go again, getting clear of Curly to finish solo on the night.

Great ride everyone!

Tuesday the 18th

SGR Gets a Week Off From Being Competitive 

The ride was split tonight between guys going to the final Rentschler Field race and the SGR. Little T took advantage of the lack of fire power and cleaned up on the points again... Taking all three sprints

Tuesday the 11th

Vacations decimate the group size.

Alan B stays away because it wouldn't have been hard enough for him.
The pack gets torn in two as Jordan Lynn says "I'm back in shape!"
Chris Hong rips everyone up for the midpoint sprint, and then rides off solo to finish alone. 

Tuesday Hurricane Isaias

Hurricane Isaias took all the sprint points tonight.

Tuesday the 28th

Little T takes all the sprint points!

Tuesday the 21st

Recap coming, but it will go something like the break, anchored by Tommy D, Dan Smith, and Little T, rode away. T took all the firsts. Tommy took all the seconds.

Tuesday the 14th

Big Group... But Will it Last?

An exciting day at the SGR with over 40 riders coming out as the group continues to grow week over week! Once again there was a great mix of young guns new guns old guns and Little T’s massive guns. As the group hit the road there was mucho energy but everything was calm and steady up to Mountain Rd where the hard efforts started. Aaron B had the first dig but his SRAM battery was dead, limiting him to only 1 gear. Thankfully it proved to be a sufficient enough gear for the night. He would be able to make a surprising amount of digs throughout the evening.

Hard pulls continued from the group. Little Mullaly (Little M?) came through along with Alan B, Chris C, Little T, Dan Smith, Black Jr, Special Ed, Rapha Steve, Mayor Bill, K Haug, and Curly. This bunch would keep the pace high but nothing got off the front. Jordan L joined up before Mountain Road and together with Alan B, and Special Ed had small gaps and efforts that lasted a few miles.

Heading into the turnaround, Dan Smith had a dig from a ways out, but that was swallowed up. Alan B was then upfront pushing it but it all just served to keep the pace high, and the sprinters protected. The sprint was uneventful, besides Chris C leading out Little T for a decisive mid-point sprint victory over SingleSpeeder Aaron. Heading back into Cheshire the group was again all together and going steady but once again the bridge was still out at W. Johnson, and no one wanted to trigger Chris C, so the group was put into neutral status to climb/detour around. Word on the street is that segments attempts will come after the bridge goes back into use as the enemies to the east had recently come out to steal a KOM but didn’t stick around for the actual SG ride.

Back to the action it remained steady into the Hickory Hill sprint with little T taking the sprint again and Dan Smith grabbing second. Curley got Angry Chris excited at the bottom trying to roll a red light with the group in tow and no cars in sight for miles. Chris C still gave him a mouthful (cuz... no one makes Chris C go hard without chances to recover!!!)

Curley had a dig after that but nobody was letting him go tonight after last week’s late escape. Going into the final stretch, on Tuttle Ave, a road in which the group has never seen a car before in the existence of the ride, tonight there were 3 cars all at the stop sign before the "Tuttle Bump". Of course, the cars panicked going all different ways which sent everyone on the brakes. Chris C almost lost control and had to whip out those well known CX skills to stay upright. Everyone was fine and back on the gas as everyone wanted a piece of little T for the end but it wasn’t to be. In the mad dash, it was hard to see who takes first and second loser prize. Leave remarks below. Tonight, the hattrick goes to T.

Great ride everyone! So... Are you going to race the 'Rent next week, or do SGR? Leave those comments as well.