Candy Mountain Ride report by Jay

The first ever Candy Mountain Ride took place today. The premise of the CMR is that anyone who beats CaptainCharlie up a climb gets candy. It was Charlie's idea, based on this brilliant animated opus

While everyone knew that this would not be at all like taking candy from a baby, we had to try. The ride was made up of CaptainCharlie, AngryMark, HartailJay, ProfessorAndy, Dave Kim, Ray, Rich, and E-Town (Even though he is an Secret Henry's Riders and DCCOC member, he was so excited about this ride that he decided to move to Edison for 6 months so he could compete in the series). Side Note: Dave, Rich, and Ray need nicknames.

Le Train Rouge headed down River Rd to Mountain Ave for the first climb. When ProfessorAndy took off, Rich grabbed his wheel. I was merely interested in candy, so I sat on Charlie's wheel and everyone else joined in. ProfessorAndy rejoined the pack and Charlie started chasing down Rich (it seems he wanted to keep his candy). At the switchback I let him go, and when E-Town grabbed his wheel the two began to work together to get Rich. The Professor and AngryMark came around me, and I latched on. The dogfight was taking place in front of us, and the excitement caused Mark and me to jump. Rich was within sight and I wanted points (a meager but acceptable substitute for candy), and yet Rich held me off.

Mountain Ave
1. E-town
2. Chaz
3. Rich
4. Jay
5. AngryMark

The ride then went through Martinsville and up Mount Horeb. I must admit that I got dropped at the light on Chimney Rock Road and was not in contention (I was damn thankful for rest). I'm not sure what happened, but it probably looked like a scene from 300.

Mount Horeb
1. E-Town
2. Chaz
3, Mark
4. Andy
5. Rich

Climb 3 was to the end of Ferguson Rd on the Allesandro Loop. I would like to neutralize this climb since I don't think any of us knew it was a contested climb. However, even if this wasn't counted, I still wouldn't win any candy, so:

Mount Allesandro (newly renamed in honor of the legend):
1. Andy
2. Mark
3. Chaz
4. E-Town
5. Rich

Climb 4 took place on King George. Everything started off mellow, but a 2 man breakaway suddenly darted up the road. They'd gone so rapidly, we were working so hard, I couldn't tell who was up in the break. Charlie and Ray? Charlie and Rich? I bridged up, knowing that being on Charlie's wheel would bring me ever closer to candy. It turns out that the two guys in the break were Rich and Ray, so my effort only worked to pull the pack back together. After the slight downhill, Charlie took the lead. I made my move along his right side... I was breaking away! Or so I thought... E-Town came around me like I was standing still. Sitting in second, I could still taste the candy. AngryMark was gunning for me, but I managed to hold him off (I think... The actual top of the hill is a stop sign, so the finish of the climb is a bit before that).

King George
1. E-Town
2. Jay
3. Mark
4. Andy
5. Chaz

Today wasn't just the inaugural Candy Mountain Ride. It was also the first official Bleed From Your Eyes ride of the season. With that in mind, the Rutgers guys were also racing for overall points.

Overall (points)
1. Chaz (14)
2. Mark (12)
Andy (12)
4. Jay (7)
5. Rich (5)

Chaz's consistent, powerful riding have earned him the Bleed From Your Eyes jersey, at least until next week (jersey courtesy of Dave Kim). Still, having dominated in the hills, E-Town clearly won the day... his rides these past two days have been quite the introduction to Central Jersey training.

Next week's BFYE ride will be a sprint ride, in the form of a trackie-style Miss-and-Out with the Hermes crew. Will E-Town defend the (in spirit) jersey? Will Chaz defend the actualy jersey? Will Will will himself to victory and claim the jersey for his own? Find out next week!