This is a continuation of my post on this year’s RAIN ride–one person’s experience–just a small slice of everything that went on that day.
Last we heard I was changing a flat I shouldn’t ever have had, still in Terre Haute. After that our group continued along without problems. It was great seeing those bank signs showing 62 degrees. We made a brief SAG stop around mile 20 and took our first real break at Rest Stop 1 at 231 and US 40. There we saw a few friends on bikes, and a number of club members volunteering to run the site. All was working smoothly. They had plenty of Port O’ Johns, requiring only a short wait. It was my first experience with the water set-up where you get to choose your own GatorAde flavor in liquid concentrate. It worked well. It was also my first time to fill up with ice. I really appreciated having plenty of ice available at every stop. It would have been critical if the weather had been much hotter.
Continuing along we made it to Plainfield for the second stop. There we picked up another BBCer, Thom Simmons, who joined our group. Note all the nice shade!
Then we had the stretch on smaller roads as we worked our way south of Indy. This is an area where having good signage is very important. I can say that the combination of road marking and signs at turns was quite effective. Those back roads are a lot rougher and some of the chip and seal rattled my bones a bit and bothered my wrists.
We eventually got to the lunch stop in Franklin Township. Again it was well-organized, although a bit spread out, wrapping around the building. By this time of day, around 1:30 or so the lunch stop was probably beginning to wind down a bit. Having the pre-made lunches in bags was pretty effective. There was no wait to get food. Those Port o Potties were starting to get really hot in the afternoon sun, though.
Continuing along I really enjoyed new ice and drink stop just before getting back on US 40. We pulled into the shade and had some quick snacks and drinks. John Bassett was running the stop and snapped a photo of our group.
As Kathy said when she saw the photo: 110 miles and all still smiling! By this time we were all out beyond our longest rides of the year up to then.
We had another couple of brief SAG stops with Letha Taylor and Mark Gelhausen, plus the Dunreith stop at mile 129. At the latter we took our time. I had two popsicles and two cold orange drinks, used the facilities, even took off my shoes for awhile. Ken tried the mister and came back with a wet bandana over his head, under his helmet.
Altogether the last 50 miles were something of a slog, as expected. That’s the time when you just have to buckle down and get the job done.
We actually out did ourselves toward the end, and arrived a little before we were predicting earlier in the day, rolling into the finish at 7:28. As the first-time finisher in our group, Gail led the charge up the final rise and into the finish line at Earlham.
We were all in a bit of a daze (at least I was) but none of us fell over or passed out. We appreciated being greeted by friends and volunteers at the finish line and had several pictures taken.
From that point on it was time for a little relaxing, a cold soda, and soon a warm shower. Even at 8 pm the showers were really busy, with a line, so that the showers didn’t even get turned off between riders.
Then it was time to head home, with a quick stop for a bite to eat and to fill the gas tank. We finally arrived back in Bloomington around midnight, tired but happy.
A special thanks to a first-rate group to ride with, including CE Taylor, Ken Dau-Schmidt, Kathy Cummins, Gail Morell, and (for the last 100 miles) Thom Simmons. A double thank you to our SAG drivers, Letha Taylor and Mark Gehlhausen. And a triple thank you to RAIN director Jim Schroeder, his core of volunteer assistants, and the large cadry of club volunteers whose help made the day possible.
P.S. Many more photos and even movies are available on the web. Check out the RAIN Facebook page if you haven’t already.