We had the best weather conditions in years for the 10th annual Ride Across Indiana (RAIN) on July 13. We even had a nice tailwind to make the last 60 miles on US 40 a little easier. Too bad our entries were down. Maybe a lot of people were still fried from last year's heat!
Kent McPherson and crew did an excellent job of organization. This type of ride is a logistical nightmare. Kent should be commended for taking on the task, in addition to what he already had with the Hoosier Hills Tour. His efforts are greatly appreciated by the rest of us.
And now for the bad news... As one of the three people who have done all 10 RAIN rides (Dave and Steve Gerbig are the other two) and a former organizer, I feel that I am qualified to speak about the problems RAIN is facing. In past years I have complained about the behavior of the lead group and their personal support vehicles (PSVs). This year is no exception. The rules are very clearly stated in the pre-ride information. Riders must obey the rules of the road (stop at the lights, etc.). PSVs must not block traffic and must stay off the two lane roads around Indianapolis. It is impossible to police 162 miles of road to make sure these rules are followed. We have an escort through the lights of Terre Haute, which probably initiates the "blow light" mentality.
This year I went up and down the lead pack to remind everyone to stop at the lights in Brazil and the response I got was, "Yeah, right!" Sure enough, when we got there, very few stopped. The behavior of the PSVs wasn't much better. There's a van from "MBC" (county 29 license plate) that has become progressively more annoying over the past several years. They drive in the left lane next to their rider passing bottles via a tray attached to the passenger side window, blocking traffic and creating a nuisance. But worst of all, they do the same thing on the two lane roads around Indianapolis, in the left lane facing traffic, as if no one else needed the road! Although these people are the worst, there are other PSVs that come close to their level of irresponsible behavior. We certainly aren't winning any friends along the RAIN route, especially on the two lane roads south of Indy. It's not surprising that motorists dislike bicyclists. We deserve it!
But the tops for immature behavior during RAIN '96 goes to the rider from the lead group who sat in his PSV for 10 miles, then rejoined the pack and proceeded to hammer the rest of the way to Richmond, "winning" the ride that's not supposed to be a race. The same guy held onto his PSV (a Jeep) in 1992 to get "pulled" back to the pack when he fell behind. Several other riders were seen drafting their PSVs to catch up to the pack. Is this kind of behavior acceptable in any other cycling event? No way! To his credit, Kent disqualified the sandbagger and had a talk with the MBC van.
If this kind of behavior is going to continue, as a club we need to make some tough decisions about the future of RAIN. If it is going to be treated as a race by a few riders in the front then we have to do the things that are necessary to make a race safe, i.e., marshalled corners, police at the lights, etc. We certainly can't do that. If it's not a race then why do we have a mass start and give people times and places? I'm not so naive as to think that we can put a bunch of people on bikes, point t hem towards Richmond, and expect them not to race, but we have to consider safety above all else and the behavior of the lead group is anything but safe. I'll propose three ideas, none of which are very good, with the hope that this will stimulate discussion:
Riding across the state in one day is a great idea and RAIN is a great ride, but if we don't do something to correct the immature and irresponsible behavior of a few of our participants we are asking for trouble.
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