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It's been a few years since I have ridden one of my favorite rides in Indiana. It's the RAIN (Ride Across INdiana) RAIN - Central Indiana Cycling It's a “One Day, One Way” event. I've ridden this 3 other occasions. This was the first time since 2018. The weather was favorable with a nice pair of legs. I made a sub-8hr crossing. Okay, that's enough gloating, reliving yesteryear.
This ride was a little different. One thing, I'm older (62), and not as well trained as previous events.
Another difference was the group organizing the ride had changed to CIBA (Central Indiana Bike Assc.) had taken over the event. With this change, ushered in new ideas and new routes. There was the 168 and a new 205 miles route. Both routes had many new roads to see.
When a person becomes sober, they stop drinking and become serious and sensible. That is when you seem to make the best decisions. In cycling, my clearest is probably on the bike. When I'm in the easy chair, I think hopping on the bike and cranking out 200 miles is a good way to spend a Saturday. I tell myself, “I've done 160 with miles in the tank. Let's go!”
There's the setup, aging man reliving the good old days.
Leading up to the ride, my time was spent Zwifting. I would complete 2 rides in 2 hours at an exhausting speed. Most of the rides throttled by the pollen in the air and my lungs. I did notice my 20min. output was down 20%. I can't say I was over trained. I was under but didn't want to train harder.
Ride day: The weather forecast is really good. Overcast skies and low chance of rain. Previous years have been hot and sunny, that's the pits. I took my place in line, of about 400 riders, based on your expected finishing time. That really didn't matter. 50' after the starting line, we went up a 10' hill. I'm not clipped in, not in low gear. I didn't stand a chance on my Vendetta. I was pushing it up the hill. I thought it was shameful walking past all the people videoing the grand start. After letting most of the riders pass me, I then began to make up ground in the early miles. It was a nice feeling blasting through the streets of Terre Haute. My legs were fresh. Zoom zoom.
At 34 miles was the first SAG stop. I carried 3 water bottles, so I chose to skip that SAG. In previous years, with more riders, that stop is a big time waster by standing in various lines. I continued rolling on, watching my 20 min. watt avg. fade. I started around 160w. Now around 130w. There was still a big number of miles ahead of me. Luckily the clouds were out with a little mist in the air, what a bonus.
Around 55 miles in, I passed a rider. He called out my name. I slowed up to talk. It was my second cousin. We spoke prior to the start and he, being the young buck he is, wanted to ride with the lead peloton for as long as he could. Instead of naturally falling off the back and saying goodbye. He pushed up a hill and a few more miles. When I passed him, he was recovering. We rode together for a few miles. At the top of a big hill, I let her roll. I saw 47mph on the screen. A half mile later my cousin caught up. He said that he often uses hills to pull away from competitors. He said that he didn't have anything on me.
The 2nd SAG was at 61miles in Mooresville. It was nice to get off the bike recharge the water bottles and snack up. I lived in Mooresville over 30 years ago. I did not recognize many of the roads. I think my brain is starting to write over unused data.
We continued across the far south side of Indy. Watching the mileage click up. My energy was still declining. One time the 20min. avg. showed 100w. That was not too impressive, but I felt it. I was counting the miles to the next SAG stop.
SAG 3: 89 miles and lunch. I was feeling every bit of 89 miles. I grabbed a sandwich, chips and a cookie and sat down next to my cousin. As we ate and caught up, I took a bit of the sandwich and there was little saliva in my mouth. Eating the pretzels was really tough. Everything I ate had a liquid chaser. I drank 2 big water bottles before I was finished eating and ready to hop back on the bike. The sun had peaked out. It was about noon, 80 deg. & 100% humidity with the sun starting to peak out. BTW, that is my cousin in the DINO jersey. He manages DINO events. Their events may include all things but road biking. You might canoe, mountain bike and trail run in the same race. Check it out if that's your bag. https://www.dinoseries.com/
The next segment to the ride was the flattest. This part of the ride I was most familiar. In 2018 Cruzbike had a Strava KOM challenge. Attain the most KOM's and you win a tee shirt, or something like that. This road had a previous KOM of mine. Someone took it by 8 seconds. No big deal. That ship has sailed for me. After I collected the KOM's that summer, I didn't value them as much as I thought. The value to me was in the pursuit of getting them.
SAG 4: 115 miles. I was able to make it to Morristown without losing much power. My average speed had slipped, from a high of 19.7 to 18.5. even with that, I still was optimistic on my finish. I did the typical stuff at the SAG and took to the road again.
SAG 5: The fork in the road. Dunreith was the SAG where the routes divided. The short route heads East and the long route to the North. I was really quite tired at this point. I had spent the last 4 hours riding with a 100w avg. I had to decide if I had 60 or 30 miles left in me. While talking to two different people at this stop, it may have told me why I'm here. While enjoying an icey pop, something that is unique about this SAG, I told someone that in previous years I've ridden this ride and still had more in the tank. That is when I asked myself, Why not 200 miles? That may have been the reason 200 miles sounded so good in the easy chair. In another conversation, I told someone that I do things that I did in my youth to make me think I'm young. I may need to revisit that subject with my therapist.
I got back on the bike headed north to Muncie and leave the short route behind. I continued to plod along. I wasn't making enough power to make my knees or legs hurt. I kept drinking and the pedals turning. Again, I spent much of the time watching the mileage click down and the thinking of the next rest stop.
I would say I have pretty thick skin with all the miles I've ridden with cars. While I was riding on a 2 lane state highway. There was one spot that I was on the white line, a semi was 55mph next to me and traffic in the other lane. That was too close for comfort and illegal if you get caught. I didn't have my pucker meter hooked up or I would have recorded the event on my computer. It would have been a big number.
SAG 6: Last SAG. I had looked forward for this stop, literally, all day long. One reason, I wanted a change of roads. The last 15 miles of chip and seal roads about rattled the fillings out of my teeth. Another reason, the path to the finish line was a rails to trails project. Somewhat flat with tree covers. I also wanted to stop and rest. They gave me a sticker showing that I made it to the 200-mile sag stop. After 20 minutes of eating cookies and water it was time to take it home. I called Lisa with an ETA and headed out.
One nice thing about that trail is the last 4 miles are gentle downhill. I was cruising at 23mph knowing the end is near. I covered 200 miles in 13:20 (including stops) and finished the 204 miles about 12mins, later.
I'll keep from waxing too long on my Vendetta. I know, I would not have enjoyed the ride as much or possibly attempted this on an upright bike. The Bike was great. The motor needs a little work.
The ride was a good event. The new route was marked well enough a rider without a computer could stay on track. SAG stops were volunteered well and seemed to have plenty of food.
Thanks to my wife Lisa that supported me at each end of the ride and prayer in between.
www.strava.com
It's been a few years since I have ridden one of my favorite rides in Indiana. It's the RAIN (Ride Across INdiana) RAIN - Central Indiana Cycling It's a “One Day, One Way” event. I've ridden this 3 other occasions. This was the first time since 2018. The weather was favorable with a nice pair of legs. I made a sub-8hr crossing. Okay, that's enough gloating, reliving yesteryear.
This ride was a little different. One thing, I'm older (62), and not as well trained as previous events.
Another difference was the group organizing the ride had changed to CIBA (Central Indiana Bike Assc.) had taken over the event. With this change, ushered in new ideas and new routes. There was the 168 and a new 205 miles route. Both routes had many new roads to see.
When a person becomes sober, they stop drinking and become serious and sensible. That is when you seem to make the best decisions. In cycling, my clearest is probably on the bike. When I'm in the easy chair, I think hopping on the bike and cranking out 200 miles is a good way to spend a Saturday. I tell myself, “I've done 160 with miles in the tank. Let's go!”
There's the setup, aging man reliving the good old days.
Leading up to the ride, my time was spent Zwifting. I would complete 2 rides in 2 hours at an exhausting speed. Most of the rides throttled by the pollen in the air and my lungs. I did notice my 20min. output was down 20%. I can't say I was over trained. I was under but didn't want to train harder.
Ride day: The weather forecast is really good. Overcast skies and low chance of rain. Previous years have been hot and sunny, that's the pits. I took my place in line, of about 400 riders, based on your expected finishing time. That really didn't matter. 50' after the starting line, we went up a 10' hill. I'm not clipped in, not in low gear. I didn't stand a chance on my Vendetta. I was pushing it up the hill. I thought it was shameful walking past all the people videoing the grand start. After letting most of the riders pass me, I then began to make up ground in the early miles. It was a nice feeling blasting through the streets of Terre Haute. My legs were fresh. Zoom zoom.
At 34 miles was the first SAG stop. I carried 3 water bottles, so I chose to skip that SAG. In previous years, with more riders, that stop is a big time waster by standing in various lines. I continued rolling on, watching my 20 min. watt avg. fade. I started around 160w. Now around 130w. There was still a big number of miles ahead of me. Luckily the clouds were out with a little mist in the air, what a bonus.
Around 55 miles in, I passed a rider. He called out my name. I slowed up to talk. It was my second cousin. We spoke prior to the start and he, being the young buck he is, wanted to ride with the lead peloton for as long as he could. Instead of naturally falling off the back and saying goodbye. He pushed up a hill and a few more miles. When I passed him, he was recovering. We rode together for a few miles. At the top of a big hill, I let her roll. I saw 47mph on the screen. A half mile later my cousin caught up. He said that he often uses hills to pull away from competitors. He said that he didn't have anything on me.
The 2nd SAG was at 61miles in Mooresville. It was nice to get off the bike recharge the water bottles and snack up. I lived in Mooresville over 30 years ago. I did not recognize many of the roads. I think my brain is starting to write over unused data.
We continued across the far south side of Indy. Watching the mileage click up. My energy was still declining. One time the 20min. avg. showed 100w. That was not too impressive, but I felt it. I was counting the miles to the next SAG stop.
SAG 3: 89 miles and lunch. I was feeling every bit of 89 miles. I grabbed a sandwich, chips and a cookie and sat down next to my cousin. As we ate and caught up, I took a bit of the sandwich and there was little saliva in my mouth. Eating the pretzels was really tough. Everything I ate had a liquid chaser. I drank 2 big water bottles before I was finished eating and ready to hop back on the bike. The sun had peaked out. It was about noon, 80 deg. & 100% humidity with the sun starting to peak out. BTW, that is my cousin in the DINO jersey. He manages DINO events. Their events may include all things but road biking. You might canoe, mountain bike and trail run in the same race. Check it out if that's your bag. https://www.dinoseries.com/
The next segment to the ride was the flattest. This part of the ride I was most familiar. In 2018 Cruzbike had a Strava KOM challenge. Attain the most KOM's and you win a tee shirt, or something like that. This road had a previous KOM of mine. Someone took it by 8 seconds. No big deal. That ship has sailed for me. After I collected the KOM's that summer, I didn't value them as much as I thought. The value to me was in the pursuit of getting them.
SAG 4: 115 miles. I was able to make it to Morristown without losing much power. My average speed had slipped, from a high of 19.7 to 18.5. even with that, I still was optimistic on my finish. I did the typical stuff at the SAG and took to the road again.
SAG 5: The fork in the road. Dunreith was the SAG where the routes divided. The short route heads East and the long route to the North. I was really quite tired at this point. I had spent the last 4 hours riding with a 100w avg. I had to decide if I had 60 or 30 miles left in me. While talking to two different people at this stop, it may have told me why I'm here. While enjoying an icey pop, something that is unique about this SAG, I told someone that in previous years I've ridden this ride and still had more in the tank. That is when I asked myself, Why not 200 miles? That may have been the reason 200 miles sounded so good in the easy chair. In another conversation, I told someone that I do things that I did in my youth to make me think I'm young. I may need to revisit that subject with my therapist.
I got back on the bike headed north to Muncie and leave the short route behind. I continued to plod along. I wasn't making enough power to make my knees or legs hurt. I kept drinking and the pedals turning. Again, I spent much of the time watching the mileage click down and the thinking of the next rest stop.
I would say I have pretty thick skin with all the miles I've ridden with cars. While I was riding on a 2 lane state highway. There was one spot that I was on the white line, a semi was 55mph next to me and traffic in the other lane. That was too close for comfort and illegal if you get caught. I didn't have my pucker meter hooked up or I would have recorded the event on my computer. It would have been a big number.
SAG 6: Last SAG. I had looked forward for this stop, literally, all day long. One reason, I wanted a change of roads. The last 15 miles of chip and seal roads about rattled the fillings out of my teeth. Another reason, the path to the finish line was a rails to trails project. Somewhat flat with tree covers. I also wanted to stop and rest. They gave me a sticker showing that I made it to the 200-mile sag stop. After 20 minutes of eating cookies and water it was time to take it home. I called Lisa with an ETA and headed out.One nice thing about that trail is the last 4 miles are gentle downhill. I was cruising at 23mph knowing the end is near. I covered 200 miles in 13:20 (including stops) and finished the 204 miles about 12mins, later.
I'll keep from waxing too long on my Vendetta. I know, I would not have enjoyed the ride as much or possibly attempted this on an upright bike. The Bike was great. The motor needs a little work.
The ride was a good event. The new route was marked well enough a rider without a computer could stay on track. SAG stops were volunteered well and seemed to have plenty of food.
Thanks to my wife Lisa that supported me at each end of the ride and prayer in between.
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