Touring - Anyone riding in the (RAIN) Ride across Indiana?

This is a 160-mile mass start, timed event. Is anyone doing it this year? Has anyone done it in the past? I’ll be doing it for the first time Saturday. I’ve never gone more than a mile or two over a hundred at one time before. I expect the suffering to be exquisite. If the humidity doesn’t let up, I figure I’ll be hallucinating long before it’s over.

Check out this thread. People from Indiana were posting about participating in it:

http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?s=&threadid=21547&highlight=ride+across+indiana

How appropriate Michael that you put this in here at this time, cause I'm actually doing it...It'll be my first time also, maybe I'll see you there at the start...I'm coming from michigan on friday afternoon, and hopefully will be awake enought the next morning to be ready to go at 6am....I'll be wearing my club jersey and shorts along with a red cannondale road bike...The club is the Wolverine sports club, they are red white and blue...Maybe I'll see you there, if so stop me and we'll meet...Or you can PM me here and I can give you a cell phone if you'd like to call or ride with me on the ride....Do you ride with a club or group of people also??

Benjamin
in michigan

Hey Koffee Brown, I just went back and read the link that you put on for this, and I read a post that you put on that one at the time, so it prompted me to ask, did you decide to do this event or not??...It'd be cool if we could get some forum members at this ride and to mee them, like TOSRV was for me, I met 2 forum members there, it was cool....So you going??


Benjamin

Ohmygosh, no!

I don't think I'm quite ready for a ride of this caliber... not just yet. I'm building up to do a century, but I think I'd be vomiting blood if I had to do much more than that for now!

If the ride ends somewhere close to Illinois, I wouldn't mind meeting folks at the finish ride for a congratulatory dinner, though...

Koffee

Koffee -

Do you do much international touring?

Just getting started in all of that stuff. I'd hoped to do one this year, but it probably won't happen.

The upside is that I will probably start up on it again next summer and extend my vacation for at least a couple of months!

Whoops, that is- touring by bike. I've been backpacking worldwide since 1992. I've seen a little bit of the world that way.

Oh man that's a drag Koffee, oh well maybe next time, or some other year eh??...Actually the ride starts at the Illionis/indiana border and heads east..So it goes the other way...But maybe we'll see you at some other event...

Take care,
Benjamin

Where does it start? Maybe I can ride out there and see you guys off!

Koffee

Well I guess technically it starts on route 40 at the indiana/illionis border...Terra Haute is the city that I'm staying at and then go the few miles to the start on the border...Yeah that'd be cool if you came down from chicago and met us, let us know.


Benjamin

Send or post the directions and start time and dates to the start of the race, and I'll see what I can do.

Koffee

Caadman,
God I wish I had a club around here. It’s just me, the cornfields, and the ever-present headwind. I’ll pm you soon. If we are riding at the same pace, it will be nice to hook up with someone, or a group. What pace do you plan on setting?

Koffee, this is from their website:
The ride begins promptly at 6:00 a.m. from the Illinois/Indiana border on Illiana Rd. Please DO NOT drive the route backwards from Terre Haute. Take I-70 west to EXIT 154, the first Illinois exit. Turn right on Illiana Road and head back to the State Line. If you are riding your bike to the start take US 41 north 2 miles, left (west) 5.2 miles on US 40 to Illiana Road then right 1.5 miles (west) to the state line.
Is this enough info?

Oh man Michael, that must be a drag not to have a club, I used to ride by myself back when I started doing it about 10 years ago, but then I found clubs and people to ride with and it was sooo much better, so I know what you're talking about.....Well I think in order to reach my goal of doing that ride in actual ride time of less than 8 hours, I think I'll have to avg. about 20 to 25 or so...I hear that there are groups and pacelines that form, and I'll probably get involved in those so it's easier...I plan on stopping at the 65 mile rest stop and the lunch stop at 90 and then going from there to the end hopefully..My mom will be sagging for me, so hopefully everything will work out...We'll see what happens....What do you normally avg or plan on avg. for this ride, and are you going to stop also??


Koffee it would be really nice to see you there and to meet you, you sound like a cool person!.

Benjamin

Well, you’d drop me quickly. I am planning on riding at 18 MPH. The heat is going to be the deciding factor as to how many stops I’ll make. I would like to do it in under 10 hours. This last week or so, the heat/humidity have been brutal around here.

Ok that's ok, these kinds of rides I know people have to do what their bodies and capabilites allow them to do, so that's cool...Well maybe I'll see you on the route or at one of the stops?..what do you ride or wear for that ride??....I also have a riding buddy that will be doing it also, his name is Dave Webb, he hopefully will be wearing the same jersey as I will have, but he rides a red recumbent Vision bike, you might ride with him is you see him also, he's a pretty nice guy, kind of on the big side, at about 270 or so, but very nice guy.....Have a great ride and hopefully good rest of the week.


Benjamin

Whooo... 6A.M. start... I will have to see. If I can make it, I'll be wearing my bikeforums jersey so I'll be easy to spot.

Regardless, good luck to all of you!

Koffee

Yeah, it is a bit early to show up if your not riding. However it would be fun to meet some of the folks around here.

Cool Koffee and Michael, I'll look for the bikeforum jersey...Michael is that what you're wearing also??..

Benjamin

Caadman, I’ll most likely be in my ibenesto jersey. It’s blue, white, and gold. It kinda makes me look like a big Fosters can. :beer:
I’ll be on a black Trek 1200.

Cool thanks for the post Michael, I'll certianly look for you and that jersey and the bike...I think I posted what I'll have, so hopefully we'll all be able to meet, along with Koffee, that'll be nice.....Take care.


Benjamin

Where does the ride end? On the Indiana/Ohio border? At least you guys will have decent weather (finally!!) :) Probably get to see lots of flooding, though.

Be safe!

Michelle

Originally posted by BikerDawg
Where does the ride end? On the Indiana/Ohio border? At least you guys will have decent weather (finally!!) :) Probably get to see lots of flooding, though.

Be safe!

Michelle

It finishes on the Ohio side of Richmond. I’ve been wondering if there are going to be some detours because of all of the flooding. As you said, at least it looks like the weather will cooperate.

Originally posted by Michael Marshal
It finishes on the Ohio side of Richmond.

That's about an hour's drive for me....not bad. :D Again, good luck to everyone and stay dry!

Allright, I don't think I'll be able to attend the beginning of the RAIN event tomorrow. I was thinking and thinking about it, and a 6am start means I should be there by 530am, and from downtown, I don't think that's possible.

Anyway, good luck to everyone there, and please be sure to update us on how you did when you've fully recovered!

All you Indiana folks by the Illinois border- we all should make a plan to hook up at a halfway point. Us Chicagoans are not that far from where you are. We really should meet for a ride or dinner or SOMETHING!

Update us on Sunday or whenever you recover from the event!

Good luck everyone!

Koffee

I think hooking up for a ride is a great idea. Maybe we could find a century or something to ride as a group.

The RAIN is an incredible event. Very well organized. The weather cooperated, wind out of the NW and highs in the 80’s. I had a good day, finished 312th out of 800 to 900. (I don’t know how many registrants there were.) 10hrs 18 min and some seconds. I managed 18.5 mph. I’m pleased.

:eek:

Whoa, congrats Michael!

How did everyone else do? And did you guys all get a chance to meet before or after the race?

Koffee

Hey there guy's and Michael, sorry I didn't see you or get to meet you, but there were ton's of people at that ride, so I gather you understand....Man was that one huge ride!!(mileage wise I mean) Honestly between mile 100 and about 125 I was really worrieing if I would finish this event, but then my Mom met me at the corner of some Pike road and us-40 and I got some food and drink and then went on into the 131 mile rest stop and ate and drank some more, and was just fine after that 125 rest stop.....I'm really glad that I did that ride, althought I'm not sure if I'll do it again, we'll see..

I really liked it that the winds were very favorable, that helped a lot...I finished the ride in 7hours and 20 minutes and some seconds, that's ride time for me, avg was 21.9, I was really pleased, but very tired..Stoped at each rest stop, and felt that it was really well organized and everything..I think my Mom said that I finished near 120th, and I think they said that there were abotu 800 riders on it...Really cool ride!!..

Hey Koffee keep me informed if you get a group to get together and ride, if my schedule allows for it, it might be a fun weekend of riding, and a good way to meet some more forum members.

Benjamin

Congratulations on your finish! You managed to keep the hammer down the whole way. Yeah, there were just way too many people to try and find each other. On the way home, I did see a Cannondale on the back of a green suv. Yours by any chance?

I’ll defiantly be doing it next year. Now that I have a reference, I want to try and break 9 hours.

Hey thanks Michael, I would have to say that I was shocked myself at how good I did it, cause I wasen't expecting to finish in less than 7 and a half hours, so that surprized me also......Actually no that green Suv and cannondale wasen't mine, I drive a red windstar, and keep the bike inside it...But I did see a fair amount of Cannondales on that ride, so that was nice..I really like those bikes, and it's always interesting for me in my travels to see if there are cannondales on the rides..

Hey that goal of breaking 9 hours is a good one, and I wish you the best next year and in years to come in reaching it, as I said eariler I may or may not do that next year, but I'll keep it in mind..


Koffee: actually we didn't get to meet each other, cause there were just sooo many people at the start..

Benjamin

Hey guys, what about the Hilly Hundred? It’s in October. Maybe we could get a group together for that.

Yeah I think that's normally during the same weekend that CFC over in ohio is, I normally do CFC which is 100 miles a day for 2 day's of heavy climbing, so I've never done Hilly hundred, but CFC hasen't announced this years route, so I could well be up for that HHH, Michael is there a website for that??


Benjamin

Yup, http://www.hillyhundred.org/

If this ride doesn't work, there are plenty of rides going on. CFC sounds interesting.

Oh my they changed the dates of this ride Michael!!, hmm well that makes it harder because I have my vacation time all blocked up here at work, and the week after HHH I'm going to florida for the southern tandem rally, so I probably won't be able to take this time of also.. We'll see though..

Yeah that CFC is really a hard and yet interesting ride, I've done it each year since 2000 and really enjoy it, it kind of ends the road riding season for me, cause it's soo hard and after a long season of riding, I'm kind of mentally tuckered out after that...But the columbus outdoor pursuits put it on, you might want to check their website for more info, as I said earlier they haven't determined where they will be going this year, but it always starts in Lancaster Ohio, just south of columbus..Check it out,

www.outdoor-pursuits.org

then you have to select the bicycling section or something like that..

Benajmin