It was a great time at the RAIN ride...a bit warm but otherwise a beautiful day. I finished the ride (~160 miles) in 10hours/ 47 minutes which placed me #323 out of 1200 riders...not bad for a 52 year old codger! I took a different approach to training this year and it helped me drop my time by almost 1 1/2 hours from my last ride in 2003. First, I dropped a significant amount of weight...almost 90 pounds. Then, instead of just cycling I did a lot of cross training...running, swimming and weight lifting. It resulted in me feeling stronger in the second half of the ride than in the first half...in fact I had negative splits! My next goal (besides the Chicago marathon) is to find a double century...anyone know of a good one somewhere near Indiana? Frankp