So anyone doing the Hilly in October?

Just checked this out. It's good to get an idea of how close to the front our group was. I go by at 00:25 of the video and, yes, I'm the wisenheimer that hollers out "car back!" at the 00:30 mark of the video.

Always with the funny ha-ha, that CyLowe.... :rolleyes:

Thanks for posting that, DX!

How's your 15 minutes? Enjoying them? ;) :D

I said it doesn't flap in the wind that way! ;)

they accused me of re-using an old number.:eek:

First RAIN for me
 

Great reports from everybody. I sure picked a good day for my first RAIN. I was worried about doing it since my longest ride ever has been 110 miles. I've done 3 centuries and maybe 10 metrics this year with around 3500 miles, so I felt pretty good overall. I rode with the 2 guys that I ride with most weekends (we are in our mid 60's). I never saw the deer accident, but that ranks right up there with a buddy who had a squirrel run into his spokes, rotate up and snap his fork. We drafted a tandem (from Jeffersonville - thanks) for about the first 60 miles and it was pretty nice. Averaged 22 to the lunch stop, 20 at the finish, but we took 10 hours total with all of the rest stops plus an extra stop at 115 miles. Great ride.

Frank

i have only done it twice, but i totally agree with this. physical fitness and/or endurance is a key factor to completing this ride, but weather is a close second. these conditions were perfect for this ride. yeah for us 2007 RAIN Riders :D .

later.

i am telling you it was those oreo cookies at the lunch stop. someone needs to stuff those little bad boys into a gel pack for me!

i think we passed you twice and both times i was thinking, wow, she is really hauling butt for someone who isnt even stopping!!! very impresive crystal. later.

Your training sounds solid to me! You did great! Congrats on your first RAIN. Glad you posted your report....Crystal

You're sweet to say that. I always have a great smile whenever I'm getting ready to attempt something completely ridiculous! :D Loved it!

Well, after a 15yr absence, I went back to ride the Ride Across INdiana this year. My goal was to beat my time in 1992 of 8hr 43min. which was all in time with only 15min for rest/nature stops. In '92, I rode with a co-worker, and was SAG'd by several of the women from our office.This time I was riding with my brother-in-law and numerous friends of his who had motor coached down from Chicago. I had driven in from Davidson, NC with my bride, who was going to support myself, her brother, and help out with the others as necessary. We hooked up Friday for pasta, fellowship, and stories before starting out Saturday morning @ 7.
The day began cool for someone used to riding in 70-75 deg temps @ 7AM (58deg). I stayed with my group until about 5 mi. in, when there was a break in the pack ahead. I turned and looked at the group, said "Let's go, boys!" and promptly lost them all. They'd told me the night before to ride my own pace, so off I went.
Got to the first rest stop, met my wife and sister-in-law, who had bottles of HEED and Perpetuem mixed cooled, and ready to go. I also scarfed down a banana and a couple of fig bars. Unfortunately, had to make a nature call, so lost a bit of time there. Along the way, hooked up with various groups, did my pulls, shared a draft (not beer) and continued to make good time.
At the second rest stop, one of the support folks called out "45 minutes behind the lead group". Again met my support, got new bottles, and yet again answered nature (at least we know I was well hydrated). Forgot to "pause" my Polar, so probably added 7-10 min of non-riding time to my overall total.
As we came out for the run to the lunch stop, I continued to go mostly alone, as well as hooking up with various groups and individuals to share drafting duties and make it in for the lunch. Felt good and was keeping close to my targets on cadence, average HR, and time.
Got to the lunch stop, looked for my SAG, but nobody was there, and again, attended to 1st order of "business", grabbed a few bananas, two granola bars, some water, pounded those down. Called on the cell to see where my bride was. They had gotten stuck in traffic on I-70, and were about 7 min. away, so, I waited and ate a bit more of fruit, a few pretzels, and some orange. They arrived, I grabbed my bottles, and off I went.
On the portion south of Indianapolis, then back north to US 40, just continued to knock it out and traded pulls with a couple from Columbus, OH on a tandem, after they had hooked on my wheel and drafted for several miles. I would add that they, with the exception of one other rider from Bloomington, IL who was on his first RAIN ride, and rode with me earlier, were the ONLY two who, after grabbing my wheel, offered to let me ride in behind, and not just jet by after sucking wheel. Still felt good at this point, and knew I was well on my way.
As I ran along US 40 to the 4th stop, mostly rode alone. The the tail wind, and not getting ahead of myself earlier, kept me on pace. Came on one rider who looked a little shaky as I came up from behind, so I asked if he was OK. Said he was cramping, passed him some electrolyte pills, and headed on down the road.
Last rest stop, no SAG again, so stopped, got Gatorade and water, and headed for home. Hit the last detour off US 40 into the teeth of the wind as a little payback for being on our tail. In Cambridge City, as I unclip at a light back on US 40, cramps on the backs of my thighs! If I have to stop now, I'll just lie down in traffic. So massage the muscles, clip back in, push thru the cramps, stand on the next small roller, and drive to the finish.
Hit the Richmond, IN limit, get my last wind, and push to Earlham College. Hit the finish with 3:30 EDT as the time on the Polar. So the tale of the tape is as follows:
Riding Time: 7hr 50min 28sec
Distance: 160.52mi
Avg Speed: 20.405mph
Avg Watts: 234
Elevation Gain: 3,018 ft
Avg HR : 145
Avg Cadence: 89
It was a rush to be back and do it again, do it well, and do it over 50!

i think i spotted this exchange. funny thing is you were handing the pills to Castro, who was riding with Shider (fellow BF rider). this was before the last SAG stop and just before i caught up to Shider. small world. later.

Thanks for all these great reports! I really want to do RAIN next year, but I'd like to do it with this year's weather. Can we arrange that?;)

Hiya Everybody....RAIN Report, South Louisiana Style....

2nd consecutive year doing RAIN. We all know it's not a race...they just time you for your own benefit.

After doing RAIN last year with a handful of co-workers and local area riders, I wrote a small article for our corporate electronic newsletter. Of course, at the end of the article, I threw out this small "Challenge" to other divisions to put teams together and we could have a "Corporate Challenge" for the 2007 RAIN. Turns out, a couple people took that to heart...very seriously. We had three divisions put teams together and we made reservations at Magdy's in Terre Haute for the pre-race...errr...pre-ride meal. Magdy served us buffet style with an EXCELLENT meal that everybody was quite pleased with. In all, we had about thirty people present including riders and SAG support drivers....which was probably about 8 to 10 shy of everybody involved with the "Challenge."

The start....
I was quite nervous about RAIN this year because I hadn't put in near the training I had the previous year. But, like I told everybody else, I had better legs last year but I had a better bike this year...hopefully it would be a wash! My teammates and several local club riders, and myself were up near the front before the start. You may have heard me holler, "Over here, Rich!" when the guy on the scissor lift announced in the megaphone that the photographer, Rich Fields, was taking pictures for a spread in the Indiana Outdoors magazine. There were quite a few chuckles through the crowd. Once the race..err...ride...got started, my buddies and I were right there in the front of the peloton. In fact, a couple of our guys took turns in the very front! At one point, I had a really good angle to grab a cameo lead, but figured it smarter to pay attention to my heart rate monitor which was going nuts! I kept thinking to myself, "I must be picking up somebody else's heartrate!" My perceived effort certainly felt much less than what my Garmin was saying my heart rate was! I kept looking to make sure I was looking at H/R. It kept reading exceptionally high for the perceived effort. So, I played it cool and stayed huddled in the pack. I did hear a bike go down behind me, probably about three miles into it. I never looked back. It didn't sound good, though. Sounded like carbon meeting asphalt. I thought the police escort car was traveling a little slow? Did anybody else get that feeling? We rode with the peloton to the first rest stop at 40 miles. When we stopped, we had a 23.5 avg. Quick bottle refills and nature calls had us back on our way. We had seven riders in our group with one guy who is simply a machine...a CAT2 racer type machine. We were taking turns with one minute pulls and picked up a few solo riders and small groups along the way that could hang on. The racer in our group would take a few extra minutes in his pulls, just gradually ramping up the speed. We didn't stop at Plainfield. But when we turned off of Route 40, we had a 23.7 avg.....and my heart rate was still through the roof!! I thought for sure I would have hit a brick wall before that point!

The detour around Indy...
YUCK!!! I hated that part last year and I hated that part again this year! That little jog around the school stadium...that was a bit confusing and had us slowing down rather needlessly, I thought...but then again..it wasn't a race. I got stung by a bee or some other stinging insect as we rode through the parking lot...that was rather uncomfortable. I tell everybody that the detour takes its toll on the body just like city driving does on your vehicle's fuel economy. It burns gas and energy! I wasn't really thinking ahead about my hydration for this second leg because I am used to two water bottles getting me through 40 miles. Well...the Louisiana math must have kicked in because I didn't think about the lunch stop being 50 miles from the last rest stop! I was down to sips with 10 miles left until the lunch stop. That took its toll upon my body, also. We made it to the lunch stop with a 22.7 avg. I snagged a PB&J sandwich and a banana and scarfed it down beneath a small shade tree. We refilled our bottles and I grabbed a bottled water to keep as a spare in my jersey pocket. We picked up a few more soloists and some small groups heading back to 40 which really kind of hurt our paceline action. They were ready to hang onto wheels but somehow always managed to stay in the back of the pack....and would let you know they were staying in the back after you dropped past them. So, after your turn pulling, you would have to sprint back up to get in rotation. Our speed was very inconsistent and "jerky" which pretty much zapped me completely. When we hit 40 at mile 113, I felt like I was done. Our average had dropped to 22.2 when we hit 40 with all the stop and go around Indy. Myself and two of our strongest riders stopped at our SAG vehicle and capped off our water bottles. I was the first refilled and started out on 40 and an almost leisurely pace. The rest of our group didn't stop. The other two came up on me pretty quick and asked how I was doing. I think the look on my face told the story...I was hurting. They pulled me along for another 6 miles and I couldn't keep their pace....that was at mile marker 119. That incredibly high heart rate finally caught up with me!!

The soloist....
From the 119 mark, it was pretty much me and the wind. I noticed how the wind would hit me in the face as I ascended the hills. As I neared the top, I could feel the wind circle my body on the right. As I crossed the hilltops, the wind would hit me at the back. It was quite distinct how I felt the wind shift around me on the hills. I was climbing one of the first "taller" hills after getting back on 40 when I caught a cramp in my groin area. There was a guy there on the side of the road with his bike upside down and both wheels off the frame. As I gasped in pain and hollered cramp as I went by him, he replied, "At least your still going forward." I later discovered, the only time my groin would cramp was when I would get into my drops. So.....note to self...stay on the hoods! The previous year at this point, my calves were what were cramping like crazy. That was on time trial/triathlon geometry. This year was a bit different geometry...road geometry! I made it into the 130 mile rest stop and my group left about five seconds after I arrived! Our SAG driver told me they had a five minute break. I knew my break was going to be a bit longer! I sat on the step in the shade of the storefront beginning to question my sanity for wanting to do this ride with so little preparation this year. Our driver brought me a banana and a couple of freeze-pops. I sat there thinking I had no energy left to continue. There was a can of Red Bull sitting on the step. I knew two other guys in our group were using Red Bull. For me, caffeine really does a number on my inerts and gets me very nauseated and queasy. I picked up the can and felt about a third of the contents still in the can. I said, what the hell...I took a sip. GAWD that stuff tastes awful!!! So, I took another big swallow and finished it off!! I walked back to my bike and the truck, poured some ice cold water over my head and neck. Some drained down my bibs suddenly giving me the urge to tinkle....but I didn't have the energy to even try. So, I just mounted the Orca and began pedaling.

The last 30 miles.....
I started out pretty slow and easy, keeping my heart rate within reason for a change. At one point I felt a little chest pain and began to wonder if the heart could get a cramp? After all, it is a muscle...and mine had been working pretty dang hard up to that point. The pain went away soon afterwards. My speeds began to pick up a bit, I was now doing 20+ and trying to keep my speed above the 21.9 average that my Garmin said I had. I was doing pretty good until I turned south off of 40 onto the detour. That wind in my face shut me down pretty hard. It's funny how quick your average will drop once you get below it...but how slow it is to get it to raise even when you're above the average speed. Why is that? The road North back to 40 led me by a familiar site....a place where last year two cohorts and myself stopped in a freshly mowed yard and cooled down beneath a shade tree. Thank God we didn't have last year's heat to contend with this year! Back on 40, the miles were dwindling to Richmond. I could see a yellow jersey in the distance and told myself I was going to beat that rider to the finish...even though this wasn't a race. That was my motivation to push forward. I slowly started spooling it up to close the distance. I think I did much better on the last big hill than that guy did because I made up quite a bit of ground ascending that hill...and even more descending. I recall last year inching myself over that hill somewhere around 4 mph! What a difference geometry and carbon fiber make! Coming into town and the red lights, I got hung up at one. When the light turned, a cyclist zipped right by me. Now I had two guys to catch with less than two miles to the finish! Well, what comes around, goes around. That guy got caught a couple lights down and I timed it perfectly! I went by him dropping into higher gears and beginning to pour the coals to the fire. I caught the yellow jersey guy around the one mile mark. I was scared to look behind me to see if anybody was in chase. So, I just keep cranking up the RPM's and shifting gears. There was the half mile mark...then the 200 yard mark. Last year, I had a guy pass me just as I was making the corner into the finish. I was bound and determined not to let that happen this year...even though it's not a race...I didn't even shift into lower gears as I hit the last little incline before the turn, I just muscled with everything I had, sprinting as if the TDF Green, Yellow, and Polka-Dot jerseys were on the line. Before making the turn into the finish, I took a quick glance behind me and not a soul to be seen. I knew the Saturn-V photographer was going to be at the finish, so I raised my arms in my best victory pose, smiling. I spotted him and he obviously had spotted me as he was lowering his camera. I dropped back to my hoods and coasted to a stop. As the RAIN volunteer was reaching for my bib number, I told him he would have to wait a second. I then leaned over the right side and what I didn't leave on the road in the last two miles, I left right there at the finish line! All my buddies were standing and sitting just past the line wishing they had a camera! I did glance up between spews to see the Saturn-V photographer drop his camera as though he had just snapped a really good Kodak moment. But he later claimed he didn't get one...something about too busy ducking for cover. That type of finish is pretty much trademark for me, though. I don't think there has ever been a triathlon that I competed in where I didn't leave a mark at the finish line!

The results.....
Well, my buddies all finished somewhere around the 110 mark and somewhere around 7:48? I ended up at 163 with an 8:14 overall time. Saddle time was 7:21. My average speed was 21.7 mph. My average heart rate.....he he he he...152! I had a max of 179 just 12 miles into RAIN! Obviously, I redlined for 119 miles before the engine finally overheated. Calorie count was 11,562. Distance per the Garmin was 159.6 miles. So, we won't know the final tally on our unofficially "Corporate Challenge" for another couple weeks. I think we may have gotten beat out by one of the other divisions. But, who's counting, it's not really a race!

Good Story, but for next year Endurolytes are your friend...

Oh yeah...and to top off the RAIN ride...no pun intended....I also lost my helmet....along with my groceries....somewhere around the finish line!! I sent RAIN an email asking about "Lost and Found" and let them know. Hopefully, it will turn up. I bought it last year the day before RAIN....because two weekends prior I had a crash'em up.....and did RAIN with a broken rib last year!!!

Congrats Blue Shamu...I felt the same about that around Indy thing. I just despise it and one totally loses momentum. The great weather made up for it though! The corporate challenge was a good idea, but didn't you know???? this is NOT a race!:p Crystal

Palt, Nice report. Nice chatting with you, uh, several times on the course :D

I also chatted with Castro (the man to whom you gave the pills) We had a conversation afterwards about cramping and electrolytes. I told him that I used Succeed! electrolytes from Ultrafit and have had good success with them. My brother also saw an article in Outdoor magazine about a homemade concoction that team Rabobank uses and he's had success with that.

In the chance that Shider or his friend is reading, I wanted to share that. What were you using that day for electrolytes? I cannot stomach sports drink so I have to supplement.

Crystal

I didn't mind the Indy detour much...stopping for lights is just one of them things you get used to commuting - it goes with the territory. It also confirmed something I have always suspected - I can get off the line and up to speed much faster than most non-commuters who are not used to riding in city traffic.

GREAT NEWS!!!! The RAIN folks have my helmet and are sending it back to me via USPS Priority Mail!!! I guess now I can go out and buy those new shoes!!

I've always known cyclists had the highest integrity! That was a Giro Atmos that somebody picked up and turned in! Good job and thanks to whoever turned it in....if you happen to read this!

I'm a Hammerhead, used Endurolytes, Perpetuem, HEED, and Hammer Gel as fuel all along the way except for the last stop when I outran my SAG, and mixed Gatorade and water. Was able to use Gatorade, Power Bars, Cliff bars, GU, Cliff Shots pretty much interchangeably in the past, but seem to have lost the ability to tolerate as well as before. In searching around for alternatives, found the Hammer products least objectionable to my intestinal tract, as well as very effective, especially for endurance rides.

PAlt, I'm also a big fan of Hammer stuff. I ran on Perpetuem until the last 30 miles, I felt so good I dumped it because I was tired of drinking it. The bad news was I forgot my Hammer gel flasks, and used some Carb Boom, bad idea, it did not settle well, so I really missed my Hammer gel.

Ubetcha, I'll be there! Too much fun to miss...

Just FYI... RAIN results are posted. See www.rainride.org

Wow seems real preliminary. They did something crazy with the placings. They list me as 118, but it's more like 328. Their time is less than what I recorded as well. Yay.

Funniest part is the dead last finisher

Looks like there were just at 1,000 riders. Down from last year. Seemed like it was. That heat last year really did a number on the registration.

I think the 118 is your placing. 328 is the order you arrived. We had several from Richmond that DNF, and they are not listed, so I'm guessing there were still close to 1,200 riders. 1,001 finishers has to be a record.