aham23

was your day EPIC?

later.

momof4greatkids

For me, it was epic. My first RAIN

It was amazing/hot/wet/grueling/painful/exhilerating. I got good dose of endorphins.

We had rain at the start which persisted for the first first 30 miles or so.

After the rain, it was sunny, hot and humid. I think it was mostly in the upper 80s, not sure if we broke into the 90s, but the humidity was very high.

We did have the promised tailwind and the benefit of that cannot be underestimated.

I expected the route to be flat, but it was actually rolling in the beginning, then it flattened out w/some long (what seemed like neverending) gradual climbs into Richmond at the very end....quite rude to place hills at the end of a 160 mile ride, don't you think?

The first leg was raining and we did not push the pace, I was not being sure how to pace myself for this distance. The second leg I felt strong and broke out and started to run ~18-20mph or so and I was happy to see my average pace climbing.

The route followed US 40, except for the next leg around Indy where the route turned south through some nice neighborhoods w/the promised frequent traffic stops. It was also blazing hot through this part of the route as it seemed the air was not moving at all. I was really suffering here, but pressed on.

This part of the route contained the 3rd stop, which was the lunch stop, around mile 90. I rolled in feeling very depleted, and too hot and miserable to even want to eat. But I knew I had to and I felt a lot better after that.

The next leg was a fast one for me and helped me bring my average pace to around 16 (OK, I said fast for me, I know that's not really fast). The route has so many competent cyclist all along the way, just looking at the bikes can keep you occupied.

I passed the century mark at about 6:30, so my time was not great.

The last stop was about 27 miles from the finish. I rested there a while and found a friend from our group who wanted to ride in together, so we paced each other to the finish. The last few miles were also really tough. My upper body was aching and I could not get any comfort. My new Brooks saddle practically melted in the rain and was really painful, but I think just about any saddle would have felt bad at that point.

My saddle time was 9:57, total ride time was around 12:30. I spent too much time at the stops, we had a large group and the logistics were challenging, but it all worked out in the end.

Thanks to Voldemort, I had the mournful dirge "Yer Blues" running through my head for many miles, at times replaced by "Dear Prudence"

Colleen

Psimet2001 

Saddle Time: 8:44
Distance: 160.68
Avg Spd: 18.4
Total Time: 11:05 ?? - Doesn't seem right... I started at 7am and finished almost right at 5pm...which should be like 10:05. I think the Garmin added an hour to the total time because technically we started in a different time zone...an hour behind.

I ran hard in the morning. Was fairly close to the police escort all the way until they pulled off. I got a flat 17 miles in . Still maintained the same hammering pace after the flat. I faded a little just before the first stop.

The rain was actually really good. I know how hot this event can be so I was loving the coolness of the rain. It was enough that at one point I was thinking about getting my arm warmers out of the SAG van...HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH

Due to the flat everyone was already ready to go by the time I rolled into the first stop. Restroom and bottle refill (not at the same time mind you) and we were off. Guys started peeling off during this leg. Eventually I peeled off with Voldemort. Got a SAG call from Mrs. Psimet and ended up losing Volde. Heard a group come around and head JT1 yell "Jump on!" I did an we rolled all the way into the next stop.

After that stop we rolled together pretty well for a portion until something happened. I started cramping bad and bonked at the same time. I never used to cramp, but this year it has been happening with increasing frequency.

"Luckily" scummer flatted at the same time. He had stopped when I flatted in the morning so I hung with him to give him a hand on his. The timing was convienient. Eventually I even dropped off his wheel.

I was suffering from here on out. I think the rain and speed in the morning tricked me and kept me from drinking and eating enough. At lunch aham was ready to go when I rolled in (no surprise). I drank as much fluid as I could and got a turkey sandwich in me. I finally got to change my socks and base layer and pick up a spare tube - only to find out I was out of CO2.

I lost it after lunch. I always do. I HATE the section around INDY. It's feels like the devil's oven when the sun is out. There is no shade, no air moving, and the pavement acts like a reflector...and it is always around noon when you hit it. Not to mention this is where you are hitting the century mark...doesn't help.

I think I rolled something like a 5:10 century. Still respectable.

I was having a total crisis of faith. I was sitting there thinking: I have already done this 3 other times. I will not be breaking a record, I will not be finishing with anyone else I know. There is a TT the next day that I wanted to do....so I called SAG.

The plan was to have her meet me where we get back on 40. I would sit in the car and cool down and pick up water then see how I felt. If I felt like crap then I would call it a day.

Like usual all it took was a minute or two in the AC and some cold fluids to realize it wasn't that much further.

Turns out I was babbling, not making sense, I couldn't concentrate, had a killer headache, and felt like throwing up. All primo signs of dehydration. Awesome.

Between there and the last stop went better/faster, but I was still struggling a bit. Another sit down in the van. I was only able to stomach 2 popcicles. Even then I didn't feel like they were going to stay down.

I decided I was going to need something so I grabbed a handful of gels. I popped one every 30 minutes from there out. Within 10 minutes or so I was feeling fairly decent. I started passing quite a few people again. The last fifteen miles I felt really good. Good enough to zip up the jersey and have enough speed coming in to have to swing wide for the turn into the college.

A special thanks to Mrs. Psimet and Little Psimet for putting up with a van full of internet bicycle geeks who most likely smelled like a 4 day old diaper.

I didn't get back until 1:00 am or there abouts and decided that the 7:30 registration for the TT was pushing it. Not to mention I was going to have to put on clip ons and change my saddle setup. I am sure I have forgotten something. I will post back with other thanks as I think of them.

I also have pictures....at least some...

Scummer

Silly question.
It was the longest ride I've ever done. My longest was a century before. It was my first ride in raining conditions. The rain started at 6:50am.

So Friday noon the Psimet starship started to pickup Arron and Greg with me being the last rider to jump on the starship. Uneventful ride down to Terre Haute with the casual smalltalk about cycling, cycles and life in general. We stopped at a Texas Steakhouse for dinner and went into our motels to catch some sleep before the big ride. I did some wheel trueing on my bike since my rear brakes were rubbing slightly. Took a few laps around the motel complex and everything seemed working fine.
So I called it a day and went to sleep or so I thought. Woke up like almost every hour and drifted back to sleep until I woke up again at 4:45am and said "screw it". Had some bagels, peanut butter and jam for breakfast and hoped in my cycling gear. The starship landed and all of us jumped on board and to the starting line we went.
When we lined up, the starting line looked pretty close, like maybe 3 or 4 riders deep. But once it got closer to 7am more and more riders jumped in front and all of a sudden we were like 15-20 riders back from the starting line. The announcer was like 10 min. till RAIN start, while it already had started to rain and the whole group went "The Ride start!"
7am came and the signal for the ride start was given. It started fast and furious. Avg speed was lingering at ~23mph with the cop car in clear sight. First road hazard was coming in fast in form of a busted plastic bottle with some brown stuff in it. Yuck. Next road hazard while still in Terre Haute was my own aluminium water bottle, which jumped out of my cage and dropped in the street with a loud clonk. Crap. I stopped, turned around, got my precious bottle and hoped onto a group of riders. Arron, Rob, Jim and Greg were gone and I was on my own in the middle of strangers. Then I saw Rob on the side of the street with a flat rear tire and I stopped to give him a hand since after I had dropped my bottle I was hopelessly behind Arron, Jim and Greg anyway. Quick tube change and we were back on the road. Rob and I rejoined the rest of our group and after a quick water bottle fillup, some cookies and a banana stuffed in my shirt pocket we were off again. The ride to the 2nd rest stop was uneventful besides the rain and the rooster tails when you were trying to draft in a paceline. After the 2nd rest stop I still felt pretty good and all 5 of us were riding together to get to lunch stop. Arron that monster was taking long pulls and when I was pulling everyone was falling of my wheel for some reason. As a result no one was able to take shelter behind me and rest and I didn't even notice until I glanced over my shoulder. Sorry dudes! So I slowed down a little, let the guys come close again and continued pulling when all of a sudden I drop off the road into the gravel and decide not to jump back on the road again because I didn't want to risk a spill with the guys behind me. I make a Lance Armstrong move and cut through the gras as I see the curb coming and it wasn't small. Oh $#$@#. So I'm thinking "I gotta make that jump count or I'm gonna face plant" and take a leap across the curb and my back wheel takes a little beating of the curb but everything worked out fine and I continue riding catching back up with the group again.
So we ride on with the lunch stop in mind when I hit a rock on the road which caused me to slowly loose air and after feeling a wobbly steering I notice I flatted. Crap! I was close to the front of the pack so I'm navigating myself from the left to the right and telling the guys around me that I have a flat and need to pull off. Rob hears this and he stops to help me and takes a much needed break from the riding with his legs cramping up. Quick change of the tube and off we go again. I take pulls with Rob in tow and at one point he lets me know I should just ride on as he can't keep up and he doesn't want to slow me down. So off I go but at every darn traffic light I have red and he joins up again just to fall off until the next red traffic light.
No pack in sight and riding alone now I make it to the lunch stop, I meet the rest of the group there, but Arron and Jim are already on the go again while Greg hangs out a little longer and Rob also pulls in for lunch.
The lunch didn't sit to well with me as my stomach is in somewhat of a disarray but I ride on. Then in the heat of ride I miss the turn onto US-40 and continued going north when after 1.5miles I notice no riders and no signs. I sit down for a minute under a tree with shade and pull out my cue sheet to see what the heck happened and where I am. It says turn right onto US-40 at mile 115. I was at 116.5. Argh. During that time Jim and Greg mussed have passed me as I meet them again diuring the next rest stop. The heat became stronger and the suffering harder. I cracked open the Oreo cookies I had snagged from the lunch stop and man, those cookies have never tasted so good in my life before. Pure energy at this point. I felt better but about 7 miles before the last rest stop I was looking down on my computer almost every minute just to see the miles slooooowly ticking away. Way to slooooow. I ran out of water 5 miles before the rest stop and I was already starting to shiver at this point. Heat related exhaustion was setting in. A few miles before the rest stop I see a dude in front of me dismount his bike, lean against his tob tube and loosing his lunch. Great, that's the last thing I needed to see right now in the state I was in. But I rode on. Finally I made it to rest stop #4 and I gulped down 1/2 gallon of water with about 6 popsicles, an ice cold bottle of OJ and asked one of the volunteers to hose me down from top to bottom with cold water. Ohhhh, it felt great! I saw Greg and Jim again and Jim took off while Greg was waiting for me to continue the ride. I told Greg I needed a few more minutes to rest and we'd be good to go.
And what a great rest it was. I pulled Greg pretty much all the way on the last leg and we were trucking along at 23-27mph depending on the wind. At one point Greg wanted to drop off the back so I slowed a little since I was also starting to feel it and we cruised together into the finish just to see Arron and Jim relaxing in the shade like they were sitting there all day.

So for me, the ride was Epic. Rain, sun, exhaustion, running out of water, flat, going of the track, loosing a water bottle, loosing directions, but making it in the end at a decent time.

Thomas

ftsoft

Thanks for the reports guys and gals. I rode it last year when I guess the conditions were about as good as you can get and I was wondering if the rain was a real problem this year. I feel a little guilty about not riding this year, especially since I only live about 35 miles from the finish. 'm trying to get my stoker fit enough to do it on the tandem, but it IS a long way.

voldemort

EPIC indeed! My first RAIN effort, and I was feeling pretty confident I would survive it. The only question was how much suffering, and how long it would take me to finish.

About 30 seconds before the start I had a quick thought of "what if I start off and dump the bike right in the first ten feet of this crowd of 1000+ riders"? Just a little anxiety to start off. Psimet had stressed hanging with the group to benefit from the drafting., and that was my initial goal.

We rolled out fast, and pretty quickly I'm thinking "#@&*" I can't keep this pace up all day. They'll find me in a crumpled heap at the side of the road by mile 40. So I backed off a little and the front group ripped open a big lead FAST. I rode solo a short way before the second wave of riders came up and I was able to hang with them. Got in the middle of a strong rotating double paceline for for about 15 miles. Delightful! And I never would have thought I would appreciate water blasting into my face off the back tires of anyone close in front. But it was great, and really kept me pretty well cooled down. Heck, I was pulling in close to catch the full spray and yes, the full draft. I knew it was key to my survival.

I knew I could make 40 to the first stop, so that's all I really thought about. Felt great rolling in, and thought "only 20-something to next stop? Easy". Oh yeah, saw NVR out of the corner of my eye, flatted off the side. I found a pace I could roll with, about 19-21 with that tailwind. Occasionally was waved aboard and jumped on with a couple different groups in that stretch. Lots of friendly riders saying "jump on". I think I was with JT1 on and off in a couple groups in this stretch. I can't remember where it was that I finally noticed the rain had stopped, and Psimet told me it was about 30 minutes earlier.

Getting to the lunch stop was a motivator in itself. I'd probably consumed 3-4 packs of shot blocks and a couple gels by then, and I thought some real food might be a good idea. I had my three water bottles ready for the long stretch around Indy and to the next stop, and nursed them carefully so I wouldn't run dry. When we got close, I splurged with my remaining water and sprayed a little on my face and chest. NICE!! Yes, around/through Indy was hot, humid, windless, and pretty miserable overall. Good Times

All I remember of the next leg is riding some with Psimet and friend for a bit, then seeing a group go by and jumping on the tail, and riding some with JT1. Mostly I thought about how friggin' hot and humid it was, and the very real possibility heat prostration/heat stroke...whatever you call it. I kept taking small drinks, alternating with squirting water directly into my face.

At the last stop I rolled in right behind JT1. Thomas rolled in shortly after. I immediately filled up with cold water, laid on my back, and sloooooowly squirted most of an entire water bottle over my forehead and face. Drank a little, ate a few popsicles, and put my legs up on a chair as I laid on the grass. It took a LONG time to cool down. Finally was ready to roll, and Thomas and I headed out for the final leg. Thomas pulled almost the entire way. Thankyouthankyouthankyou!!!

Thanks to everybody who let me jump on pacelines, and those solos who let me hang on their wheel for awhile when I was dying in the middle of no-man's land, somewhere between any of the riders I knew.

Special thanks to Thomas, for dragging me in, to Psimet and Aham, who convinced me I could do this, and to Mrs. Psimet and Psimet Jr. for sag support.

Not sure I have all my facts in the right sequence, but my heat-fried brain might not have quite remember accurately. to alll of us.

DXchulo

Not epic, but definitely tougher than last year. This was my 4th RAIN and I think I've seen all sorts of summer weather conditions now except for a headwind on 40. Now that I said that we'll probably get a headwind next year.

I got to the start early enough to be towards the front in the first 5 rows or so. It really is critical to avoid crashes so you can suck some pretty fast wheel out of Terre Haute and beyond. The rain made that even more critical. I had a couple close calls with some wayward bottles, but other than that I had an easy cruise past the first rest stop, where people weren't just dropping bottles, but bags of bottles.

The ride was pretty slow for the first half, and I'm not sure why. Maybe it was the rain or maybe the super fast guys stayed home. Who knows. Then we seemed to be hitting every red light through the Indy detour, so by about the time we were getting close to Greenfield I started to realize that we weren't going to beat 7 hours unless we really hammered when we got back on 40 (I did a 6:58 last year and I really wanted to beat 7 hours again to prove to myself that it wasn't just because of the tailwind.). That's when I did something crazy. I actually got to the front and pulled. That's a first in RAIN history and a real rarity any day for a wheel sucker like me. I was hoping to get the pace moving higher, but all I really accomplished was to start putting myself on a path towards destruction.

We finally got back on 40 and the effort picked up. The bad news is that the wind was coming almost directly from the south. I'm a small guy, so I don't do very well in crosswinds. I made my way towards the front just to be sure that I'd actually have a wheel to suck, but being up front also means you need to take your pulls. I did that for a while, and then I decided I'd go suck wheel at the back. Bad idea. The road is only so wide, so it's tough to get good shelter back there (That's the whole reason I went to the front in the first place. Not my brightest moment.). I finally got dropped at mile 138, which is better than last year, but still disappointing.

After I got dropped there really wasn't a time goal any more (I'll be interested to see if the lead guys beat 7 hours. They must have really busted balls if they did.), and I'm not sure if it was that mental letdown or actual physical fatigue, but I started feeling tired and had a hard time keeping my speed up.

I made it to the finish with an official time of 7:25. I pushed hard, but I came up short. Now I have a whole year to think about that and to do what I have to do to come back stronger.

I hope you all had a good time. There really isn't anything quite like seeing over 1,000 cyclists in one place. See you all next year!

CyLowe97

Tres awesome, everyone.

Dewbert

My 3rd RAIN ride. My first one that was so soggy.
11:11 (9:44 saddle time).
My wife was a great SAG-ger for me. It's amazing how much dry socks at lunch time can change your outlook.

I really didn't suffer too much this year. It was sure hot and muggy late in the day, but I had my wife leap frog me every ten miles to top off my H20 and she was sweet enough to have wet/cold/icy cloths to wipe off my face and neck.

Something about the RAIN ride makes the day after nap soooooooo much nicer!

voldemort

I jumped in with a lot of groups, and got some long pulls from both friends and strangers. So the ones in my head included:

With a Little Help From My Friends
All Together Now
Getting Better
Help
Don't Pass Me By

Each one had its own place throughout my day.

Congratulations on your ride!

voldemort

Oh yeah. 19.2 mph. I would have bet big money against myself breaking 17.5. So I'm a happy guy, AND I can still walk today (I also wasn't too sure about !). I was at 8:20 saddle time. Total time, uh, same as Scummer (since I forgot to set that). I think 10 hours and ? minutes.

momof4greatkids

Wow, your wife sounds like a saint! She's a keeper!

I didn't have to worry about socks because I had my dorky cycling sandals on

At the spot where we turned back onto 40 after Indy, a very kind lady in a sag vehicle refilled my water bottles, with ice cold water! That was awesome, especially since I was bone dry.

It was like that all along the way, so many nice people. Cyclists are a really good sort.

Voldemort....wow! Well done. You must be deliriously happy w/your time, that's really good.

R900

Great reports!

I dropped out at the first stop, being sick all week and basically still on a liquid diet, it was not my day. The good news is I hit my weight loss target in less then a week :-)

I rode hard for the first 23 miles, staying on the back of the lead back, but then I just ran out of gas. I limped to the first stop getting passed by everyone. A buddy ask me to grab his wheel, and I couldn't do it. I would ride with fiends for a mile or so, and fall back. Was a great site to see my wife waiting for me, however even she was starting to get a bit worried. We loaded up and headed back to Richmond. Got to the finish and saw a lot of riders come in. Saw Psimet to say hello, but he was getting a great hug from his son.

Times were about 25 minutes slower then last year. A tandem finished first at about 6:50, then the first pack (very larger group of 15-20 riders) - finished around 7:04 (times are by best guess). The lead pack rounded the last turn at speed so we thought there was going to be some blood and guts, but everyone got around safely.

Congrats to all those that completed it, conditions were tough with the rain in the am and hot and humid in the afternoon. I've booked a room for next year, so hoping for a better performance.

fholt

Since I got my info on this ride from this forum - I'm going to post my lengthy comments here. I heard of RAIN on bikeforums - and have had it as a goal since I first rode RAGBRAI in 2005. I don't have enough vacation to spend a week doing something like that every year - so I have used RAIN is a training goal. Given the distance (to/from Indiana), my next 160 miler may be from here (Cary, NC) to the beach at Wilimington. I can convince my wife and daughter to drive to the beach, not so much to Indiana - so here's my report on my solo journey to attempt RAIN. >>

My day was AWESOME! In spite of a littany of those "you should never" transgressions on my part.

I drove from NC to Terre Haute for my first RAIN starting Thrusday evening after work, arriving Friday afternoon and checked into the Holiday Inn, then went to the Drury Inn to get my packet and Jersey. I inquired about where the "busdog guy" was, and nobody seemed to know, but said he'd be there around 9PM. I used the extra time to scout the route from the hotel to the start, and noting the bad road around the river, I left the morning plan up to a game time decision.

After dinner at a little mexican place, I rechecked everything I meant to have in my "bus bag" ( more tubes and CO2, more gels, HEED, and Hammer Bars, and a complete second kit - shorts, jersey, socks, gloves, headsweat, everything). After dropping that with Mark and Rachel Robinson, I headed back for final prep and sleep. Well - not so much. After obsessing to make sure I had everything laid out, everything for the pockets, including an extra bottle (never carried a bottle in my jersey before, but looking at the leg from lunch to final stop I figured I'd need it - and I did) - I finally hit the sack around midnight, with the alarm set for 5. Sadly, the obsessing didn't subside, and I laid there hoping to sleep until I finally did sometime after 2:15.

My wakeup at 5 coincided with great flashes of lightning outside the window - so I hit the weather channel and weather.com - and at first thought the second wave might pass through by just before 7 - then I realized it was a 3 hour loop, not a 1 hour, and that the rain was going to have it's way for a while.

I left the hotel at 6:30 geared up and as I headed out it began to rain (again? the road wasn't wet). After considering the purity of the event vs riding headlong into the thunderstorm, I decided to join at the Courthouse, and I and a bunch of others waited for the group under the cover of the bank driveup across the way. I dropped in just as the lead pack passed, and the group started to thin. Too late to jump on (though I did try to catch) and too quick to be with the next group. I rode solo for the first little while, finally latching on to the first good sized passing group, and rode with them - it was a big group - most of the way to the first stop. It was almost chilly, but I'll take it over sweltering anyday. I wasn't happy that my shoes were full of water in the first 5 miles, and was alarmed by how many folks were already changing flats! I didn't start that far behind the first group and there seemed to be somebody working on one every quarter mile.

After a quick stop at the first rest (clean glasses, fig newtons, PBJ, hit the head and go) I rode off toward the second stop in lighter rain finally falling in (OK sucking wheel mostly, but I did take a turn or 2) with a smaller group. maybe 5 plus a tandem that either pulled at a blazing clip or went to the back, where they'd get impatient and then come back up and pull hard again. I figured I was going too hard here, so I kept trying to let them go, but then the group would slow and I'd be back in again. I made quick work of the second stop, but this was right about where we started to sense the sun, so I added sunscreen (yeah right, that'll stick) and headed on.

Steamy doesn't do justice to the next leg, but I arrived at lunch, ate, and went off to find the bus guy to see if I could change. I did, (on the bus which was like a sauna but I had clean clothes on) and after repacking my gear started off toward the last rest stop. I was carrying that 3rd bottle (ultimately full of hot lemonade) plus my 2 polar bottles. I still managed to run out of water and heed (with just a little hot lemonade left) before finding Hwy 40 again. I rode so much of this leg alone I several times thought I must have gone off course, only to find another marking at the next STOP SIGN. I was thrilled to finally find 40 again. God Bless whomever put that Caseys there - I was able to reload the bottles - even fill them with ice - and nice COLD bottles will really take the edge off. I did stop rest and cool off at the last stop, but the bottles were warming - so I topped them off and finally headed on towards the finish. Leaving the stop I could feel both calves threatening to cramp, so I set up a little system - I keep telling myself to go easy and spin (easy with that tailwind there) and make sure to take a drink every mile at that point - 27 drinks to the finish. I actually stopped in to one little convenience store for another cup of ice, in some little town around 10 miles out to keep the coolness going (and to further dilute that still too sweet gatorade)

I kept looking for the "hill" I've heard everyone talking about late in the game, and I did run up that one long grade - figuring "there'll be another one of these" but I guess that was it - and I arrived quite happily at the finish at 5:50. My plan had been to finish at 5 - with 8.5 hours on the bike, and 1.5 off. Final totals were 8:50 and 2.0. Showered and got the bus back (could have used some dinner) arriving back at 10pm. I did sleep last night, and drove all the way home today arriving around 8PM.

I'm shocked at the lack of soreness or cramping, my neck is a bit sore, but that's about it. I've been in much worse shape after shorter rides, but then again there's something to riding alone - not pushing it to take long pulls, or keep up with a group that might be going just a bit too hard. Or it could be from one or more of the "new" things I tried on this ride. HEED - I've had it before, but not on a long ride, I drank 5 packets - Hammer Gels - never before but they seem to work better for me than my usual clif shots (I did have a few of those too). Clif Blox Margarita flavor with extra salt (truly nasty - but perhaps they work).

So, while you should never try to ride 160 miles (OK, mine was 158 and change) on 2.5 hours sleep, while trying new nutrition strategies, it worked for me. Maybe I'll be sore tomorrow, if so my scheduled massage will certainly help, if not it's all gravy!

My totals:
Total Time: 10:50 (finished @ 5:50PM)
Saddle Time 8:49:53
Distance Ridden: 158.23

Cleaning this bike is going to be a biatch.

aham23

the time change thing is confusing , but you finished around 6pm. the Edge tracks the ride time and total time like a stop watch. maybe you are still dehydrated.................

later.

Scummer

I just checked my Garmin, it says 10:18 total time.

Thomas

ColorChange

Love the ride reports guys ...

Maybe I'll try this one next year.

Psimet2001 

Yeah, I put that together last night. The Garmin said 5pm on the clock when I got in, but figured it must have kept the same time zone as the start(?). I figured last night it must have been 6.

CyLowe97

Dehydration FTW!!


Still waiting on aham23's epic report. I'm guessing he's got it out to his copy editor or something.

aham23

first, much thanks to Team Psimet for guiding us to and from RAIN via the Starship Psimet. Mrs Psi and Little Psi were troopers and provided us excellent SAG. it was appreciated for sure .

this was my third RAIN. while my mileage was about the same as last year, i think the efforts have been better, so i was feeling good going into the 160 journey.

we woke up early to some nasty looking skies. very dark with consistent bright flashes of lightning. rain at RAIN....i thought....this should be fun. we arrived at the start early and got a nice spot near the line. eat drink and be merry, for tomorrow we die. with the start of RAIN the rain started.

miles 0-40: fast & flats. twitchy & itchy. we were rolling with the lead group. riders were flatting left and right. to my right Psimet. to my left it NVR (hey, anyone seen NVR?). shortly after Psi flatted i decided to drop to the back of the lead pack. despite the conditions (you know, the obvious need to take it easy) riders were all over the road and very impatient. i felt like this could get ugly and wanted none of it. i hung on to back of the fast pack until mile 25. it was just time to get real and slow it down a bit. this was about the time the rain stopped. the skies remained ominous though. i rolled solo into the 1st stop.

miles 40-60: we rolled out fully loaded (me, Psi, JT1, Scummer, & Voldemort). the sun was coming out and one could feel the heat & humidity rising. it was going to be very muggy. we pretty much stuck together during this stretch. it was these miles where Psi admitted he was hurting. maybe we shouldnt have rushed him out of the 1st stop .

miles 60-90: rolling into and around Indy we could see a lot of standing water and flooding. we just missed some nasty weather for sure. this section was fun. Scummer power pulled, then went off roading, then more power pulling, then a flat. i rode into lunch slightly ahead of our group. like last year i was really needing the break...........and oreo cookies.

miles 90-130: oreo cookie power. after one samich and 12 oreo cookies i departed the lunch stop solo. like Psi mentioned this always seem to be the toughest stretch. you pass the 100 mile mark, but realize you have 3 hours to go. the heat and humidity of the day are peaking. it just gets nasty. a couple things kept me going; i hit the century mark at 4h 53min, a sub 5 hour 100 & my fastest ever. looking for and dreaming of route 40 kept me going. searching the DMB catalogue in my head for that song Psi & i sang at the rollout kept me going.

miles 130-160: I can ride my bike with no handlebars. No handlebars. No handlebars. the pain cave was sucking me in as i rolled into the last rest stop. most of the riders there appeared to be in the same fashion. i didnt stay long. i didnt eat much. i did snag a brown sugar poptart for the car ride home! i pretty much rode the second half of this ride solo. only getting passed by 2 riders. around 150 i started computer watching. "damn you Garmin Edge, click those freaking miles off already." at mile 158 a lady blew past me on the descent into Richmond. i had passed her group just prior. i thought good for her. no i didnt . i jumped on it and decended into town catching her as she celebrated prematurely. i didnt take the foot off the gas until the turn to the finish line. i got issues.

Eat, drink, and be merry.
For tomorrow we die.
Eat, drink, and be merry.
For tomorrow we die.
'Cause we're Tripping Billies

.

my third RAIN was epic. they all have been in some way or the other. from first timer, to perfect conditons, to the pain cave. i will be back next year.

congrats to everyone. way to fight the mind and body Psimet..................AND WIN.

MB Edge Stats.

my ride time = 7h 55min for a 20.2 mph avg.
total time was just over 9 hours.

later.

aham23

you got me confused with.......you.

i am in Orlando. sitting in the lobby of the Marriott World Center, the largest Marriot in the, well, world. watching the Le Tour on a lobby TV. see, they dont have VS in the room, but do in the lobby. logically i requested they put it on and have been sitting in the lobby since 8am. wait, that would 7am your time. i think. damn those time zones.

Valverde is in a spot of bother.

Scummer

Better to sit at the Marriott and be able to watch TV then being at work and don't have any TV at all

ColorChange

Hea Ahem ... nice numbers.

Psimet2001 

Before the literal rain.


Getting back so late meant I never had the time to setup the bike for the TT. I actually felt kind of good the next morning too. Knee felt like crap though. I need to work on fit again.

So...the borrowed Zipps are going back, but I did take a minute to mount them to see what everything would look like.



Nice.

CyLowe97

^^ Holy crap. That's a dark sky ^^

You guys are freakin' awesome.