Next on the docket was to ride my bike across Indiana in the RAIN (Ride Across INdiana..get it??) ride...which, ironically and thankfully had NO rain. It actually started off as a pretty cool, nice, cloud covered day (some folks even had long pants/leg/arm warmers on.. not sure if these folks were from the equator or what...it was still in the 70's folks!). I kept marveling at how I thought the ride, which took part largely, especially in the 1st 1/2, along route 40..a fairly busy rd, felt strange..I guess just riding where I normally would avoid a rd like that.. and riding from town to town w/ no thought of going back.. All seemed kinda odd, but it was cool! By the time we made it to the Indy area, it was mid-day and getting pretty hot. The route took us down south of Indy, which was MY neck of the woods! Matt happened to be driving home with Mason from the zoo right at the time that I was passing through that area, so we were able to meet up for some quick hello's & then I was back off on the ride..heading toward lunch and just past 1/2 way through the whole ride. They may not know it, but seeing them was just the moral booster I needed right about then! We started off the day as a pretty big group.. We had Joe, Ashley, her boyfriend, Tim and I..and we were to meet up with Ginger, her husband, Sam, Mark, and a work friend of theirs that had a camper and was to serve as their SAG for the day.. The camper crew were running a little late, which I didn't think was a huge deal, seeing as how it was going to take the whole day & we weren't racing, but Ashley and Tim weren't having it! ..they wanted to get the police escort through Terre Haute..I don't know.. So I took off w/ them & we figured we'd see them at the 1st SAG...and we did. Trouble was, and this would continue throughout the day until I decided to soldier on solo...as we would be finishing up our time at the SAG..rested, fed, hydrated, evacuated, packed up and ready to roll..then the rest of the crew would roll in & we'd want to chat w/ them a bit. Well, this was all well & good until I started to add up the time & realized that this was pushing the overall time back quite a bit! Which is not a huge deal if it's just you to answer to, but I had Matt and Mason that had to pick me up on the other side of Indiana & I didn't want that to be too late. SO. After a morning of riding, some waiting & chatting...all of which I found quite enjoyable, but not time efficient.. At lunch time, Ashley gave me the go-ahead to just ride the rest out as I wanted. As much as I'd have liked to stick together, it's a long day & sometimes you just have to do your thing! So I took off.. I actually felt really good through the whole ride.. no aches or pains..stiffness..nothing! I just cruised along doing whatever felt comfy. My SAG stops got much shorter.. My only difficulty through the day was my lack of appetite! Not exactly something I expected to be an issue in a 164mi bike ride! But I just couldn't do any more sweet stuff! which all those gels and things are nothing but sweet.. and remember back to the Muncie lesson of not being able to do the sweet sports drinks after about the 1st 40-50 miles of riding.. So all I wanted was COLD water...and a burger.. is that so much to ask?? Needless to say, there were no burgers at the SAG stops. Even though they did have pulled pork sandwiches at lunch, which I usually love...the line was SO long there was no way I was wasting that much time.. So I just did pb/j & some chex mix & stuff...then back to the ride. But anyway, another lesson learned..pack some salty/savory type stuff for the longer rides/tris/etc b/c sweet stuff gets...unappetizing, I guess would be the way to put it. I actually felt bad b/c at the last stop, the folks were so proud of their selection, which included cookies, sunny d, capri sun, popsicles and fruit...none of which I really wanted by that point, so I just shoved a banana in my pocket & took off! But my ride time for the day was about 9-9:30? I think? Total time for the day would have been about 11 1/2 hrs since we took off a little after 7 & I came in around 6:40-ish.. So, again, all in all it was a good day. A little bummed, maybe, that we didn't end up riding all together.. But that IS a large group and a long way to go to expect everyone to go the same pace...especially since we don't draft.. Main purpose of this ride was to make the 112mi bike ride in Ironman seem like no big deal..and I can honestly say that after riding over 160mi in one day, I can't imagine any ride seeming 'long' any more.. so mission accomplished!
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