It’s ambitious – a one day ride across the state of Indiana – 165 miles from Terre Haute to Richmond.\u00a0 Not impossible, but definitely a challenging ride.\u00a0 The forecasts had temperatures in the mid-90s, with a light wind out of the southwest.\u00a0 Those forecasts were pretty close, but on to the story.<\/p>\n
I got to Richmond about 3 in the afternoon, just minutes after my riding buddy Rob.\u00a0 We got our bikes ready to go on the bike truck for their trip from Richmond to Terre Haute.\u00a0 We were supposed<\/em> to leave at 4pm, but we wound up leaving at 4:45, and after some rerouting around a crash and road construction, finally got to Saint Mary of the Woods College, the start point and our accomodations for the night.\u00a0 We picked up our bikes, rider packets, and dorm room keys.\u00a0 I took my bike, overnight bag, and the bag with my cycling gear up to the room.\u00a0 I put lights, the GPS, and top tube bag with energy bars and gu on the bike.\u00a0 It’s ready to go, just need to air up the tires before we head out tomorrow morning.<\/p>\n Went out to get a bite to eat with Rob, Allan, and Allan’s wife Donna.\u00a0 Good conversation and dinner, but we all needed to get some sleep as tomorrow’s start is coming early.\u00a0 Rob and Allan were going to ride from the Illinois state line to the start, and I was going to meet them at the start at 6am.\u00a0 While we got ready to go, it was dark but sunrise was imminent.\u00a0 Filled the water bottles with Gatorate, and the Camelbak with ice water.\u00a0 Since we weren’t coming back to Terre Haute, my overnight bag went in the back of Allan’s truck for the trip to Richmond.<\/p>\n Turned in the room key, and I was off and riding. not knowing what the day would bring.<\/p>\n The first bit of riding is in Terre Haute, basically south on IN-150 towards US-40 which is our main road to Richmond.\u00a0 There were some climbs in the initial miles, but nothing I would call a major climb.\u00a0 Made it to the first rest stop at 40 miles without too much trouble.\u00a0\u00a0 I fell in with a group of riders from Columbus, Indiana.\u00a0 They were riding at 16-18mph, which is a good pace and the paceline made it very manageable.\u00a0 About 30 miles or so into the ride, the group ramped up the pace on a climb and I let them go.\u00a0 I probably could have stayed with them, but I would have paid a price for that effort later in the day.<\/p>\n From the first rest stop to the second at 66 miles in, the route was basically east on US-40.\u00a0 A few climbs,\u00a0 again nothing huge, and made it to the second rest stop.\u00a0 Close to the rest stop, we left US-40.\u00a0 The temperature was climbing and the sweating was in top gear.\u00a0 I was drinking a lot, and eating as I rode.\u00a0 I filled my bottles and the Camelbak, and set out for the lunch stop.<\/p>\n The third stop, the lunch stop, came at 95 miles in.\u00a0 I stopped several times in the shade of trees on this stretch, to drink and eat, and to rest a bit.\u00a0 This was the hard stretch for me, as the temperature continued to climb and the heat was catching up with me.\u00a0 This section was on narrower roads, 2-lanes, and being later in the day there was more traffic.\u00a0 There was a detour around construction just before the lunch stop, by the time I got there I was pretty much done.\u00a0 Sat around a bit, drinking and eating a little, and made the decision to call it at 95 miles into the ride.\u00a0 Not an easy decision, but it was the right one to make.<\/p>\n However that left a minor (major) problem in that my truck was waiting for me in Richmond, 65 miles away.\u00a0 I needed to find a ride from Franklin Community School that could take not only me, but my bike as well.\u00a0 Luck was with me, because the first people I asked about a ride to Richmond were happy to haul me and my bike.\u00a0 Really nice folks, and a sincere thank-you to them for their Hoosier hospitality and the ride back to Richmond.<\/p>\n Back in Richmond, I was there to see my riding buddy Allan finish the ride.\u00a0 That left Rob still out on the route.\u00a0 Went to take a shower, which was good but would have been better had the water been a little cooler.\u00a0 Oh, well.\u00a0 I was back in Richmond, Allan had finished, Donna was there as well, and Rob was inbound.\u00a0 When I got back from the shower, Rob had texted Allan that he was a couple of hours out.\u00a0 I made the difficult decision to head south for home instead of waiting 2 hours for Rob to finish.\u00a0 I know he will be OK with it, but I will probably regret that decision for a while.\u00a0 I told Allan and Donna goodbye, and headed back home.\u00a0 With construction delays and closed roads around Indianapolis, I finally got home at 11:15pm.\u00a0 A long day, but I will be back to start and finish next year.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" It’s ambitious – a one day ride across the state of Indiana – 165 miles from Terre Haute to Richmond.\u00a0 Not impossible, but definitely a challenging ride.\u00a0 The forecasts had temperatures in the mid-90s, with a light wind out of the southwest.\u00a0 Those forecasts were pretty close, but on to the story. I got to … <\/p>\n