Shameless Begging

[HoosierGiant]

When is your RAIN ride?

RAIN is July 14th.

Tell us more about you and your training!

Miscellaneous info is in the Getting to Know You thread. As for training, I don't get in nearly the miles I'd like -- I homeschool our two girls (No, it's not for religious reasons, and no, they don't need to be socialized -- sorry, everyone asks.), teach flute lessons, tutor, and serve as editor for freelance-writer DH. An average week is 125-140 miles on the road, less when on the trainer. Ack! I HATE that torture device! I generally ride 4-5 days per week -- having been a distance runner for 20+ years taught me that I'm prone to break-downs if I don't have at least two "off" days per week. I know I should be stretching and doing other forms of exercise/weights, but have just never implemented the routine.

Keep in mind that although it's long, Central Indiana is fairly flat.

I choose to believe that "flat" is a relative term, and it's not one I prefer to use when describing my corner of the world here in east-central Indiana. (But then, I'm old and cantankerous.) Mountainous? Not by any stretch of the imagination. But, "flat" is a term we reserve for northern Indiana, where I spent most of my youth running back-country roads. No, in this section of the Hoosier state, we prefer to describe the terrain as "gently rolling." Of the nine possible route beginnings from our house, eight yield a significant hill within the first three miles -- hey, in my book it's definitely a hill if coasting down it produces speeds of 28+ mph without the frantic let's-see-how-fast-we-can-get-going pedaling at the top. While they may not be the "killer" hills that some of you train on, they're all at least an 8% grade, and a couple hover in the 12-14% range, with the longest one being 1/2 a mile. I'm not trying to be argumentative -- it's just that if people insist on telling me that's "flat", then I'm throwing in the towel right now!

The attachment referenced at the bottom of the post is the elevation chart for this afternoon's ride, a 25-mile loop that was never more than 6 miles from my house. Most assuredly not what some of you would call hills, but I need to call them that so I can continue to pat myself on the back for having gutted it out once again.

That having been said, RAIN is relatively (There's that word again!) flat, but it does have some rollers in the first 40 miles and the last 15 miles. DH rode it last year and assures me that none of the "hills" approach the grades we ride on, but there is one that's just east of Knightstown, at roughly 125 miles into the ride, that's a 1/2-mile long and seems to go on FOREVER! We live just five miles north of Knightstown and are quite familiar with the portion of the course that follows U.S. 40 from Indianapolis to Richmond -- that hill is the bane of my existence!

I would recommend that you have your own support crew.

The girls and I were the personal support vehicle for DH when he rode RAIN last year. Probably one of the funnest things I've ever done! Three parties told us last year they wanted to provide support this year; now that it's getting close, everyone's backing out. Not a big deal -- still doable, but I figure my jersey's going to weigh pretty close to a ton once the pockets are loaded! (Okay, that's probably an exaggeration -- more than my bike at least!) DH bought a small digital camera to take with us (waterproof, drop-proof), otherwise there'd be no photographic evidence of my cross-state attempt at insanity. The hardest part will be knowing there won't be someone with a vested interest in my success waiting at each stop. Friends of ours will make sure our girls are at the finish. I think it's important for them to see that -- not that it's any more important than when DH rode, but they need to see women doing the same thing.

Most people told methe hardest part was around Indy, where there's traffic and you have to pay attention and you know you still hae a LOOONGG way to go. That was sort of true but the weather was so good that it simply wasn't that long a ride.

My fingers are crossed already for some of that "so good" weather. Last year's ride was 90+ degrees and high humidity. Someone (the infamous, nebulous someone) said last year's attrition rate was the highest ever. I swear, I spend eight months out of the year with my hands asleep from cold. I live for high temps; it's the humidity I'd prefer to do without on the day of the ride.

Thanks, everyone, for your comments and suggestions!! I'll keep looking up. (That's "up" as in maintaining a positive frame of mind, not "up" as in staring into the craw of another one of those pesky "flat" hills.