Pushing to improve...joined 3 Rivers Velo Sport!

Carroll High School Ride

Kreager Park Ride

One of my cycling goals for 2016 is to ride in the Ride Across Indiana (RAIN Ride). The RAIN Ride is on July 15, 2017, and is a one day, 160 mile ride across the state of Indiana. The ride begins at 7 a.m. in Terre Haute and ends in Richmond. You have 14 hours to officially complete the ride.

Obviously, I will need to put many miles on the bike to prepare. Leading up to RAIN, I am riding the Great Allegheny Passage in May, The Tour de Detroit Century Ride and the Logansport 2 Rivers on 2 Wheels Century Rides in June, and RAIN in July. In addition to miles, since RAIN is a large ride (almost 1,300 riders finished last year), I need to learn how to ride in groups.

3 Rivers Velo Sport (3RVS) is the local bicycle club. I went to their first Tuesday night ride of the year at Kreager Park and rode on a C/D group ride. According to a C pace is 16/17 MPH, and a D pace is 14/15 MPH.

We rode 29 miles. Indiana can be windy, with winds generally from the west. Going out, no problems. Going back, I am thankful for the riders who "tucked the rookie in :-)" and let me do some drafting in order for me to finish in one piece. My average speed was 13.11 MPH, so I guess if you round up...I'm a D rider! :-)

I was so impressed with the conversations, the friendly people, etc. that I decided to join the club.

On Saturday, there was another organized ride. Again, very impressed with how friendly everyone was. The A/B group went out first, then the C/D group (including me). After a few miles, when it was apparent that I was struggling to keep up with the group, a few riders dropped back and rode with me. Saturday was a very windy day (more on that in a minute). We did a 21 mile ride and I was thankful for their help (especially with the headwinds).

After we got back to Carroll High School, I headed back out on the bike to put some more miles in. I rode out to Columbia City and back for a 34 mile ride. To give you an idea about the wind, here are some of my splits:

Mile 15: 7:02
Mile 16: 6:48
Mile 17: 7:11
Mile 18: 5:01
Mile 19: 4:53
Mile 20: 3:11

You get the idea!

Overall, this was a great training week. I rode 107 miles this week - and feel very good about riding the Great Allegheny Passage next month.

Finally, on this Easter Sunday, my sincere wishes for a Happy Easter...and beyond!

Shawn