Published: July 12, 2007 10:47 pm      

RAIN rides through Hendricks County

Plainfield — Cyclists from across the country will pedal through Plainfield Saturday as a part of Ride Across Indiana (RAIN), a 160-mile bicycle ride sponsored by the Bloomington Bicycle Club.

The ride begins west of Terre Haute and stretches throughout the state. Cyclists will leave Terre Haute at 7 a.m. Saturday and follow U.S. 40 into Plainfield to their first rest stop. Riders were originally slotted to break at Hummel Park, but the number of bicyclists has outgrown the park’s capabilities, said Joe Anderson, a member of the Bloomington Bicycle Club. The cyclists will now break at Plainfield High School.

Riders will leave U.S. 40 in Plainfield and continue on through the south side of Indianapolis, ride through Greenfield, and on to Earlham College in Richmond, where they will cross the finish line.

“I normally ride and race mountain bikes,” said Darin Koelm of Hendricks County. “But it has become a tradition to ride RAIN.”

Koelm rode in the first RAIN in 2003 and another in ‘06.

RAIN, Koelm said, is a great way to meet other riders, some who take the race very seriously, others who see it as a social event.

Anderson expects there to be more than 1,200 cyclists in this year’s ride, making it larger than the Tour de France.

These riders, however, are not competing for cash or fame, but rather for self-appreciation.

“It’s called a personal challenge,” Anderson said, “It’s not a race. They feel they are part of something really big.”

Riders for this “Tour de Indiana” come from all walks of life and all parts of the world, Anderson said. Cyclists from England to San Diego and the Canadian provinces have journeyed to Indiana to make the ride.

“It’s fantastic motivation for them to get out on the bike early in the year and train,” he said. “These people love to ride their bikes.”

There is no way, he said, to ride 160 miles in mid July without training early in the year.

Anderson said the ride was started 21 years ago as a private event for the Bloomington Bicycle Club. After the first year, they opened it to the public and were surprised at the overwhelming response.

“They realized it’s something there is a demand for,” Anderson said. “It has grown over the years.”

After all is said and done, the ride will have raised money for bicycle-related activities such as the Indiana Bicycle Coalition and the League of American Bicyclists, and also the Bloomington Boys and Girls Club.

Cyclists will finish the race with a sense of accomplishment, Koelm said.

“It’s amazing to me what the human body is capable of,” he said. “The first 100 miles is physical, the rest is all mental. The pain will go away in a few days, but the sense of accomplishment remains for a long time.”

Riders can still register to ride on the day of the ride, though they will not receive a T-shirt and must pay $45 to enter. For more information, call (812) 332-6028.



kiley.kellermeyer@flyergroup.com