Looking for Norway

By Jim Schroeder

Sylvia and I were in Joliet, Illinois, visiting her children and tending to doctor appointments, but I managed to fit in a bike ride on Saturday.

I had contacted the Joliet Bicycle Club and was all set to go in the morning at 8am.  The rain had already blown through but it was still quite cold, 40's, and very windy.  Sylvia dropped me off at Chammahon State Park, one of the many state parks that are on the historic I & M Canal. Apparently they are fair weather riders, as I was the only one to show at the designated parking lot.  I grabbed the Illinois state map from the car and decided to venture west, while Sylvia drove into the western 'burbs for another appointment.

After about a couple of miles I was greeted with a last remnant of precipitation, but it was just a few drops and I was fully protected with my tights and rain jacket.  While riding along Hansel Rd, probably old US highway 6, it abruptly stopped to make way for one of those suburban housing additions in the middle of the country.  Well, at least they created a bike path where the road once was, and so I didn't get lost figuring the development's detour.

The route to Morris followed the I & M Canal and its pea gravel towpath, but I was advised not to take the towpath on my skinny-tired Kestrel. Instead I had to battle the breeze without any wind break.  The sun eventually broke through and it became a glorious but chilly morning, and I got to Morris and stopped at the Liberty Cafe for a chai latte and omelette croissant.  A couple of racer men, not boys, decked out in their kits, arrived as I was about to leave.  After some chitchat they wished me a better ride back with the wind, as they assumed that the cafe was the return point.

I had other plans.  After perusing the state map I decided to venture west and north to Norway and learn about my new wife's heritage.  Yes, this old German married one of those sexy Scandinavians!

I left Morris on US 6, which had minimal traffic due to its close proximity to I-70.  The NW winds picked up to a constant 20mph with gusts of 30mph. It was quite arduous even to this flatlander, and the day reminded me of a century named TASSLE I had done in Ohio some twenty years ago.  The Sunday return of TASSLE on the south shore of Lake Erie had gale force warnings from the west, and so was the worst day of my life on a bike.

I turned north just north of Seneca.  This area was ripe with French and Indian heritage: Joliet, Chammahon, Seneca, Marsailles, Ottawa, and Lasalle.  But, north of I-80 it became a little more rolling, still flat in a southern Indianan's view, and names became Scandinavian.  As I approached Stevanger, with the accent on the second syllable according to Sylvia, I came upon this grand farm house that had recently got a classy renovation.  

I then turned west again and tried to hide from the wind by hugging the few cornfields that were still left to harvest.  A few friendly horses greeted me as I stopped to say hello.

I turned north as I viewed down on the water tower of Ottawa and rode into what was used to be Danway, and then checked out the quirky Norwegian humor displayed along the road.

Then came my destination of today's journey, Norway, to learn something about Sylvia's heritage.

In fact I later found out that the road with the horses was where her aunt lived and the family farmed in the past.

Norway was a delight as evidenced by my photos, but I didn't go into the country store and sample the lutefisk!

I returned back to my daughter-in-law's in Joliet with rolling farmland surrounding me on a quiet US-52 with the long awaited tailwind.

A total of 73 miles and a whopping 1000 feet of climbing.

PRAIN in the Rain

By John Bassett

I believe one of the key ingredients to getting people to volunteer to work the BBC’s RAIN event is to provide a pre-do, or re-do, of the event so that those volunteers also get to participate as a rider.  This is something of a tradition and has gone by various names including, most recently, the BRAIN (Before RAIN) ride.  For various reasons, BRAIN did not happen this year.  However, a few individuals in the club expressed interest in a Post RAIN (PRAIN) ride, and I set about trying to get that organized.  In consultation with interested parties, a Saturday, September 1 date was set.  This was Plan A.

Plan A went awry when Hurricane Isaac moved into the area late last week.  We reset the date to September 3 (Labor Day) hoping to get behind the worst of the weather.  This became Plan B.  Unfortunately, we lost a couple of riders due to the date change but added Dana Marsh who had the day off.  After drenching rains on Sunday morning and some consternation over the advisability of a cross-state bike ride through a near-stationary tropical storm, a group of five riders, Jim Schroeder, Jen Miers, Laurence Kohler, Paul Toth, and John Bassett headed over to Terre Haute Sunday evening.  Stan Ellis and Dana deferred on a decision to ride until early Monday morning.  This became Plan C.

Monday morning in Terre Haute was dark, gloomy, and excessively humid - but at least the pavement was dry.  Rain chances were 60%, with thunderstorm potential, and a constant east headwind.  After a quick breakfast we headed to the start at the intersection of St. Mary of the Woods Road and US 150.  In the spirit of the event we put out an official RAIN traffic cone to mark the starting line.  We began at 7:43 AM, about as early as daylight conditions would allow.

My goal for the first part of the ride (before lunch) was to make sensible pedal strokes and to burn as few matches as possible.  The five of us worked as a group, alternating pulls, to the first designed rest stop at US 231 (38 miles).  The ladies got out ahead at this point following Jen’s ‘minimal-stop’ ride strategy.  The guys did not object to this since we were having difficulty with Laurence’s furious pace at the head of the line, anyway.

Meanwhile, Stan and Dana had decided to try it.  They started in the middle of the route near Southport Road and SR 37, rode the route backwards until encountering the Terre Haute group, then joined for the ride to Richmond.  The meeting point came near Stilesville on US 40.  We welcomed their additional help with the headwind.  Dana reported that the route from SR 37 to Stilesville was totally in the rain and lamented the fact that her shoes overflowed with water and made a lot of squishy noise.  This was PRAIN in the Rain.

We pretty much rode as a group of seven from Plainfield, along Camby Road, and across Highways 67 and 37 to our designated lunch stop at a Subway (Mile 79) at the intersection of Southport Road and Bluff Road.  The ladies opted to do a minimal ‘snack-and-go’ and got on down the road.  We wondered if we would see them again before Richmond, but lunch sure did hit the spot.  Here are the guys ready to go after chowing down.

The weather improved slightly on the southeast side of Indianapolis as the four guys kept a pretty brisk pace into an east headwind.  We nixed an optional stop at New Palestine and decided to press on to Casey’s at US 40 at Greenfield (Mile 111).  We got there just in time to see the ladies saddling up and heading off to Dunreith.  I was able to stay with Stan and Paul until Mile 126 at the grade just east of Knightstown.  The legs just did not respond to that hill.  The last 30 miles of this ride can be a real test of will.  The road is flat and should have been fast, but fatigue, a battering east wind, and blowing rain frustrated progress.  Various pains came and went, but soon Centerville appeared on the horizon (Mile 155) announcing an imminent finish in Richmond less than 5 miles ahead.

Pat Toth and Susan Bassett arrived at the official Earlham finish line ahead of us and set out our orange cone to mark the official finish.  Here is Dana admiring the cone at the conclusion of her second state crossing this year!

There was even an official medal presentation.  Here are our hard-working Jim and Jen accepting their medals.  RAIN could not have been done without them.

Laurence (above, right) enjoyed her medal by biting it Olympian style.  This was her longest ride ever, and she did a fantastic job battling the wind.

Comparing notes at the finish, it was apparent that all of the ladies had done the entire 159.6 mile RAIN route, which included a construction detour on US 40.  On the other hand, all of the guys blew through the construction zone and used no detour.  There is probably a life lesson here somewhere.  Here is an ad hoc comparison of the RAIN and PRAIN in the Rain events.

Criteria	RAIN	PRAIN in the Rain
Distance	159.6 miles (with detour)	159.6 (ladies route) 156.9 (guys route)
Riders	About 1,500	7
Riders Completing	1,216	7
Weather	Hot Dry Headwind	Cloudy Tropical Storm System Same Headwind
SAG Support	Optional	Provided
Rest Stops	Provided	Optional
Orange cones at Start / Finish Line	Yes	Yes (0ne)
Medal Ceremony	Yes	You Bet !

On a personal note, I missed my best finish time by 3 minutes, which was a little disappointing.  But, considering the day-long headwind, a good average pace of 16.7 mph, and the fact that I felt very good at the end, I am not going to complain.  I got to spend the day with some good friends, and can’t complain about that either.  The GPS totaled right at 157 miles and a surprising 3,210 feet of climbing.  I had burned an estimated 8,400 calories which is significantly more than I had for lunch.

So, don’t be thinking you will miss a legendary ride if you volunteer for RAIN next year.  Despite the weather, this was a great substitute, complete with personal SAG support provided by Pat Toth and Susan Bassett.  We are all gratefully indebted to these ladies for making this a great ride.

Sunday City Trail Rides

John Wrasse updates us on the new Family-Oriented City Trail Rides:

We have had a few regulars and have been happy to see them every week! Because of my schedule I have not been able to lead the past few weeks. I am hoping to continue these into the fall but would like to see more riders. I also need someone reliable to help me lead when I have to work.

We explored the east side today. The original ride was shorter than anticipated so we added on a trip to Southeast Park through Renwick. There is a nice hidden trail that is cool and quiet. Check it out sometime.

Thanks and hope to see some of you soon,

John

Remembering Will Streeter at RAIN

From Steve Parker, Wheaton, Illinois

This is just to say thanks to the BBC for putting on a great ride each year, and to tell a story.

Will Streeter, a close friend of mine from South Bend, was an avid cyclist and had done the RAIN ride several times alone over the past years.  Then about three years ago, Will was diagnosed with ocular cancer and had one eye removed.  But he kept on riding, and last year asked me and several other of his friends to ride the RAIN with one of his two teenage sons.  It was a great experience and we all enjoyed it immensely.  The first photo below is of that 2011 group at the finish, with Will on the far right.

This past spring, however, Will passed away at age 49 from his cancer, leaving behind his two sons and his wife.  There was some hope that Will would live long enough to do the 2012 RAIN, but when it became clear that wouldn’t happen, his sons decided to ride the RAIN in honor of their father. So before he died, Will asked me to organize a group to ride with them.  By July 21, we had over 20 family and friends from South Bend, Chicago, Tucson and Boston on our “Remembering Will” team, and a jersey that Will’s sons designed.  The second photo is of that group at the end of this year's ride.  Another of Will’s friends rode Will’s bike, which is in the foreground.

Will’s two sons rode the entire 160 miles, as did some of the others in our group. Others did parts of that distance, many achieving personal goals to ride distances they’d never done before.  Will’s sons crossed the finish line with huge grins, greeted by cheers and hugs from our team.  I wouldn’t be surprised if the two boys do the RAIN again, but 2012 will be the one they definitely remember.

So on behalf of our group I want to thank the BBC and all the other volunteers for their dedication and hard work to make the RAIN a great event!

To Jim and Sylvia

 Friday is the wedding day of Sylvia Stoub and Jim Schroeder.



When has the BBC been the matchmaker between members? We have much to celebrate with them!

Jim served as a very successful RAIN director this year and has promoted bicycling in so many ways, especially those long and longer rides. Sylvia served as Volunteer Coordinator for RAIN and is our Social Chair, developing new ideas for club members to get to know each other besides on rides.

We join all the members of the club in wishing Sylvia and Jim many happy years together.

A cyclist's adaptation of the classic Irish blessing:

May the rain come gently in the night (we need it!)

May the day dawn bright and clear, 

May the day be not too hot (and not too cold), and

May the wind be always at your back.

RAIN 2012 Medallion

It's a small, but appreciated, touch to give each official finisher a memento. Note the iconic BBC "B" and cyclist, the background Indiana motif, the year, the mileage, and the block of dots that mirrors this year's t-shirt and jersey. Math geeks that my wife and I are, the first thing we did when we examined the t-shirt was to count the blocks, assuming they must somehow represent the year or the mileage or something. We never did figure it out!

RAIN Appreciation from Danville

From Dick Whicker, Danville, IN 

Have done RAIN a number of times starting in the early ‘90’s but not for perhaps 4 years.  Though older and slower now, I must say that this was the best I’ve experienced from the numbers of riders, the subtle change in locations of the sags at Plainfield and Greenfield, the start at SMOTW, to the subtle changes in route, particularly thru Indianapolis, that seemed safer than in years past.  I also thought the water wagons with the Gatorade syrup was a great idea as it cut down on the long lines.  Also having ice available was another great idea.  Food selection at the sags was also good, as usual.  I liked the assistance getting thru Terre Haute without having to stop all the time; wish the same could be said for Indianapolis but we too have to “share the road.”  For the most part I thought that motorists were considerate and we riders always need to be considerate too, including stopping when required and not barreling thru stop signs/signals unless motorists stop and allow us to proceed, which I experienced on several occasions.  For the most part when riders are courteous, drivers are courteous. 

As a race director myself, I recognize and appreciate the tremendous amount of effort that goes into an event of this magnitude, so a million thanks to everyone who helped in any and all ways!