RAIN is an annual ride across the State of Indiana sponsored by the Bloomington Bicycle Club. We begin at Terre Haute, at the Illinois border and finish at the Quaker college (Earlham College) in Richmond, Indiana on the Ohio border. Its 162-mile length runs mostly on the Historic National Route 40, an older divided four-lane road with light traffic. It has gentle rolling hills. A number of LBC riders participate each year. Tom Armstrong, Ed Scharfenberger and I (Larry Preble) teamed up to do the ride together, along with a friend (Harry) who drove along the route as a personal SAG support. The ride was well-supported with five rest stops which included food and hydration along the way.

This was the 6th year in a row for me (Larry Preble), the fifth year for Tom Armstrong and the very first time for Ed Scharfenberger who literally doubled the mileage on his new bike by riding RAIN this year. Congratulations to both Ed Scharfenberger and Marcie Klus, both of whom completed their first RAIN ride.

Speaking of RAIN, there was plenty of wet stuff at the start with a continuous precipitation for the first 60 miles and then off and on until mile 95. Except for some worrisome lightning at the start, it presented no real problems along the way, and helped keep us all cool. This year, our team had the honor of being the first recumbents to cross the finish line.

All Photos by Larry Preble, Jen Bowers and Harry Jacobson-Beyer