Brian Boyce
The Tribune-Star
TERRE HAUTE —
Forget the weather report, the probability of RAIN crossing Indiana this weekend is imminent.
The 24th annual Ride Across Indiana bicycle event kicks off at the Illinois border just outside Terre Haute at 7 a.m. Saturday. Sponsored by the Bloomington Bicycle Club, the 160-mile ride follows Historic National Route 40 all the way to Richmond, and according to its Facebook page Thursday night, registration was 1,300 and counting.
“Last year there were over 1,000,” Father Rick Ginther said excitedly inside his office at St. Margaret Mary Church on Thursday.
Turning 60 in August, the veteran bicyclist said he’d always wanted to participate in the state-wide ride and decided this would be his year.
Joining a group of six from Terre Haute, Ginther said he’s been working up to the ride nutritionally after spending the last year losing nearly 30 pounds.
“A ride like this can burn up to 8,000 calories in a day,” he said of the trip that’s expected to last 12 hours.
Riding in team-fashion, Ginther explained the brunt of the work will be borne by the lead rider as the group gets sucked onward in a wind vortex. Each of the riders will take turns leading the group. Ginther himself said he normally rides between 15 and 50 miles per stretch at a pace of 16 miles per hour.
Riding begins at 8 a.m. with rest stops scheduled beginning at the 40-mile mark. Lunch is scheduled after 91 miles, and the group plans to be finished by 9 p.m.
Ginther said heat and humidity are always a concern with a ride this long, but overall he’s ready to go.
“I just have fun,” he said.
Brian Boyce can be reached at 812-231-4253 or brian.boyce@tribstar.com.
