Lorie's Ride

Off to Chesterton, IN today to do Lorie's Ride for my third year. This time, we got a sitter and Maria came with me.

There was a contentious debate as to whether to do the 25 mile route or the 38 mile route. I had biked the 38 mile route both times before, and all things being equal I wanted to do it again. But Maria hadn't biked that far in years, I haven't done much riding this year, and the weather was still questionable. The 25 and 38 mile routes overlapped for 17 miles so we put off the decision as long as possible.

We started at 7:45 and headed for the lakeshore. The weather early on was fantastic, sunny but not hot, and virtually no wind. It was a great ride to the first SAG station on the dunes, but then the weather looked really ominous and the wind picked up. There were dark clouds over the lake, and we couldn't see the city at all. It looked like a short ride back.

We pressed on, and as soon as we were a couple miles from the lake, it started clearing up. At the 17 mile mark, we needed to choose which way to go - eight miles back to the start, or another 21 miles. Maria felt good and opted for the longer route.

Another hour or so later, we were at the second SAG stop, at the Art Barn. Maria was tired, but I felt great. After about twenty minutes, we started out again. There were a couple tough inclines for us novice riders in the next part of the route. We took them slow and easy. At 11:45 we were back at the start. Easily a 10 mph pace if you factor in the stops, and I can live with that.

Lorie's Ride is a great ride. It's really well organized, the route is interesting and challenging, and the volunteers are all very helpful and nice. We will be back!