So my college roommate and I decided to do RAIN a few weeks ago...he doesn't ride quite as much as me, but we figured it would be a blast since it ended 25 miles north of where we went to school (Miami of Ohio).

160 miles form Illinois to Ohio.....relatively flat with only 3800 feet of climbing and most of it is less than 1%...you never notice you are "climbing".

Temps were really hot...mid-90's and humid, but surprisingly, it never felt as hot as it was supposed to. We made sure we hydrated well and consistently and also carried knee-high pantyhose with us to make "ice socks" as needed. They worked GREAT....draped them around our necks and kept riding. they would melt and keep us cool.

The route sucked as it was mostly on US40 so there was a LOT of traffic and moving fast. Riding time was ~8.5 hours, total time was ~ 10.5 hours. My buddy was really struggling the last 60-70 miles and that necessitated longer stops at the aid stations.

After the ride we went back down to Miami for the night and chowed down on some well-earned burgers and beers at some of the old bars we used to hang at.