Seldomseen Smith: Ohio fleche.

Team Name: Sagamores of the Wabash.

Fleche information: Rusa.org/flecherules

Riding as a team is something I haven't been apart of in Randonneuring. Yes I sometimes ride with others, we'll chat, and maybe ride together through a couple controls. A fleche is a full team ride which I really enjoyed the concept. Our Indiana team worked well together and finished within the time limits, which is really all that you can ask.

Before the ride the weather was not promising. Rain. And did it rain. I would say we were rained on for at least 19 hours. Thankfully it was relatively warm so we didn't get too cold, but the constant rain did start to drain me.

Within our team we had a few mechanicals. One guy broke a chain, which was easily repaired with spare links, and another guy broke a spoke and was able to tie the broken spoke off and continue riding.

Most frightening part of the ride is when we were crossing wet rail tracks and a couple guys took a spill. Very scary. I'm glad that no one was hurt, or at least they said they weren't hurt, and we were able to continue on.

One of the most memorable parts of the ride is when we were riding along one of Ohio's many rail to trail paths and we were sprayed by a skunk. Well two guys up front got the brunt of the good stuff, us in back just got a bad taste in our mouth. The remainder of the ride was fine as long as were didn't ride next to the two guys that got most of the spray. Thankfully those two rode home together so they didn't have to punish anyone else.

The ride was challenging probably because I haven't rode that distance since last August. The constant rain also played a role in making the ride more difficult. 5 teams attempted the ride, but 2 dropped out because of weather.

All teams met up at a restaurant which is another great concept of the fleche. After riding for some 24hrs straight you meet up with other warriors of the wheel and tell stories. Our skunk story was very popular, but sitting by us wasn't.

Best part of the ride is the fact that my knee held up well, however I did seem to tweak my right ankle. I was very happy about this. Next test for the knee is the Indiana Randonneurs 300k with over 6k feet of climbing.