Day 37 Crawfordsville to Indianapolis.

The good weather yesterday did nothing to prepare me for the shock in store today. The alarm was the first shock at 6.10am and then I heard the thunder outside and Diane confirmed that it was 'hammering down,' great. At load we were told that due to the weather loading would be delayed until after we had been shuttled to and from breakfast. In town for breakfast the roads were like rivers and the rain on the movies (more American), where it looks like the Fire Service are doing their best to drown everybody, is not a myth, it was just like that.
The forecast was poor so we were given the option of going on the van to Indianapolis and not riding, or waiting in the hotel for an hour or so in case it cleared. Greg, who is meterologist, stated that 'there were a number of active cells tracking our way' also that the forecast for our rest day in Indianapolis was not good. He was put in charge of morale. Unfortunately this morning Jeff decided that he was not well enough to continue and decide to go back home to New Zealand.
Not riding was not an option for me, but about half the group decided to SAG and not ride. Our group waited around in the hotel and around 9.30am we were given the OK to start riding. A number of us set out together and by then the rain had virtually stopped, but there was a lot of water coming up from wheels. We kept up a reasonable pace and by the 30 mile first SAG the roads were dry and it was a nice day. After that we visited the Roark bike factory where they gave us a tour of what is an aerospace factory that has a sideline making titanium bikes. Around 70 custom built machines a year that are as beautiful as they are expensive. I didn't order one!
On the outskirts of Indianapolis we then went to the Speedway, home of the 'Indy 500,'amazing place. Got a guided tour on a small bus that went around the track, though slightly slower than the racing cars would. Saw the brick yard and got a commentary on the history of the place. I was amazed at how big it was because the cars seem to lap so quickly, but the lap is 2 miles.
Moving on from there we went to The Major Taylor velodrome and managed to get on for a few laps while the real trackies were having a break. From there it was a complicated route and we had a little trouble locating the hotel, but it was worth it because the room was a suite, fantastic and we had two nights here.
After dinner we went to a micro-brewery where we had the some strong beer and adopted a moth called 'Monty' who was busy getting as drunk as we were.
Today's distance was 67.8 miles.