500-mile bike ride to include pitstop locally

A challenging 500-mile bicycle ride -- the inaugural Ride Indiana -- will make its way through Putnam County Friday, Sept. 19 with a planned stop in Greencastle.

The five-day ride, which begins in Warsaw and concludes Sunday on Monument Circle in Indianapolis, is being staged as a benefit for Indiana military families.

Not only is the ride raising funds, it is also increasing awareness for Hoosier military families facing financial hardships.

Wish for Our Heroes, a Noblesville-based national charity, has partnered with Kroger Co. and Old National Bank for the first-ever Ride Indiana event.

On Friday, the ride will be going from Lafayette to Bloomington on its second day of the event, leaving Lafayette at 6 a.m. and reaching Greencastle at approximately 11:30 a.m.

The cyclists will ride right through the courthouse square and then take a lunch break with a pitstop in the parking lot behind Old National Bank downtown, 1 N. Indiana St., Greencastle.

Old National Bank has committed $5,000 to sponsor the event, local bank spokesman Cara Goodin said.

Bank employees have been raising money by paying a sum that allows them to wear blue jeans on Friday, Goodin said, adding that the bank will donate the last month's worth of blue jean funds to the ride on Friday.

Bank officials hope to have as many Greencastle residents as possible meet the riders as they come into town about 11:30 a.m. and then wave small flags that the bank will provide as the riders depart for Bloomington.

Also during the lunch break on Friday, staff and students from Greencastle High School will be presenting a donation to Ride Indiana. As a fundraisir, GHS students and staff have been selling Wish for Our Heroes wrist bands that will allow them to wear hats on Friday when the ride comes through Greencastle.