Originally Posted by
Marcus_Ti
This to me sounds like definite SAG pickup truck territory.
If someone has a mechanical you cannot fix and you don't have cell service--how long would it take to get aid out there? An hour? 2 hours? Would you be able to steeple-hill chase to civilisation to summon aid in a timely manner? What about medical?
To put it in perspective, this year on Tour de Nebraska there was an officially sanctioned gravel/MMR route. On a 60 mile day, 30 miles to go. Afternoon. A group hit a patch of goat head thorns. Within half a mile, over a dozen prepared cyclists had entirely exhausted their supply of tubes on their own rigs nevermind others. Did I mention this was an official route? Yes there was SAG, but it took well over an hour before anyone could even get a cellphone signal to summon SAG to go out there and try to do anything. No one got hurt, but it took a very long time to ferry the riders and their bikes back....some gave up waiting and were able to nurse their way back in stopping to handpump every 1-2 miles.
Well - first I'm not even sure any of my riding buddies will do this ride. haha. We recently attempted a 101 mile 10,500 foot day that unfortunately turned out to be one of the hottest days of the year in our area - heat index in the high 90's. Very high humidity. And only one of us finished the ride. I had to quit at 73 miles and ride 9 back to the start - finished with 82 miles and about 9k feet of climbing. The heat overwhelmed me - my body was just burning up.
Anyway - the ride I"m planning we will try in cooler weather ( or possibly I'll try it alone!). There isn't any point where you're more than a few miles from a road where you could find some kind of help reasonable quickly. Some of the dirt roads would be 4wd with decent clearance only. A true medical emergency would be an issue, but that's a risk that the guys understand and are willing to accept. I think the biggest reason for SAG is so if someone can't make it they have a way out / home and the rest of the group can continue.
As for mechanicals - everyone is responsible for making sure their bike is in good order before the ride. We can deal with most common issues - flats, chains, shifter cables.