Originally Posted by
billyymc
I think I'd prefer the hydration pack route, plus water bottles and a frame bag. Then have SAG on standby just in case. There will be places where we COULD diverge from the route if we needed something - it would cost us maybe 4 miles and at 5 or 600 feet of additional climb to divert then get back on route.
This seems like a sensible plan.
I've got a decent idea of the kind of ride you're talking about - we've done some similar adventures in the Driftless area, though gravel rather than dirt, but with similar issues for sources of nutrition/water and cell coverage. On one occasion, Farmer John came to the rescue with water for half our group
We run self-supported, but with someone's wife/husband/brother on call for emergency SAG.
Three water bottles per person will probably be okay, unless it's not; depending on how large the group is, you might encourage one or two of the stronger riders to also carry a hydration pack (that can be shared if people run out of water.) I like to ride with a small handlebar bag (specifically, the Jandd Bike Bag) that includes extra tubes, tools, pump, nutrition, Band-Aids, etc., as my frame is too small to hold both a frame bag and two water bottles.