kingston 

I'm on the GLR board so I can clear up any theories. Bill was the fast guy and a delightful person to have on the ride. On the other velo (yellow-velo), the jockey wheels fell apart on the first day which took a long time to fix since our ride mechanic didn't have spares and needed to wait for a bike shop to open to buy a new set. So yeah, that was a problem, but I was surprised by the number of riders on the Mac & Cheese with what I consider avoidable mechanicals like that one. What the yellow-velo rider lacked in mechanical preparedness and speed, he made up for in perseverance, so I've got to hand it to him for that. I don't remember exactly how many DNF's we had, but I'd guesstimate half-a dozen by the time we were done. We only had one vehicle big enough to carry a velo, the rental van & trailer that we used for shuttling riders & bikes across the Mackinac bridge, which we won't have for the IP because we're not going over the bridge. Since we're relying exclusively on volunteer's vehicles this year, we're not sure we'll be able to pick up a velo if one needed SAG support. For example, I drive a mini cooper with a hitch rack, so I can carry two bikes and two riders but would have no way of transporting a velo. Even a tandem or a trike would take some MacGyvering. The IP is also in an even more remote part of the UP, so the route has some crappier roads and bike trails which aren't very velo-friendly. Our primary concern is rider safety, and we don't want to leave anyone stranded on the side of the road with no way to pick them up, so we're restricting participation to bikes we can fit on a hitch or roof rack which most volunteers will have on their personal vehicles. Hope that clears things up.