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4-Day Ride to the Start of Sierra to the Sea

SAG Details

Ride Leader - Don Axtell

Here are the SAG sections -

  • SAG Sections - Day 1
    • 0 - Don's house, start at 7:00 AM
    • 1 - 15 miles, to just past Grandview Restaurant
    • 2 - 9 miles, to Smith Creek CDF Station
    • 3 - 6 miles, to Lick Observatory
    • everybody regroup
    • 4 - 14 miles, to San Antonio Valley
    • 5 - 14 miles, to County Park, near milepost 16
    • 6 - 16 miles, to Villa Lago Inn, everybody in by 3:00 PM
  • SAG Sections - Day 2
    • 0 - Villa Lago Inn, start at 7:30 AM
    • 1 - 16 miles, to Hwy 132 junction
    • 2 - 14 miles, to Ripon
    • 3 - 17 miles, to Market at Hwy 108 junction
    • 4 - 13 miles, to Knights Ferry
    • everybody regroup, have lunch, leave about 1:00 PM
    • 5 - 10 miles, to Hwy 108 and Green Springs Rd
    • 6 - 10 miles, to Junction Hwys 49 & 108
    • 7 - 10 miles, to Columbia, everybody in by 4:30 PM
  • SAG Sections - Day 3
    • 0 - Columbia, start at 8:00 AM
    • 1 - 7 miles, to Natural Bridges
    • 2 - 7 miles, to Murphys, at Aria Bakery
    • 3 - 6 miles, to Black Quartz Rd
    • 4 - 7 miles, to Arnold, at Big Trees Market
    • buy groceries for dinner and breakfast
    • 5 - 5 miles, to Big Trees State Park
  • SAG Sections - Day 4
    • 0 - Big Trees, start at 8:00 AM
    • 1 - 11 miles, to 11-mile Stop
    • 2 - 11 miles, to Bear Valley
    • 3 - 10 miles, to Pacific Grade Summit
    • 4 - 8 miles, to Ebbetts Pass
    • 5 - 18 miles, to Markleeville
    • have Lunch
    • 6 - 9 miles, to Woodfords Canyon
    • 7 - 6 miles, to Luthor Pass
    • 8 - 17 miles, to Lake Tahoe in by 5:00 PM
For this 4-Day Ride, the SAGs need to be moved forward by the riders taking turns at driving. There aren't any full-time drivers. Nobody is getting paid. We have 2 SAGs, which means 2 drivers needed for each section, and there are 3 to 4 sections for each half day. This means 6 to 8 drivers per each half day. Everybody will get a chance to drive a section.

Here are the goals for this year:

  • Do not leave anybody behind
  • Be able to SAG in some riders if needed
  • Have everybody see a SAG a few times each day
  • Have everybody reach camp about the same time
  • Have gear reach camp the same time as the riders
  • Allow for many different pace levels
Note that an individual's goal of "riding the whole way" is not included on this list. Each person should expect to drive a SAG sometime during the tour.

Nobody should start the day's ride until the SAGs are loaded and ready to go. It is everybody's job to see that the SAGs are loaded properly. If your bags are in, then maybe you can help load others. Or figure out who the slow person is and see if you can help them to get ready.

Also, nobody should start the day's ride until the driving assignments have been filled for the first half of that day. Then at the mid-day regroup, nobody should start until the last half's driving assignments have been filled.

Each day, there would be one regroup half way through the day, where we make sure that we have everyone accounted for before anyone continues to move on. On Day 1 this would be for lunch at The Junction. Day 2 would be for lunch in Knights Ferry. Day 3 would be for lunch in Arnold. Day 4 would be for lunch in Markleeville.

For the first half of the day it is important that we keep the group moving along, with the slower riders acting as SAG drivers to allow them to catch back up by the mid-day regroup.

And because the SAG driver needs to wait until the slowest riders arrive at the SAG stop before he can move on, it makes sense to have the slowest riders be the next SAG drivers.

For last half of the day, if a person had already driven SAG for the first half, then they have the choice of either driving again or letting someone else take their turn. For the last section of the day, the slower riders may choose to continue to ride on in, letting the SAGs be driven in ahead of them.

SAG #1 will hold all of the food, drinks, and snacks, and will be equipped to carry extra tired passengers. The other SAG will hold all of the luggage. For the first half of the day, the SAGs should all stay together, moving up as a unit. For the last half of the day, SAG #1 will stay out for the slower riders, while the other SAG may move on ahead so as to get people's gear into camp sooner rather than wait for the last rider.

This system will also save on gas, as the SAGs will not need to drive up and down to check on the riders, but instead will wait for the last rider before driving ahead, hopefully passing all of the riders in just the one pass.

I am hoping that the people that drive SAG will be more than happy to drive their sections. If this is true then my job will be very easy. Here is How To SAG.