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

For this 3-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 3 (or 4) SAGs, which means 3 (or 4) drivers needed for each section, and there are 3 to 4 sections for each half day. This means up to 16 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

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 at Lick Observatory. Day 2 would be for lunch in Knights Ferry. Day 3 would be for lunch in Arnold.

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.

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 SAG will be more than happy to SAG their sections. If this is true then my job will be very easy.

Here are the SAG sections (revised 6/22/08) -

• 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, have snacks, leave about 11:00 AM
  • 4 - 12 miles, before summit cattleguard on San Antonio Road
  • 5 - 15 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 8:00 AM
  • 1 - 14 miles, to Hwy 132 junction
  • 2 - 14 miles, to Ripon
  • 3 - 19 miles, to Market at Hwy 108 junction
  • 4 - 12 miles, to Knights Ferry
  • everybody regroup, have lunch, leave about 1:00 PM
  • 5 - 7 miles, to shady spot along Hwy 108
  • 6 - 9 miles, to Yosemite Junction store
  • 7 - 12 miles, to Columbia, everybody in by 4:00 PM
• SAG Sections - Day 3
  • 0 - Columbia, start at 8:00 AM
  • 1 - 14 miles, to Murphys
  • 2 - 6 miles, to Red Apple, park along Hwy 4
  • 3 - 6 miles, to Arnold, at Blue Coyote Cafe
  • everybody regroup, have lunch, leave about 1:00 PM
  • 4 - 12 miles, to "Ebbetts Pass Open" sign along Hwy 4, milepost 50
  • 5 - 8 miles, to Liberty Vista Point, along Hwy 4
  • 6 - 7 miles, to Bear Valley, everybody in by 4:00 PM