Originally Posted by SmokinMiles
1. Should one meet his/her sag at alternate locations rather than the rest stops? Are the rest stops really crowded especially early on?
2. What type of food/drink is provided at the stops? There is no mention of what will be available on the website.
3. What time would you recommend arriving at the starting area?
4. Have any of you done this ride without sag? I've done 3 centuries completely on my own relying just on rest stops and convenience stores. Do you really need rolling sag the whole way?
The other main concern I have -being in the saddle that long- I'll have to deal with on my own!
Thanks in advance for your help....Crystal
1. The first rest stop can be a little crowded, and if memory serves it didn't look like there was a lot of room to park there. By the time you make it to the remaining stops everyone should be spread out enough that you should be able to meet your SAG there with no problems. If I had a SAG I would just stop at the first rest stop without the SAG and meet the SAG at the scheduled stops from then on.
2. The first stop doesn't have much, but at that point you don't need much. I remember just filling a bottle and eating an apple at the first stop last year. The rest of the stops have typical organized ride type of food (all I remember is that I ate a couple granola bars-- I'm sure there was more stuff available). The lunch stop was good for me last year. I remember eating some kind of sandwich and a bunch of Pop-Tarts (I love Pop-Tarts). The lunch also has different drinks than water and Gatorade. The other thing I remember is that the last rest stop has popsicles, and those really hit the spot after a long day in the sun.
The food was good to me, but I'm not very picky. I'm used to drinking Gatorade and eating PowerBars all the time, so it was actually nice to have a change of pace. RAIN was probably the only time I've ever eaten an apple during a ride, for instance. If you're picky, be sure to bring plenty of whatever it is that you like to eat on long rides. If you're not picky, just take a couple PowerBars to be on the safe side. That's what I'll be doing.
3. The earlier the better. Lots of people are going to be there, and it's never good to have to be in a rush before a big ride. I say get there as early as you can while still getting a reasonable amount of sleep. There are plenty of people to talk to at the start, so you shouldn't get bored.
4. I did it without a SAG last year and I'm doing it again this year. There are more than enough rest stops along the way, and there are lots of other SAGs out there that could help you if something crazy were to happen. I felt like there were way too many SAGs last year. Here's how I see it: I'm taking along the usual stuff I take on a century (gear to fix a flat, allen wrenches, chain tool, ID, and some cash) and if I crack my frame or something crazy like that then I'll just ask someone in another SAG to let me borrow a cell phone (I don't have one) if there are no pay phones around. Then again, my family lives in Indiana, so it wouldn't take them too long to come get me.
I wouldn't worry too much about any of that. Chances are that your bike won't break, you'll get plenty of food, and you'll have the best ride of your life.