I'm off the bike for another few weeks, so this Saturday, I volunteered to sag on the Mulholland Challenge. It's part of a King of the Mountains series where people compete to see who can get the lowest overall time on 3 tough century rides. Mulholland is probably the toughest of the three.

I was assigned to be a roving sag, which works well for me. The goal is to roam around looking for people that need help or encouragement, and snap a pix or two. I brought my toolbox, some tubes and tires, a spare headlight and tail light and a spare jacket, just in case.

Some poor soul broke his chain in the worst possible place ... on a narrow twisting road locally known as the "Rock Store" climb. We managed to get him back on the road by pushing in another link, and I had a spare chain pin for him.

I managed to take a lot of pictures (550+!) of the riders along the course. Along with some of the other support people, I think there were at least 1000 pictures taken of the participants. Got to sit out on a turnout on Decker (steep climb), blast some music and encourage all the suffering going on.

One doubles rider (they run the Mulholland Double at the same time) wanted a coke, and I had the pleasure of offering him one of my personal stash of Mountain Dews. Boy, I know how good soda ... especially one with some caffeine ... tastes at the end of the day.

Someone had mistakenly put their food in the wrong drop box, and by the time the rider got there, the stop had closed, so there was no food for him! I had some Clif Bars and other stuff, and was able to solve that problem.

The doubles riders are out there after dark, so another volunteer and I stayed out and shepherded them through some of the easily missed turns. Driving up a particularly dark and narrow climb, another vehicle appeared behind me going waaaaay too fast. I have no idea if the driver was drunk or just stupid. On any other occasion, I would have pulled over and let them by, but since I knew the riders were in front of me and around some blind corners, I stayed where I was until we passed them safely.

One rider needed some water, and this being my cycling back yard, I was able to find some for him (the course has all kind of secret water spigots if you know where to look) and make sure he had enough.

I dunno. When I'm sagging people, my heart is with the ones who, for whatever reason (mechanical, got lost, just a slower rider, taking their time), are at the back.

Soo flippin nice to be useful to somebody! And sooo much better than sitting at home, wishing I could ride myself.

Anyway, some photos from the day:

Check in:



Morning breaks:



The Lead Group:



Fixing a flat:

Thanks for the report, and for the kindness that you dispensed. Well done. PG

Thanks. You know ... I wonder sometimes whether there's any altruism on my part at all. To be completely honest, it makes me feel good to help out!

Ah! That's my brother in law, Kent in the lead group photo, fourth wheel, red/white jersey and white helmet.
His first time in the Santa Monicas. My backyard, so we re-conned a bunch of climbs last Saturday and he put the hurt on me all day.

Is that Karen getting a flat fixed? Haven't seen here in ages.

It is indeed. And as beautiful and charming as ever.

Too bad he was so fast ... looks like he was gone before I set up for some pix on Decker. Waay fun helping out down there. You've got a heck of a back yard!

Nice report Biker395!

A good job, well done!

Good for you, Vic, having a SAG volunteer that knows cycling and is well prepared would make me more comfortable during a long event. Sounds like you enjoyed the day even if you weren't able to ride. Good report and pics, thanks for sharing with us.

Bill

I thought this was going to be about Peter Sagan.

Good service guy. Don't be tearing any stitches out bucking hay bails too early. Sounds like you are being pretty useful out there with the sags for now. I always appreciated their glazed donuts at about 90 miles when they were around with them.