Tell us your sad sad tale of SAG woe

[Trek420]

What got you in there? If you've never been what keeps you out of the bus each time? Is it hard to hang up the cleats for the day or the wise thing to do? Do you refuse to "get on the bus"? Do you keep going when it seems impossible to go on or "live to ride another day"?

Would you sign up for a ride knowing that you could not possibly finish the route because "they have a SAG wagon if I DNF" (my answer to that; he]] no).

I've been thinking about this a lot since on ALC 4 I was in cushioned AC comfort for 10 miles.

I'd completed Day 1, 2, 3 and on Day 4 I got to rest stop 4 after it was closed. I was given a choice of heading right back out or hop on the bus with the last load of sad SAG'd riders.

At that point I was cold, wet (we'd been sprayed/misted by agricultural sprinklers the last 15-20 miles, fog was moving in, headwinds and dirt) and the normal tired one is on your 4th 80+ mile day.

But more important I'd beat a personal milestone.

The year before I'd bonked on Day 3 (but rode pretty well the rest of the trip) so doing Day 3 which is a hard one and Day 4 I was pretty good with that.

In a way I regret it, 10 miles is not much to do even in that state. But the rest of the ride went well so maybe I needed the rest.

Problem is this year for some part of every one of the 7 days I had to SAG so it got me thinking.

[teigyr]

Done the SAG two times

Once was on Calif Aids Ride (now ALC)...on that big bad downhill. I am a wuss. I just froze up and couldn't do it. I also sat out on day 5 - I think it was day 5. It was after the 104 +/- mile day and it was the short day. I rode hard on the long day and didn't stop at rest stops like I should. I had a bit of heat exhaustion going on that evening and had to sit out the short (read into that hilly) day.

Another time was in Death Valley. It was a night ride and I wasn't feeling well. I had to stop and pulled off the road, into MUD! Mud was in my cleats and in my pedals and it was dark. I couldn't get my feet back in, I felt bad, so there you have it. Fate.

So maybe that is three times? It never feels good but sometimes it's the right thing to do.

And no, I would never intend on DNF. I like to push it through and I always feel bad when I don't or can't. What keeps me going is knowing how good I'll feel about finishing.

[RoadRaven]

Only sagged once... it was a club race - and I had no choice - I got a blow-out and I do not carry my seat bag with spares in club races - too dangerous in a pack situation if it wriggled its way, or got knocked, off.

I would never enter an event assuming if I couldn't handle it I would sag my way home. I would enter an event intending and assuming I would finish.

However, it would be nice to know it was there in case of a mechanical (like my example) or in case of injury (like your toe/foot, Trek).

[Thorn]

Interesting timing on this question...I'm cleaning up the pictures from my last vacation. While we trained for it and while we should have been up to it, my DH spent a lot of time in the SAG aka the "Lancelot Cart" (in Arthurian lit--the cart was a trip of shame ). I rode with him the first time to keep him company. I felt really bad for him.

The reason? Shortly before we left, I started to get sick. No symptoms other than just really, really exhausted. Thought it was a lot of reasons, but after the first day, DH got the same symptoms (while I finally started to feel good). Guess it was a virus. End result was he just wasn't up to riding. Sometimes he'd ride in the morning and SAG the afternoon; on the ride with a hilly start, he rode from the outset.

So, yes, we've rode the SAG, but, no, I would never have signed up if I thought I would have to. In fact, on days when we had shorter options, we picked distances that we thought DH could handle. We're signed up for a century next weekend. Given the last couple of weeks, we'll be only setting off for the metric to avoid the SAG route home.

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

The subject of this thread made me think it was a Chinese tragedy folktale...

[snapdragen]

I've never started a ride with the intention of taking the SAG back. I got sagged twice for CAR 7 - one day was hotter and windier than they expected, the stops all ran out of water so they sagged everyone in. Another day I was whipped and couldn't go on, I think it was day 5.

Two other times, once at Cinderella. I was riding right after getting over the flu - not a good idea. Then the last one was Top Hat, or as I like to think of it - My Most Hated Ride That Caused Me Much Pain-also known as the beginning of snap's tendinitis.

[East Hill]

I should not say this (so as to avoid jinxing myself ), but I have never had to resort to the SAG wagon. Of course, I have not ridden that many rides...I certainly would not sign up if I did not think I could finish the ride, though.

East Hill

[mom2twins]

I've been SAG'd twice. The first time was on Cycle Across Maryland way back in the mid 90's I was fairly new to cycling and completely unprepared for a 6 day tour. In fact, I had stopped riding altogether about 6 weeks before the ride becuase I changed jobs and didn't think I would be able to go and then my new boss found out I had signed up and he told me to go ahead and take the time off.

So there I was the first day completely out of my league with no training time to prepare me for all of the monster hills. I think the first day was something like 65 miles and I made it about 50 when the rain started to just pelt us from all directions. My dh who was my boyfriend at the time tried and tried to convince me to take a ride becuase he felt like he had to stay with me and I was going so slow. I kept refusing until we came to this one huge downhill and got completely terrified because I couldn't see from all of the rain. just then the car came driving by and I relented and flagged him down.

I did okay the rest of the week although I did sit one day out in the middle because my butt was soooooo sore. It was truly the worst vacation of my life LOL Never agree to ride a 6 day trip without any training!

The 2nd time was 2 years ago when i got lost on the Civil War Century. I was only planning to ride 25 miles and I took a wrong turn and ended up going backwards on the 62 mile course. I rode about 35 miles total when the sag wagon passed me going in the wrong direction and picked me up because I was obviously lost.

I would never start a ride anticipating using SAG but I don't have a problem using it if I need it.

[tangentgirl]

I SAGd a few times during CAR 7, most notably the day I got dehydrated and spent the night in the med tent with an IV. D'oh. They made me sit out the day after as well (blah), but it worked because I also had lost a contact lens, and got to go track down another pair from the local lensaria.

It sucked, I hated it, but the high at the end of the ride was still great.

Nope, wouldn't go into a ride planning to SAG. May as well drive, right? It's good to know the contingency's there, but it wouldn't be my game plan.

[SouthernBelle]

I tried to sag once. Last August I had pre-registered for a charity ride. Not too long, but with many many big climbs. In the meantime, I had bronchitis. But day-of I decided I could do the ride. I was quite wrong and finally after 2 stops I called them. Said they were on the way, so I told the outriders (motorcycles) to go on. They never came. Fortunately It was local, so I knew the roads well enough to make my way back. Poor girl waiting there got an wheezy earful.

[Veronica]

My one SAG - last year's DMD.

http://www.tandemhearts.com/wordpres...ves/17#more-17

Maybe nexyt year I'll start training early enough to try again.

V

[maryellen]

Only once--I was doing a supposedly organized century and the route was poorly marked resulting in me pedalling far off the route. (I called the emergency number. They insisted I couldn't possibly have passed a particular point so I couldn't possibly have gone far enough. The next time I called them they asked how the heck I'd gotten so far.) By the time I got back on the correct route, the rest stops had run out of water and food so they SAGed me.

So I managed to do a century (100+ miles due to my "extra" riding) and SAG *all* in the same ride. That was my first century, come to think of it.

I would never start a ride intending to SAG, but knowing there is a SAG option could tempt me to sign up for a ride that is pushing the envelope for me in terms of endurance.

As I've only just started getting back on the bike since my crash last August, just about any ride would test my endurance this season!

[7rider]

Well, once officially.
A second time on a ride without official SAG support.
First time was the 2001 MS150 from Boston to P'town. Day 1 was an optional century, which DH (then, DBF) and I attempted. It was blisteringly hot out (95, but much hotter on the pavement), and the MS crew had a snafu with the water stops on the century spur, so there was one less water stop than they planned. The heat and running out of water got the best of me, and at the 80+ mile rest stop, we rested in the shade, but couldn't get my HR down below about 120. Heat exhaustion. I was wiped. Couldn't go on. Really on the verge of tears, if I had any liquid in my body to cry out. So, I took the van back to the Mass Maritime Academy (the overnight stop) and DBF/DH sprinted the final 20 miles back, so he completed his first century. It would take us 2 other attempts before we were able to finally complete our first century together.
Oh...and I took a long cool shower, had a few glasses of water, then got to work on the beer with our team, and rode 75 miles the next day!
Second ride was during the Sunday ride with our LBS. I was on a borrowed shop bike (long story) and the group of us were screaming down Beach Drive through Rock Creek Park. One of the idiots in front of me grabbed a handful of brakes and zigged around a pothole, rather than bunny-hopping it or calling out, and clipped wheels with the guy behind him who went down, but not before taking me out, too. So the two of us crashed - him onto the road, and me into the gravel on the side of the road. I was majorly hurting, and the wife of the LBS owner (who was not riding at the time...I think she was pregnant), came and picked me up with her van and took me back to the shop. I was so upset, because I scratched the brakes on the borrowed bike and ripped my favorite pair of shorts!!

[five one]

Just once. It was three years ago, on the sixth day of a seven day tour that went from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh. We were on a rolling two lane highway with no shoulder. Apparently, we were told later, many 18-wheelers use this road instead of the PA turnpike. DH and I were going downhill fairly fast and I could hear a big truck gearing down behind me. DH was ahead of me by some distance. The truck driver couldn't pass because of oncoming traffic. I had nowhere to go to get out of his way. Finally when the coast was clear, he began to pass - so close I could have reached out and touched the truck. I could feel myself being pulled into his draft. But the worst thing was him blowing his air horn, loud and long while he passed, which scared the sh!t out of me and caused me to wobble. Fortunately I was able to stay in control, but as soon as I saw one of the SAG vehicles parked just ahead in a driveway, I pulled over, stopped, and had a complete meltdown. It was 12 miles into a 75 mile day and I was done. DH continued on after I had calmed down, and I spent the rest of the day in a very nice Lincoln Navigator.

[singletrackmind]

Not yet. A lively combination of luck, preparedness and idiotic stubborness. I'm just too plain stupid to quit.

I wouldn't opt for a ride I knew I could absolutely not do whether I could sag or not.
Nowadays I ride with a little guy so my mileage is pretty short and it's good to know SAG's available if he needs to quit. For him I'd sag.