Want morning sag ride to reduce the distance to ~ 35 or 40 for Seniors.

Are any of the sag drivers willing to give a daily ride to some aspiring senior newbies? We have several ladies who are new to bicycling and Freewheel, but have been training and building endurance over the past 6 weeks... up to 20 to 30 miles/day now. We'd like to come on the ride, but fear we cannot do the full 50 go 70 mile distance this year.

Is there a way someone sagging could help us out this year?

Thanks for any ideas!

Last year, my daughter and I caught a sag after her knee began to swell. We waited close to 2 hours to catch a sag with seats in the car and carriers to haul 2 bikes. (I stayed with her while my husband rode on.) We passed a few riders on our way in and our sag had to tell them to hang on and someone would be back for them. These were folks with mechanical and medical problems.

It was our experience that official sag vehicles on the route were a precious commodity and intended for mechanical and medical problems only and personal sag vehicles are not allowed on the route for rider safety. FreeWheel's official policy on sags is explained in the "What is Expected of You" section of the ride information. Hope this helps!

Laura in NTX, Thank you for that you for that information; I really appreciate your taking the time to share your own experience. My mother, sister, and I went on Freewheel back in 1989 and the rules were different then.

What I was thinking was that maybe we could sag with some private folks and meet them off of the official route so as not to cause problems. It just seems like there should be a way for my friends and me to find a way to participate this year, even though we are not up to the full athletic level of those who can ride 70 miles per day. We've worked really hard to get where we are now. Thanks again for your ideas. -- Neva
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Re:
[quote="Laura in NTX"]Last year, my daughter and I caught a sag after her knee began to swell. We waited close to 2 hours to catch a sag with seats in the car and carriers to haul 2 bikes. (I stayed with her while my husband rode on.) We passed a few riders on our way in and our sag had to tell them to hang on and someone would be back for them. These were folks with mechanical and medical problems.

It was our experience that official sag vehicles on the route were a precious commodity and intended for mechanical and medical problems only and personal sag vehicles are not allowed on the route for rider safety. FreeWheel's official policy on sags is explained in the "What is Expected of You" section of the ride information. Hope this helps!

The private route would definitely be the way to go. You might have to split up to do it. Yes, I'm sure that things have really changed on FreeWheel since 1989! It's one of the curses of things gaining popularity. I absolutely love that you're riding and wish you the very best.

Hi Neva, this is Dee.

I've pretty much decided not to do Freewheel cause I'm just not up to those distances. With a week of illness followed by family emergencies, my training time - already short - is pretty much gone. I've been in that kind of shape before, and I'm not very close to it right now.

So I would love to do a more relaxed Freewheel, but I don't really have any suggestions. I've never done it, though I did read the new rules about sag vehicles.

What I was thinking was that maybe we could sag with some private folks and meet them off of the official route so as not to cause problems. It just seems like there should be a way for my friends and me to find a way to participate this year, even though we are not up to the full athletic level of those who can ride 70 miles per day. We've worked really hard to get where we are now. Thanks again for your ideas. -- Neva
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Although I've never done this, if you have several people, one or two persons drive ahead say about 20 to 30 miles to a town or place and park in public parking area. Those persons unload their bikes and start ride from there. The other persons get to the parking spot load up and continue on. It would be possible to leapfrog this way the entire ride, if you can organize it.

BobBooth,

Thank you so much for that suggestion. I've shared it w/ a few bicycling friends and we're going to think it over and see if we have enough people willing to try it.

Some of us also discussed that there is a pretty big demand to have something akin to a "Mini Free-wheel" which might be 30 to 45 miles a day.

Thanks again for the suggestion!
-- Neva

Neva,

It is greatly appreciated that you are exploring your options now, instead of just winging it during the week of FreeWheel! I also appreciate your "self-honesty" in knowing what you are physically capable of achieving at this point.

The others involved in this discussion are correct--official FreeWheel SAGs are a precious resource and you should NOT use them for this purpose. The idea of leapfrogging is something that has worked very successful for others, as long as you agree to meet up somewhere off-route.

I am so excited that you want to be part of the action on FreeWheel, and good luck getting all the arrangements figured out now. Give us updates on how you are doing and if you need to find more drivers do not hesitate to put up on appeal here on the forum, or even on our facebook page!

See you in a few weeks!

Joy Hancock
Director, OK FreeWheel

Joy, thanks for your encouragement and suggestions!

On Tuesday evenings a group of us have been meeting at 6pm at 31st & Riverside parking lot and going on a ride that Richard Abbott organizes, riding the Tulsa bicycle trails.

Quite a few members of that group have said they would like to see a "Mini-Freewheel" option for those who could ride about 45 miles max. So, for future years' planning... would you consider having a panel to see if there is a way to incorporate a shorter route into the overall plan? It might even double your enrollment!

Thanks again, -- Neva
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Admin wrote:Neva,

It is greatly appreciated that you are exploring your options now, instead of just winging it during the week of FreeWheel! I also appreciate your "self-honesty" in knowing what you are physically capable of achieving at this point.

The others involved in this discussion are correct--official FreeWheel SAGs are a precious resource and you should NOT use them for this purpose. The idea of leapfrogging is something that has worked very successful for others, as long as you agree to meet up somewhere off-route.

I am so excited that you want to be part of the action on FreeWheel, and good luck getting all the arrangements figured out now. Give us updates on how you are doing and if you need to find more drivers do not hesitate to put up on appeal here on the forum, or even on our facebook page!

See you in a few weeks!

Joy Hancock
Director, OK FreeWheel