Upcoming supported rides.

We've got a number of different rides we're supporting this year.  Some long, some short.  Some are Fresno Cycling Club events, others are for charity.  All need SAG.  That's where we (and you) come in.

The list of confirmed rides is as follows.  (Confirmed in the sense that we're providing some sort of SAG support for the ride.)  These rides can also be found on the calendar above. (Just click the Calendar tab.)

• Sat. Mar. 3 - The Fresno State Criterium
• Sun. Mar. 4 - Road Race
• Sat. Apr. 6 - The Big Hat Day Century
• Sat. Apr. 20 - Cycling for the Seniors
• Sat. May 4 - Kirch Flat Century
• Sat. Jun. 29 - Climb to Kaiser
• Sat. Sep. 14 - Tour de Fresno
• Sat. Sep. 28 - Tour de Oaks
• Sat. Oct. 6 - Grizzly Century

If you're interested in helping with any of these ride, all day, part day, or only an hour, let us know. We can be contacted via email through the address shown at the right.

Help out this Cycling Season

Just doing some counting and so far this year I've got 8 bike rides scheduled that I'm committed to work SAG on. They're posted on the calendar; feel free to take a look. There are also some other potential rides that I've yet to commit to. Some rides are large, some small. On some rides, I'm in charge of the SAG crew; on others I'm just one of the bunch. Either way, to all of my local cycling friends, as a heads up, I'll be asking for your help. I do it for you, but I can't do it alone.

If you've ever considered helping out at a cycling event: do it. Call it a rest day. Call it cross training. Call it making your cycling community better. Good rides become better when riders, who know what a good ride needs, help to organize those rides. Those riders are you. Help with the food or the rest stops. Help with course markings & route sheets. Help with registration. Help with SAG.

There can never be enough SAG.

If you've ever wanted to try SAG, let me know. Cycling experience is helpful, but not required. If you'd like to help out on a ride in a way other than SAG, contact the ride director. I can promise you they'd LOVE to hear from you. Their goal is to put on a good ride that riders will return to next year. That takes people.

That takes you.

Climb to Kaiser - June 25, 2011

Painted on the road at the Wildcat Rest Stop at the crest on Watts Valley Road.

Cyclists at the Tollhouse Rest Stop at Sierra Elementary School in Tollhouse.

My Honda ST1300 at the top of the Four-Lane on Highway 168.

Grizzly Century - Oct. 3, 2009

At a turn out along Mammoth Road, overlooking Redinger Lake. (N 37°10.471', W 119°26.144')

A group of cyclists climbing Mammoth Road. (N 37°10.471', W 119°26.144')

Central Valley BMW Riders Supports the Climb to Kaiser

By Paula Landis

Jon Mergan snaps a photo at the Shaver Lake Rest Stop
with his special mounted video camera.

The volunteer participation in the 34th annual Climb to Kaiser bicycle ride was something to be proud of. Twenty-three people turned out to assist with SAG, 10 motorcycles and 13 vehicles. Well over half of the SAG drivers were CVBR members.

SAG drivers started work at 5:30 am and many were still going strong at 10 that evening. Besides all the help, the BMW riders showed off their ingenuity.  Check out the custom racks that Kent Baucher and Terry Mergan built to haul cycling supplies (page 2).

Following are some thoughts from a few of the SAG drivers.

Ralph Tonseth: I volunteered to work the "late shift" (1PM to 10:30PM) with my pickup truck to assist riders who were beginning to realize, or had already confronted, the enormity of the task they had undertaken. As near as I can tell only Bruce Butterfield, Rodger Wagner and I had brought trucks to the event. Bruce had been tasked with hauling supplies and equipment for the rest stop personnel.  There were, however, several cars and SUV's (all environmentally friendly) from the cycling club also present on the circuit.

Grizzly Century, North Fork, Ca - October 07, 2008

I have sort of a running joke with my wife in that she'll let me go in a 12 hour bicycle ride on a Saturday, but my motorcycle ride time on Saturdays is limited to about 20 minutes. Of course it's not really true, but I think she'd rather have me on the bicycle. When I'm on a bicycle, I'm getting exercise and helping the environment. A motorcycle just burns fuel and tires. The latter is justifiable for commuting, not so much for weekend free time.

I've learned that if I use the motorcycle for a bicycle purpose, I can get out the door rather easily. Saturday the 4th was one of those days. The North Fork Chamber of Commerce had its 16th annual Grizzly Century bicycle ride. One hundred miles of some of the most beautiful Sierra Nevada scenery there is. It is an unbelievable bicycle ride that I've done a couple of times. I really think that the ride is one of the best in the State, due to the route, scenery and support. I was able to help them out with rider support (aka SAG) as I have in past years. Carry some water, spare tubes, a first-aid kit and strap a floor pump to the bike, then ride the course and help any riders who may need it.

Most of the SAG drivers drive a truck or car. I ride my motorcycle. In professional cycling events, particularly road racing like the Tour de France, motorcycles are everywhere. In recreational events, they're a rarity. A motorcycle has some serious advantages over a larger vehicle on this type of event. A motorcycle can cover more ground quicker, it can pull off the road in less space, and it needs less space to pass the cyclists, and it can get closer to the cyclists safer (if you need to talk to them) than a car. One big advantage a car has is the ability to carry a rider down the mountain if there is a mechanical failure or injury. For the most part though, most SAG drivers only help with flats, hand out water, and head back down at the end of the day without carrying a cyclist. Theoretically, this is the goal of EVERY organized bicycle ride; to get every cyclist home on their own power.

Climb to Kaiser - June 30, 2007

Today was the Fresno Cycling Club's 31st annual Climb to Kaiser. 155 miles. Nearly 14,000 feet of elevation gain, with a beginning altitude of 320 feet and final altitude of 9200 feet at the halfway point. There was a record 330 riders for the event this year. Cool temperatures in the mountains made for some fast course times. (It was in the mid-70s above 4000' for most of the day.) The first two finishers were only 15 minutes off the course record, and they said if they had known they were that close, they would have tried to beat it. As it was, they weren't trying at all; they were just out for a ride.

It was a good day for me. I helped organize the support vehicles - aka SAG vehicles - for the ride. This was my tenth year working the SAG crew. (After competing in the ride in 1996 & 1997, and earning my Finisher's Jersey, I started doing SAG for the Climb to Kaiser in 1998.) Paula Landis, 2006 Fresno Cycling Club President, and the current Fresno BMW Motorcycle Riders Club President stepped up to help with the SAG. She enlisted (for the second year now) the help of the BMW Club. Most of the aid needed by the bicycle riders is simply water and the occasional flat tire. Motorcycles can quickly move over the course and get alongside and around the bicycle riders much easier than a car or van. Cars, trucks and vans are used to move riders down the mountains if the bicycle riders have mechanical problems or if they get to sick or exhausted to continue. I first used a motorcycle in 2000 (I was the only one) and we've used more each year. We've had about 12-14 motorcycle to compliment the 10 other SAG vehicles for the past two years. This year I drove a van and really missed my motorcycle.

From a SAG perspective, the ride was fairly uneventful, which is a good thing. We've had, in years past, forest fires, rain, hail, and lightning strikes. We've had a few broken bones, a lot of road rash, and many, many broken spirits. We've even had a few concussions and, sadly, one fatality in 2003. This year, the worst I'd heard was a few unconfirmed reports of dog bites from a loose Doberman in Burroughs Valley, south of Tollhouse, and a wedding which was scheduled just across the parking lot from our main rest stop in Shaver Lake. There were relatively few riders that needed to be SAGged during the ride or at the end of the day. There were a few, but not as many as in past years. As a matter of fact, this is the first time in my ten years that there were no bicycle riders to be taken down the hill at 7:00 pm from the Shaver rest stop when it closed down. All of the large SAG vehicles headed down the hill unloaded, and all of the last riders made it to the end on their own.

Congrats to all of them.

See all the pics here.