Regular readers might remember that last summer I volunteered helping to provide rider support on a four day bike tour. I told the tour director that I would volunteer again this year. About a week ago, last year's SAG coordinator (I rode with her in her vehicle last year) got in touch. She apologized for not having gotten in touch sooner and explained that her husband had had a stroke a couple months ago and was still recovering, but they hoped to be able to make it. Hubby would be dropping his volunteer duty and just be along for the ride.
A couple days later she wrote again and said they had decided they couldn't go, because he was still having unpredictable debilitating headaches. Uh oh. I knew what was probably coming. A few days after that the tour director texted me and asked if I would take over as SAG coordinator. I reminded her that my vehicle isn't suitable. It's too small - for rider support you need a vehicle big enough to ideally carry a couple of people and their bikes if a rescue was needed; plus all of the gear we carry around (big water cooler, basic bike repair stuff, first aid kit, etc).
She said the tour could rent a minivan for me....I reluctantly agreed to the assignment "with trepidation" I said.
So she asked me to look into van rental, also asked me to make arrangements to pick up all of the gear from the guy who's been storing it...
The parts that are a bit alarming - I asked if she could share the routes with me, as I want to try to drive up to there next week and pre-drive the routes, figure out where all of the turns are, and spots that would be good to pull over for riders to refill water. She said "I can probably get those to you this weekend". WTF - the tour is two weeks away and she hasn't finalized the routes yet? Second uh oh, I asked if she could give me contact info for the other SAG volunteers so I could get in touch and introduce myself - it sounds like she doesn't have anyone lined up yet except me and one other guy who worked last year (for comparison, last year we had five or six people working SAG). 😬
One small silver lining is that last year's SAG coordinator told me she and hubby had paid for tent service and she wanted to transfer that to me. There's an option to pay extra and have a crew of people take your tent down in the morning and put it up for you at that night's campground. And they also deliver your gear to your assigned tent instead of you having to find it in the pile dumped off of the truck and drag it to your tent. I actually didn't mind putting up my tent and taking it down last year, but I can see where it will be nice to save myself those few minutes of time and effort, especially in the morning when I'll probably be rushed to get organized and get on the road.
The other good thing is that the tour is in northern Minnesota this year so hopefully we won't have any intense heat like we had on the last two days last year. The area is colloquially known as the Iron Range (or, "da Range" as in, "I'm from up on da Range" - imagine that in a Fargo accent). There will be lots of fun? side activities like visiting the Minnesota Museum of Mining or visiting an overlook on to the remains of a giant open pit mine (lol). The riding should be good though. There's a very long off road bike trail that goes through the area and I'm sure it will be on some of the routes.
Wish me luck!
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32 comments
Good luck. 👍
Wear a hat, and don't forget to hydrate. 💦
I look forward to reading your acceptance speech next year when you'll be elected Director of the event. Any changes in the works? Bring a pad and take notes.💕
Damn, itZ been hot lately. I would wilt if I were on a bike. 😶
Good reminder on the hat and hydration. Wearing hats is my new resolution, after my ear thingie. And you'd be surprised how much one forgets to hydrate when you're busy refilling 200 riders' water bottles! 😂
As for Director next year, no way. The current one actually has some real strengths. It's easy for me to criticize but I don't think I could pull together what she does.
Make sure you have enough water with you. All the best👍
We will have these big water cooler jugs, fill them at the campground in the morning before we leave...probably need to refill at gas stations once or twice during the day.
Good luck Smarty.....im sure you will make the best of it. I remember last year too. Remember to get one of those 6 to 8 inch usb fans....it can help circulate the air and be a little white noise. Have fun !!
Hm, maybe I’ll have to hit up Tarzhay this weekend!
Finding and keeping great volunteers is challenging. Often people are ‘once and done’. It’s obvious your assistance with the event last year went ‘above and beyond’ making you a valuable asset to have involved again. I know it’s a lot of work and when it’s over you will look back on the experience favourably, knowing the organizers and participants appreciated your efforts.
There were definitely many, many thank you’s last year. 😊
No good deed goes unpunished. Hope you have a decent time. Fingers crossed no major issues.
I drove the first day’s route today (or rather, tried to). Very complicated! And hard to figure out how to follow the route in a car, since a lot of it is in off road trails. Oh, this is gonna be fun (not).
@smartasswoman wonder if it would be best to go old school paper map(s) and mark roads and trails in different colors and map out the best locations for water refill stops... parking lots or trail heads or whatever ...but then also be able to take a call with someone having an issue and be able to see big picture where you think they are and where you might be able to get to them.
@CL_Love the tour director gave me some “big picture” maps with the general route highlighted, but there isn’t enough detail in the little towns that have several turns.
@smartasswoman yeah I would probably need more info.. I don't like not knowing the plan
@CL_Love the edit I added to the comment didn’t come through. 😊 in addition to the “big picture” maps, we have a cue sheet with every single turn, the cumulative miles to that turn, and the distance to the next turn. The route I was working on today had 77 turns! I was trying to make notations on it of what route the SAG drivers should go on the road, to end up at the same spot as the riders taking the trail.
Good luck, I remember last year. I hope things go better
Thanks, D. 😊
There is a company called onxmaps that has one of he best navigation and area highlight maps I have seen. They will show both map and satellite images, current and leaf down, along with trail and road information. If the forest service has cleared a helicopter evacuation area it shows where and how to get there, and what it is called. It also has land ownership information and property lines. They show campsites and have contact information for reservations. It works with IOS, Android, and PC platforms.
thanks for the suggestion, maybe I'll check it out.
Sounds like quite the "adventure". 😀 Best wishes!
Thanks Cleave. 😊
Good luck. Guess what comes next year....
Nope nope nope! 😂
@smartasswoman I think I remember a blog post after last year about not wanting to do it again this year????
@Notaname99 I thought you were implying they’d ask me to step up even more next year. I feel confident that’s a nope.
@smartasswoman I can see them asking you to step up also. No good deed goes unpunished.
2025 bike tour director = Smartie!
No way José. I know I'm complaining about her, but she actually is very good at a LOT of stuff that I'd be terrible at. Like getting the little towns on the route to provide rest stops or lunch.
Bless your heart! You are a wonderful person to step in so late in the game. Keep dogging people for details. You will be organized in no time. You got this. Hugs!!!
Thanks Pony - I hope so!
I don't think you'll need luck...you've got skills!
You are so kind. Hopefully emergency decision making won't be needed.
Wow Smart, this sounds like an awesome adventure! I hope you have a great time. You got it, as I am sure you already know.
It will be fun if there are no serious hiccups. Last year there was one crash where the rider had to be transported to a hospital and she and her husband weren't able to continue on the tour. Hopefully nothing like that this year. 🤞
I hope it goes well for you.
Thank you. 😊
Good luck!
I hope that all goes smoothly.
What are the odds that you’re gonna get stuck with the coordinator job from now on? 😂
Pretty strong odds, I would say - although who knows, maybe if the prior coordinator's husband recovers she'll be up for it again next year.
I wish you the best with this. Getting something thrown on to you isn't always the ideal way of doing things.
Based on my past experience in working and putting on events. You are only as good as the people who help you. If you have good support from them, things can go smoother if something unexpected happens. Much harder if the support lines are thin.
I agree with all of that!
👍 Iron range renowned area. Great a Fargo accent. Saying no is a necessary skill to have, yet doing so politely
Yes, I
What happened to my reply?? Sheesh.
@smartasswoman no idea ? Up to. old tricks?
@bignicktx I might have clicked 'enter' prematurely, but in that case I would have re-opened the comment and edited it... 🤔
This may be better if HWD accompanied you.
I think the tour will be more good than bad fun.
I wish he could. I did hopefully mention it to him, but unlikely that he could get time off from both his weekday and weekend jobs. And, since both are "side gigs" he doesn't have paid vacation - if he doesn't work, he doesn't get paid.
I just hope that 1) a volunteer is found to copilot with me and 2) it's somebody I can stand to be in a car with for four days.