OURAY — What a difference a day makes in the life of sag-wagon drivers.
The Sherpa-like drivers motor around in angelic-white vans, picking up fatigued and desperate cyclists — and their bikes — and taking them to the next location.
Or to the finish line, if the need calls.
And, boy, did they work Monday, the second leg of Ride the Rockies. The day amounted to a 94-mile, 6,800-foot-high, sleet-and-snow day from bike Hades. More than 200 people used the sag wagons to get up and down Grand Mesa. The down was as treacherous as the up was miserable in the sleet and rain.
But Tuesday was sparkling and, weatherwise, drama-free. Bicyclists had a cloudless cruise from Delta to Ouray — a ride entirely uphill, but that just didn’t compare to Monday’s beast. (Perhaps those riding this thing are losing a little perspective of what is “easy.”)
On Day Three, the sag wagons were half-empty. They were mostly giving out water and helping bikers whose legs were just plain fried.
“I’ve never in my life used this,” said Denver resident Janet McIntyre, climbing into the front seat and switching out her bike helmet for a pink sequined baseball cap. “Maybe I shot my wad yesterday.”
On Monday, sag wagons were putting people on waiting lists, so to speak, asking people to hang out while they took loads of people to the top of the hill. At the top, large coach-style buses waited with heaters to take riders down.
Sag drivers were prepping for another harried day: Today’s route scales three mountain passes — all soaring above 10,500 feet — on the Million Dollar Highway to Silverton and then Durango.
“The people we’re hauling are so tired from yesterday,” said Jill Colby, a sag driver. “I did the tour for a few years a long time ago, and I know what they’re going through. There are some people who make it look easy. But it isn’t.”
