My main disappointment on this tour is that I wasn't able to do more of the riding. It was a hard ride when I did it in 1998 and I was 19 years younger and in much better condition back then. Also that tour was a month later in the year and it was much cooler. Had it not been for the heat I think I could have done almost all the stages this time.
The experiment with renting two vans and using two club trailers was partially successful. It was very nice that everyone didn't have to drive or car pool to the start and then at the end of the tour figure out how to get back to the start to pick up their cars. However, using those vehicles for sag didn't work as well. It is hard to navigate them on the narrow roads and sharing transportation and sag duties meant they were often late getting into camp. On previous tours we had a dedicated food supervisor crew who shopped, planned meals, managed the cook crews and had their own vehicle to transport the food. That does add extra cost, but it seems to work better.
The camaraderie on these tours is one of the main selling points. I got to know some of
the "C" and "D" riders that I don't see on the "A" (easier) rides that Sue and I normally do.
I managed only 201 miles for the week, which is not very impressive, but also over 25,000 feet
of climbing, which is more so.