PORT JERVIS, N.Y. - Harri Nowrey knows cycling 500 miles during the Anchor House Ride for Runaways takes a lot of effort but there is little debate over who works harder during the week.

The sag support crew.

"We do," said Nowrey, who should know. Nowrey completed 15 Anchor House rides. She has worked on the sag support crew the last two rides after having back surgery.

"We are responsible for 195 riders," said Nowrey. "When you ride you are responsible for one. It is like being a mother hen."

Nowrey admits she was a mother hen when she rode as well, taking rookie riders under her wing, but she has adapted well to her role as part of the support crew.

Nowrey is a rover, driving along the route to make sure there are no problems between sag stops. As rovers the two support crew staff can log 2,000 miles during the week.

As the cyclists rode the 70 miles between Kingston and Port Jervis yesterday, Nowrey was driving between the first and second sag stop, occasionally getting out of the car to post pink directional arrows to make sure riders stay on course, while also cheering on riders as she drove in the support car while waiting to respond to any problems.

The ride continues today with a 74-mile route from Port Jervis to Phillipsburg. The ride ends tomorrow with a 3 p.m. ceremony at Quaker Bridge Mall.

The riders look forward to seeing Nowrey's arrows as well as hearing her encouragement, most of the time.

"I ring a cow bell to let them know it is a sag car behind them and not some slow-moving car," said Nowrey. "Some people like that, others don't - especially in their ears while they are struggling up a hill."

There is no question riders look forward to the sag stops, which are placed about every 20 miles along the route.

The sag stops often try to compete with each other in coming up with original snacks and sometimes games. Mike Quinn had a closest to the pin golf contest on Wednesday at his sag stop and the traditional watermelon seed spitting contest yesterday.

While the mood at the stops is always upbeat and encouraging it takes some serious work to put together.

Leroy Harms, coordinator of the support crew, puts two months of planning into picking sites for the sag stops along the route and organizing the all-volunteer staff.

It seems half of Harms' staff is from his family. Harms' wife Ann and son Bruce are part of the support crew as well as Bruce's wife Irene.

"When you can't recruit enough outside people, you drag in your family," said Leroy Harms. "The last time I rode was in 1995 and then I got drawn into support. I had triple bypass surgery in 2000 so my wife said that was the end of my riding, so now I am taking a job that involves a lot more stress."

There is a simple reason Harms puts in the effort he does as coordinator.

"If Anchor House was raising $5,000 I would be out of here," said Harms. "When you bring in $430,000, it is worth it."

Marta Babbitt can see rewards in either cycling or working on the sag support for the ride.

Babbitt worked the last two years on the support crew, but is riding this year.

"It is a lot of fun riding and it is a lot of work being a sag," Babbitt said. "When you work sag you get the gratification knowing you are helping the riders out. The riding is great, it is a challenge, but not quite as much of one as I thought it would be."

The members of the sag support crew are not the only people making the riders' week just a little easier.

Ed Farrell met up with the ride in Glens Falls and has been giving massages at the end of the day. Farrell pays for his own hotel room and donates all his tips for the massages to Anchor House.

Ed Preston is another person who is busy before and after the ride each day. Preston is the bike mechanic who works out of Bernie's Bike Shop in Hamilton. Preston sets up his work station first thing in the morning, puts on a few tunes and takes care of all the riders' needed repairs. Preston usually has a line waiting for him in the afternoon when he sets up shop again at the hotel.

NOTES - The riders enjoyed a scenic day of riding with only a few sprinkles of rain and very little traffic. The route into Port Jervis featured several steep climbs and a tricky descent to the hotel.

The riders will face two back-to-back challenging climbs midway through today's ride as part of the hilliest day of the week.

Sue Glass was greeted by a few family and friends midway through the ride yesterday.

Pete Failla and Marty Moseley defended their titles as long-distance watermelon seed spitters. Failla had an epic effort of 53 feet and 7 inches, only 13 feet short of the world record.

Failla denied reports he would quit his job as a program manager at Merrill Lynch and join the PWSSP (Professional Watermelon Seed Spitters Tour) or compete in the Seed Spitting World Championships because his distance yesterday may have been wind aided.

Here are a few of the participants of the Anchor House Ride for Runaways.

Lauren Salvatini, Stuart Shanfeld, Ken Sharples, Armen Simonian, Adrienne Skanes, Jay Skidmore, Jack Skisko, Charlie Skisko, Harvey Smires, Mark Smith, Cheryl Stevenson, Norm Stewart, Ross Stout, Bob Stover, Bob Stults, Barb Tenney, Tim Thomas.