Radio Society of Tucson

Hello Everyone,

It is time for me to start recruiting suckers..er I mean operators for the 2010 24 Hours in the Old Pueblo mountain bike event.

Amateur Radio has provided support for this event for the last 200 to 250 years and I hope to have many old and new faces help out again in 2010.

24 Hours in the Old Pueblo is a mountain bike event where a bunch of nut-cases on mountain bikes run around a 15-ish mile desert track as many times as they can in 24 hours.

It has become one of the premiere mountain bike events here in Southern Arizona if not the nation and internationally.

The event is held on public land north of Oracle and as you might can imagine, there is a need to keep an eye out for riders that get into trouble on the course. So that is where we as amateur radio operators fill that gap. We serve as the extended eyes and ears for the staff and medical teams of the event. So in essence, we ARE the first responders that report any trouble on the course. It is us that many times locate and call into net control any rider that is having problems.

We honestly serve a vital link to the safety of this event...we are NOT back-up, or an after-thought, or just flat out ignored as in other aspects of amateur related emergency operations.

So, if you would like to be a part of this team, then blow the dust off that rig you never use, blow the dust off that GPS you never use and place fresh batteries in it. And send me an email letting me know you are interested.

The event is called "24 Hours in the Old Pueblo", you can find more information about this event at www.epicrides.com. Just click on the floating/moving (and rather coy) 24 Hour Icon for more information.

This event is a rather intense endeavour for us Amateur Radio Operators and it is modeled as a mass evacuation excercise (albeit the riders are going around in circles). You can volunteer for one four hour shift of your choice or you too can be considered a nut-case and volunteer for all 24 Hours (we get alot of those actually). Either way, if you have an interest in working this event, please let me know. There will be more details to follow... so at this time... I am just getting a list of interested operators.

Here are some of the types of operations that are needed:

Fixed "Mobile" Stations:
They need to have a full powered mobile DUAL BAND radio with a full sized mobile antenna. No LOW clearance vehicles will be allowed in the field. Only 4X4 and high clearance vehicles will be considered for Fixed Operations. APRS is a big plus but is not required.

Mobile Motorized Stations (ATV, Dirt Bike, or other off-road SMALL WHEEL BASED vehicle):
These stations need to have at least a DUAL BAND handy scratchie.
These stations will actually be a roving patrol along the allowed paths for motor vehicles. APRS is a big plus but not required. There will be NO FULL SIZED vehicles allowed to "rove" on the course this year.

Walkers/Hikers Portable Stations:
They need a good DUAL BAND handy scratchie with plenty of batteries. These operators need to be physically conditioned to walk/hike 3 to 4 miles on gentle rolling terrain. APRS is a big plus but not required. These operators will be roving counter to the bike traffic along the trails where motorized vehicles are NOT allowed. These operators will be the hardest to find but are the most valuable to have in the field as they will be clearing the trail for downed riders.

Net Control Operators:
These people will need to be articulate and able to handle a semi-stressfull operation. All radios and equipment will be provided for them and they do not need to have a high clearance vehicle. This is the only form of operations where a low clearance road vehicle is allowed.

Point Control (Motor Vehicles) Operators:
These people will need to be easily bored and ready to stay busy at all times as they will control motor vehicle traffic crossing over the bike path. They will need a full powered mobile DUAL BAND radio with a full sized mobile antenna. It is HIGHLY recommended that they have cross-banding capability so they can use handy-scratchies for convenience so that they can cross-band back to Net-Control. Aside from net-control, this is one of the most demanding and intense... and fun positions to operate from during the event.

Please pass this on to any other amateur radio operator that you think may be interested in participating in this.

I will soon have a website up and running to support the Amateur Radio Operations per the event... but I doubt it will be up before the end of this year.

Any questions/comments, do NOT hesitate to contact me. This is a fun and intense event to work, we certainly would welcome your assistance in providing communication for it.

Thanks,
Owen
ak7ar.owen@gmail.com