For further information, contact Ralph Swick KD1SM.
Repeating our success of 2008, the North Central Massachusetts Amateur Radio community again provided logistics and emergency communication support for the 125-mile bicycle ride through the towns of Ayer, Harvard, Bolton, Berlin, Boylston, Clinton, Lancaster, Sterling, Leominster, Shirley, Groton, Pepperell, and Hollis NH on Saturday, July 25. We staffed 13 positions along the course, including both mobile and fixed locations.
Big thanks from the Alzheimers Association to the following Hams: Tom K1JHC, Gary K1YTS, Larry KB1ESR, Jim KB1JKJ, Jason KB1KEG, Kathy KB1LPW, Rick KB1LYJ, Ross KB1MGD, Dave KB1MVN, Stan KD1LE, Ralph KD1SM, John KK1X, and Mark WB1ARZ.
Thanks also to the Central Massachusetts Amateur Radio Association for the use of the W1BIM repeater all day for this event and to Paul WB1EWS and Dave N1MNX for providing us use of their repeaters as backup.
This event is a bicycle ride consisting of 4 groups of riders. One group will follow a 125-mile route ("Double Metric"), the second group a 100-mile route ("Century"), the third group a 62-mile route ("Metric Century"), and the fourth group a 25-mile route. Each route starts and finishes at Devens. The shorter routes follow the longer routes for most of their length but include cut-offs. The Pit Stop numbers below correspond to the 125-mile route. All except Pit Stop 3 are also used on the 100-mile route. The 62-mile route uses only Pits 3 through 6. The 25-mile route uses only Pit 3.
The following positions require radio operators:
| Tactical Name | Location | Op Name | Op Call | Start | End | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lori (Event Coordinator) | Devens | Stan | KD1LE | 0545 | 1700 | (will swap in and out of NCS) |
| Medical 1 (Alan Bachrach) | roving | John | KK1X | 0600 | 1700 | |
| Medical 2 | roving | - | - | 0600 | 1700 | |
| NCS/Start/Finish | Devens | Ralph | KD1SM | 0530 | 1730 | (will swap in and out of Lori shadow) |
| Pit 1 | Berlin | Jim | KB1JKJ | 0630 | 0830 | |
| Pit 2 | Sterling | Mark | WB1ARZ | 0730 | 1000 | |
| Pit 3 | Bolton | Tom | K1JHC | 0740 | 1130 | a.k.a. "Pit 1" for the 62-mile and 25-mile routes |
| Pit 4 | Shirley | Rick & Kathy |
KB1LYJ & KB1LPW |
0830 | 1230 | a.k.a. "Pit 3" for the 100-mile and "Pit 2" for the 62-mile routes |
| Pit 5 | Hollis NH | Gary | K1YTS | 0930 | 1345 | a.k.a. "Pit 4" for the 100-mile and "Pit 3" for the 62-mile routes |
| Pit 6 | S.Nashua | Jim | KB1JKJ | 1030 | 1500 | a.k.a. "Pit 5" for the 100-mile and "Pit 4" for the 62-mile routes |
| Road Coach (Kristin Canterbury) | roving | Larry | KB1ESR | 0600 | 1700 | |
| Support 1 (Dave Odess) | roving | Dave | KB1MVN | 0545 | 1600 | |
| Support 2 (Ross Chapman) | roving | Ross | KB1MGD | 0600 | 1700 | |
| Sweep (Jennifer Thornton) | roving | Jason | KB1KEG | 0600 | 1700 |
You may proceed directly to your assignments, no need to meet at Devens. On arrival, please check in with the Pit Captain (listed below).
Note: The 4 course maps and some of the volunteer information each have different designations for the pit stops. The designations above follow the 125-mile map. Your Pit Stop coordinator may refer to Pit 3 (Broomfield Industries) as "Pit 1B", and to Pits 4 (Bull Run), 5 (Hollis), and 6 (Nashua) as "3", "4", and "5" respectively depending on which information sheet they are using.
All operators at pit stops should wear an orange or lime safety vest for identification purposes. The ideal vest will say "Radio" or "Radio Communications". If you have an orange cap please wear it. You should be able to use your mobile radio in your vehicle. Please arrange a parking location with the captain of your pit stop so that you are easily accessible to the pit stop personnel and to your vehicle. Most of the pits stops are not in HT range of the repeaters. Pit Stop messages will include updates on the volunteer status (e.g. missing volunteers) and reporting the arrival of the first riders.
Please meet your assignments at the Museum Field parking lot in Devens. The parking lot is on Antietam Street between Sherman and MacArthur Avenues.
All roving operators will need to bring a magmount antenna, mobile radio, and battery power sufficient for the day. You will be riding in other event volunteers' vehicles. Support vehicle messages will include requests to transport riders unable to finish. Medical vehicle messages will be requests for non-emergency first-aid. Riders will be instructed to call 911 in an emergency and then, if possible, to call NCS by phone at 508.981.5193.
There will be a single controlled Net for the event. All stations should attempt to use F1 first, though some parts of the course may require using the alternate F2. F3 is available for those who have the capability; it will also cover most of the course, depending on the mobile antennas used.
Thanks to the Central Mass Amateur Radio Association, to Paul WB1EWS, and to Dave N1MNX for the use of their repeaters for this event.
| F1 | Primary | 146.970 Mhz, - offset, PL 114.8 | with thanks to CMARA |
| F2 | Backup | 147.315 MHz, + offset, PL 100 | with thanks to WB1EWS |
| F3 | Alternate | 53.890 MHz, - offset, PL 100 | with thanks to N1MNX |
A spreadsheet provides other volunteer assignments. (Note that the Pit Stop identifiers on that spreadsheet use the 100-mile course designations.) Additional details for participants are available on the event site.