For several days the weather forecasts had been warning of windy and rainy conditions. But events such as American Diabetes Assn,'s Tour de Cure are in the planning mode for many months before the day of the event. And considering the investment in volunteer time and rental fees, there is always a reluctance to call off such an event prematurely. People had worked all of the previous day setting up the Start/Finish site and had started again well before sunrise.
For Amateur Radio, the day started out at about 5:30 AM, when Cary, WB2BSJ established Net Control for the Tour de Cure on the 145.29 MHz Green Valley repeater. Mike, KC7CJR and John, K7FCC came on the frequency soon thereafter to indicate that they were en route. As operators began to arrive at the site, Ron, N7SPW showed up to assist with Net Control duties, and other operators received their assignments and departed to their posts. The rain and wind was beginning, so KC7CJR, whose assignment was to provide communications from the Mount Hopkins Observatory, the most distant and highest point, departed promptly to determine the road conditions at the Observatory were safe for bicyclists. Mike reported that the Mt. Hopkins road was clear, and the event officials decided that the event was a "go."
The real fury of the storm did not hit until the first group of riders (those who were to ride the full 100 km route) had departed. But not long after the first riders departed, the event sponsors saw the futility of trying to carry on, and the 50 km and shorter rides were officially canceled. We put a QSTout over the net asking all operators at all rest stops to inform the riders that the event had been called off.
John, K7FCC and Norm, K7OLD, who were slated to be sweep , and would normally not have started onto the route until the event was well under way, departed immediately, riding the route and recommending that riders turn back. Meanwhile, Mike swept the road down from Mt. Hopkins to make sure that no riders were already on the mountain. Once he was certain that the road held no riders, he and Del, KA7UYF, helped the ADA volunteers move a rest stop to a frontage road location where they could keep cyclists from making the turn to approach the Mt. Hopkins Road. Once this was completed, Mike then took up duties as a third sweep vehicle. All three sweep vehicles then maintained communications from the route to Net Control, where event coordinators were standing by to make decisions and pass the traffic regarding closing rest stops and disposition of equipment.
Some of the riders decided to continue on, and they were told that rest stops equipped with food, water, and first aid facilities would be kept open until the last rider was off of the course. Thus the communications between the mobile units, the rest stop radio operators, and Net Control became essential to track the progress of the last riders and assure that no rest stop would close leaving riders to fend for themselves. Joe, N3SRU and Bill, N2MZ stayed at their posts until they were assured that no riders or volunteers were to arrive at their locations.
The day ended early, and everyone returned to the finish line safely. And the safe conclusion to the event is due in large part to the skill and cooperation of the Amateur Radio Operators and the robustness of the Green Valley repeater.
I know that this was not the kind of day that we had planned. But disaster relief operation is not planned, either. That is why the type of training that we received in supporting this event is so important to our readiness as Radio Operators.
Thanks to all who helped.
73, Cary, WB2BSJ
With gusts of up to 217 miles per hour, the flags were starched as if awaiting the photographer from the post office. If you ever see a stamp featuring a flag with the Fairfield Homes logo, you’ll know when the picture was taken.
Had it been a day like today, when the man from the Tucson Ham Radio Operators club called to ask if we’d volunteer to ride the Tour d’ Cure bike ride, we’d have refused. It wasn’t. We didn’t.
Why do blues songs always start with “woke up this mornin?" Why don’t people with the blues ever wake up in the afternoon? We woke up this morning feeling cold. This may have been exacerbated by the sound of the wind tearing the tiles from the roof. At any rate, as the song goes, we didn’t need a weatherman to tell which way the wind was blowing. All we needed to do is to look outside and see which direction the trees, antennae, and the occasional small sedan, were traveling…at an altitude of about 50 feet.
Nevertheless, with a collective sigh, we realized that we’d volunteered, so we loaded the tandem into the van and set out for Rancho Sahaurita. We checked on the way to see if (hopefully) net control had slept in or that the event had been postponed….or something like that. No such luck. Net control answered, directing us to the meeting place in the Rancho parking lot.
By this time, it was drizzling. Our enthusiasm was underwhelming.
We received our directions and set out for La Cañada via the new road. This is a main thoroughfare through Rancho Sahaurita, perpendicular to La Villita, which we always took, north from Sahaurita road, in the past. The new road, Rancho Sahaurita Road, trumps the old road, in the sense that it has no stop sign and the old road does. It’s a nice wide road, and it brings you out on Sahaurita road adjacent to the building formerly used for the Sahaurita Town hall. It’s quite convenient if you want to reach La Cañada without the extra half mile on Sahaurita road. Today it was most convenient if you had something in your left ear. Whatever it was would surely come out on your right.
We made a left on to La Cañada, into the wind and rain, and began a long day’s journey into oblivion, several miles to the south. We did make one stop on the way, at the corner of Continental, at the first (and the only one we saw all day) sag stop, then on again up Camino Del Sol, to Calle Tres, to Frontage road, to the Cow Palace, at Amado.
It took two paragraphs to describe the journey. It took about two and a half hours to get there, during which we discussed moving to Buffalo for the weather. We ride that ride often, in about half the time, with a modest headwind. Today’s headwind was not modest.
By the time we reached the Cow Palace, we needed coffee. At that point we called net control to report that we’d conquered the southerly portion of the ride, and that we had no intention of riding up Mt. Hopkins to the visitor’s center in this weather. That is our usual Saturday morning destination, but with this weather we felt that the effect of the crosswinds on the big (it’s seven feet long) tandem, and the wet cattle guards, made the ride too hazardous for us.
Our H-T has the 29 repeater set in memory, at key 2. Key 1 is the 27 machine. Somehow, during the ride, the frequency had changed from 2 to 1, and we were tuned to the 27 machine, when net control was tuned to the 29. Therefore, when the ride was called off, at some point long before we reached the Cow Palace, we never got the message. We just kept on truckin’.
Would you believe that the ride back to Rancho Sahaurita took a whole lot less time than the ride out there? Well, it did. We got back in one hour flat. We weren’t even trying to go fast, because at various times, the road curved this or that way, and the cross winds made us adjust rather quickly, in order to keep going in the right direction.
By the time we arrived at the start/finish, it might as well have been Christmas Eve. Not a creature was stirring. Well, maybe a mouse. Anyway, they congratulated us and gave us a sandwich and chips. That hit the spot, and completed one tough ride.
Bob and Linda
AD7FQ/AD7FP