[W2CRA] FW: annual MS-100 Bike Tour needs operators

[Walter O'Brien, W2WJO]

We received a request from the organizers of the annual MS-100 Bike Tour
which is run each fall by the Greater North Jersey chapter of the National
Multiple Sclerosis Society. They are in need of radio operators for their
ride, which takes place over two days, Saturday and Sunday September 18th &
19th.

I am forward the following information to all Cherryville members in case
any of you would be in a position to help them out.

PLEASE NOTE: The one problem here is that their event conflicts with the
Skylands Triathlon on Sunday September 18th, which is one of Cherryville's
"home" events, so keep that in mind. We need that event fully staffed before
spreading ourselves too thin.

73 Walter W2WJO

------ Forwarded Message (edited)

From: David Kozinn - K2DBK <k2dbk at arrl.net>

The annual MS-100 Bike Tour is run each fall by the Greater North Jersey
chapter of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. (specific information
about the tour is located at
http://www.nationalmssociety.org/NJB/event/event_detail.asp?e=8143).

For several years, the MS-100 tour started and finished in Ramsey in Bergen
County. Last year, for logistical reasons the tour route was completely
revised, removing it entirely from not only Ramsey, but from Bergen and
Passaic counties. The route is now primarily through Morris County, with the
overnight stop at the Morristown Hilton. (The route is now essentially a
large circle.)

Since all of the hams associated with the Ramsey group were from Bergen &
Passaic counties, after the tour route was moved, it became more difficult
to find volunteers willing to make the commitment.  We did manage to find
enough volunteers to staff last year's event, but we were literally filling
positions the night before the event.

Complicating things to some extent is that we have, in effect, become a
victim of our own success. The NMSS staff was thrilled with the job that we
did last year (which included one our operators identifying a rider who was
having a heart attack and who was able to summon aid and save his life) and
has asked us to expand our role this year. We have done our best to "manage
expectations" of the NMSS group, trying to make them aware that we might not
be able to do all the tasks asked of us, but we are working to do as good a
job as possible in that respect.

This is why we have appealed to your group, and others throughout Northern
New Jersey for assistance.

This year's Tour takes place over the weekend of September 18th and 19th. We
are still working to complete our maps for this this year, but you can get
an idea of the course by looking at information at
http://ms100.bergenskywarn.org which was set up for last year's event, and
has not yet been updated for 2004.

In a nutshell, we typically need in excess of 30 operators for each of the
two days.

The operators perform one of the following functions:

Rest Stop: Set up a portable station at one of the several rest stops during
the day, and man that station until it is officially "closed" (the last
rider has passed through). Usually this is done by a small VHF station with
a modest antenna. There is usually no commercial power available at the rest
stops, so the operator will need to supply their own source of power
(battery or generator). We have had some success by using an in-car mobile
radio, but it's often not possible to park where "the action is.

Communications Mobile: These operators ride the route in a vehicle (their
own) and maintain communications with the net. They act as "spotters" and
can request mechanical assistance or medical assistance for riders on the
course. Occasionally, they are dispatched to look for riders who may have
wandered off the course.

Shadow: The operators will stay close to one of a small group of NMSS
officials and will keep them informed of any incidents that might occur,
provide them with the ability to request information from other locations,
etc. This can be a challenging position, as these officials move between
various locations, requiring some ingenuity to make sure that the operator
is always in communications with the net. Typically, we try to assign
experienced operators to this task.

EMT support: There are a number of EMTs who patrol the course. Some of them
are hams, but some aren't. They are always at least initially dispatched via
ham radio. This position works well for less-experienced operators, the
communications required from the EMTs is relatively simple most of the time.

SAG and supply truck communications: This year, we have been asked to
provide operators for the SAG (Support And Gear) vans and possibly the
supply trucks. The SAG wagons pick up riders who need assistance, typically
dropping them at the nearest rest area for repair. These vans ride up and
down the route, and are dispatched to areas where the communications mobiles
identify a need. These vans are commercial (rented) vans and will need the
operators to install a mobile radio in them. (The radios need to be true
"mobile" rigs with something like a magmount antenna; HTs will not work
well.) There is a possibility that these vans may also have an EMT riding in
them in some cases (although we are trying to discourage this practice).

NCS and "operations staff": As of last year, the NMSS provided us with a
room in the "headquarters" hotel in Morristown. We set up several radios and
portable antennas as well as several large-scale maps that we used to keep
track of the mobile units as well as the "tail-end" (last rider). The
"staff" are typically others in the NCS room who assist in keeping track of
everything and do a lot of "behind the scenes" work. In the past, we have
run operations on a single repeater at a time (we did have a couple of years
where, because of coverage issues, we had to switch midway through the
event), with another repeater being kept as a backup for when the primary
repeater was tied up with a high-priority incident. Ideally, if we had
enough repeaters, NCSs, and operators, we'd prefer to keep several aspects
of the nets on their own frequency (similar to what's done with the NY
Marathon, with separate Medical, Logistics, and other nets), but so far, we
haven't been able to secure enough resources to do that.

So, to sum up , for each of the two days, we need in excess of 30 operators
who can provide their own equipment (we prefer dual-band mobile, though
typically we're using 2 VHF repeaters; we haven't used UHF in the past), and
while experience is a plus, we try to match up those with little or no
experience with more experienced "mentors". Prior to the event, we send out
an operations guide which details frequencies and procedures (including
planning for things like clearing the course due to weather, etc.). Most of
the pre-event communications between the planning staff and the operators
takes place via email and the web site since people are too spread out to
meet face-to-face. While we expect to be able to once again use the WS2Q and
the Split Rock repeaters, we are always looking for additional repeaters
that have coverage in the area (either in addition to, or in place of one of
the others.)

I realize that there is a lot of information here, and I also realize that
there's a lot that I didn't discuss, but hopefully I've provide you with
enough to give you an idea of what we're looking for. Please contact either
George (kc2glg at arrl.net) or myself (k2dbk at arrl.net) if you have any
questions, and please feel free to pass this message along to your group
(or, for that matter, anyone who might be able to assist).

Thanks.

73, David, K2DBK

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