High Cascades 100 and 12/24 Bike Events - 2021

By Buzz Dean on 05/12/2021

Deschutes ARES/Auxcomm has been asked to provide Communications Support again this year, for the Cascades 12/24 and High Cascades 100 off-road mountain bike events (https://www.mudslingerevents.com/oregon-24) (https://www.mudslingerevents.com/high/cascades-100) in the Deschutes National Forest.

The 12/24-Hour Event is scheduled for July 10-11, 2021, and the 100-Mile Event is scheduled for July 17, 2021.

The folks at Mudslinger Events have been DC-ARES supporters for years, and we hope that we can once again have a good number of ARES Members and other Ham Radio Operators sign-up to help us!

For more information, or to sign-up please contact Dave Parker at [email protected]

Saturday (July 18th) Deschutes ARES/Auxcomm provided Communications Support for the Cascades 100 off-road bicycle race (https://www.mudslingerevents.com/high-cascades-100) in the Deschutes National Forest. This year a smaller group of 160 riders participated in the difficult off-road event. The organizers of the race followed strict Covid-19 guidelines, and these extended to all riders and volunteers. DC-ARES provided communications support to assist with keeping track of riders and their progress, and to assist with coordinating medical response.

There were four ham radio locations along the route. Net Control was located at the finish line, and operated from 6AM till 7PM, in a remote part of the forest. Because of the remote location, we were unable to operate from our Communications Trailer, so a pair of canopy tents were transported in to use as operating positions. Two portable antenna masts provided reliable communications for the event.

Since there were so few riders net control radio traffic was very manageable. There were no injuries. The organizers hired Adventure Medics out of Bend to deal with injuries.  Adventure Medics (https://www.advmedics.com/) provided medical support at different points along the route,

Deschutes County ACS
63055 N Highway 97
Bend, Oregon 97701