posted 4/24/07
It was the most amazing thing. Saturday,
April 14, we saved 34 people. Twenty-one of us ham operators, organized
and led by Herb Puckett, W6HBU, saved 34 people. Far from a nice spring
day, the rain and wind were almost constant, making the day a real trial for
hundreds of dedicated bike riders. The "Bike Around The Buttes"
course runs north and south of
Each year, when "Bike Around The Buttes" plays out, members of the Yuba Sutter Amateur Radio Club have a certain feeling of having done something important. But this year, when you look at the figures, was something really special. As I walked away from Herb’s trailer Saturday afternoon, one of the event organizers asked me how many we had rescued. “Thirty-four,” I answered, “And we traveled 1,270 miles!” The mileage was just for SAG drivers, and others did their fair share of travel too.
The top rescue driver was Bob Oden,
K6RCO, of Oroville, bringing in nine dripping wet, cold, tired riders.
Steve Sweetman, K6YCS, brought in seven similarly beat athletes. Tom
Galbreath, KB6WID, rescued five, Marsha Sylvester-Jose, KI6CSN, in her first
BATB as a SAG, rescued three. Curtis Sylvester-Jose, her
Tom, KB6WID, drove 160 miles, while Steve, K6YCS, recorded a whopping 188. All SAG drivers, none of whom drove less than 89 miles back and forth over their assigned routes, witnessed very challenging conditions for the riders. It was very fortunate for them that we were there.
Rest stops were limited to just five this year, and were manned by Mike Hardesty, AF6AK, relieved by Vicki Ball, KI6EDS; Sean Murphy, KI6BKL, had rest stop two; Eleanor Knox, had rest stop three, supported by David Warner, KI6FRR; and Chuck Murphy, KI6IND, and Mike Lesnewsky, KI6ITK, both of Penn Valley, had rest stop four on the south loop of the 100 mile course. Paul Johnson, N6XVL, manned rest stop five, his traditional station.
AF6AK, after taking the initial stint at rest stop one, filled a
vital role as a router, a job we hadn’t even considered before, as bikers rode
through poorly marked intended turns. Mike did this at two different
places on the route. One of our backup operators, Tim Wells, W6TWI, of
David Wainer, WD6SCD, though recovering from oral surgery, drove all around the course to bring lunch sandwiches to all operators.
Clara Ansley, our angel, KC6JPP, took over at net control when needed, before leaving for a well-deserved evening with her daughter. Darrell Mefford, KI6DGW, of Magalia, acted as shadow for the event organizers, relaying information on riders and supplies to and from net control as required. Herb set up his RV, radio and antenna so we could control this event. I got to run the show. It was wonderful to have enough people who were ready to do what was needed, who came up with solutions rather than problems, and who seemed to have so much fun doing it. For amateurs, we did a professional job. If those who missed it, there is always next year. There were a lot of grins at the end of this day, and nobody got hurt.
73, Ron Murdock, W6KJ
Pictured above - A portion of the Bike Around the Buttes team
from left to right: David, WD6SCD; Herb, W6HBU; Ron, W6KJ; Bob, W6OWH; Lee, KC6MCI
ed. note: Thanks to Ron for this in depth report on a huge public service activity! 73, Keith
