The Pennsylvania Trail Riders’ Association held the annual Seven Mountains Dual Sport Motorcycle Ride in the Bald Eagle State Forest on Saturday the 6th of September. Two hundred forty motorcycle riders left the Union County Sportsmen’s Club at 0900 to ride over 100 miles through the forest and return. Riders had to negotiate everything from paved roads to rough and rocky trails. To complicate the ride the day began with rain that makes the dirt and rock sections seem like they are paved with grease. Over such a course, communications are vital to keep things moving and provide aid if needed. The forest has very little cellular coverage so PTRA asks Amateur Radio to help out.
This year thirteen amateur radio operators helped out staffing radio positions in the forest and acting as rovers or Rescue Trucks. The amateur radio operators recruited by K3CWP were:
- K3CWP, Carmine Prestia, Centre County, Headquarters, Sportsmen’s Club
- K3HOT, Greg Guise, Centre County, Short Mountain
- W3TRN, Tom Neff, Centre County, Havice Valley Rd/Strong Mountain Rd AM
- W3TM, Rick Gilmore, Centre County, Havice Valley Rd/Strong Mountain Rd AM
- W3AND, Andy Mummert, Cumberland County, Track & Trail Honda
- NW3X, Tom Davis, Lackawanna County, Henstep Trail/Hunter Road
- WA2BBS, Doug Stevens, Luzerne County, Henstep Trail/Hunter Road
PTRA has a group of members licensed who also provided amateur communications
- KC3TVN, Richard ‘Doc’ Baylor, Lehigh County
- KC3VWG, Daniel Brill, Snyder County
- KS3DRP, Jeff Foster, Cumberland County
- KC3SHX, Jeff ‘JT’ Foster, Northumberland County
- KC3TZZ, Matt Roan, Centre County
- KC3VRZ, Stephen Steeple, Lehigh County
The PTRA hams acted as rovers on their motorcycles and two Rescue Trucks. The other hams staffed Incident Communications Command and field radio positions. The Incident Commander, Scott Stewart, was equipped with a GMRS radio belonging to Carmine, WREI697, so that he could move around the Start Finish area and still keep in touch with the ICC at all times.
Amateur radio had to coordinate a relay and Rescue Truck to pick up a rider who had a flat tire but for some reason did not bring along a spare tube. More seriously two riders were injured.
One rider was able to walk out to the end of the trail and get picked up by a Rescue Truck for transport back to Headquarters at the Sportsmen’s Club. He and his son-in-law drove home where he was diagnosed with two rib fractures.
The other injury was an evident broken collarbone. Because of the nature of the trails and difficulty getting to the rider, over two hours were consumed getting help to him and getting him out of the area and finally to Evangelical Hospital in Lewisburg, PA. None of this involved ambulances, one of the Rescue Trucks and other ride volunteers provided transport. At the end of the ride he was deciding whether to undergo surgery at Evangelical Hospital or go to his home in New Jersey for the surgery.
PTRA has an EMS person participating in the ride who is also a amateur radio operator and was involved in getting to both injuries and coordinating help through radio.
All communications, except for the GMRS radios, were conducted on the W3YA repeater sponsored by the Nittany Amateur Radio Club. W3YA is very high profile and provided excellent coverage even for the motorcycle riders with handhelds, depending on their locations. Aid stations were able to communicate with the ICC with full quieting or near full quieting signals. Thanks to NARC and the repeater Trustee, Woody, K3YV, for the use of this resource.
The participating amateur radio operators donated ninety hours of their time to this event. This doesn’t even count travel and planning time.
Despite the busy day and the seriousness of the injured riders the amateur radio operators provided quick and efficient communications for the entire event. Mr. Stewart, the IC, expressed his thanks to the group. Many of the riders passing the ICC took a moment to thank us for providing the service.
Thanks to all who participated. Another example of the kind of service Amateur Radio can provide while training for even more serious emergencies and disasters.
Carmine Prestia, K3CWP, EC Centre County, PA