On Sunday I participated with my own ARES team, R1D6, in covering one of our big annual events, the Golden Gran Fondo bicycle race. It’s an arduous event that winds through the mountains near Golden, the longest event being 90 miles long with about 9,000 feet of elevation gain and loss. Because the mountains have spotty cell phone coverage, the event staff really appreciate having a team that can keep communications flowing. This was my first year helping with the event, and I was very glad I did!

GGF Aid 2

I was stationed at Aid 2 & 4 located at Slough Pond in Golden Gate Canyon State Park. With me there was a highly respected local ham, Dave WG0N. It was a mostly uneventful day, only a couple of minor surprises. Most of the day we spent enjoying the beautiful views of the state park, the buzz of athletes coming and going, and the chatter of the progress updates over the DMR talk group. All in all it was a very pleasant day to be out playing radio.