Oct. 5 and 6, 2021
On Oct 5 and 6, several hundred dual sport motorcycle riders took to the mountain roads of Augusta and Rockingham counties in a ride organized by the Washington Area Trail Riders (WATR), with communications support provided by valley ham radio operators. The ride started and ended each day at Natural Chimneys Regional Park. During the course of the two day ride, hams passed numerous pieces of traffic dealing with the ride. This year there were no major incidents on Saturday, but on Sunday there was one minor injury that the rider called in himself to Augusta 911. The injury was a separated shoulder after a spill on the motorcycle . There were also several breakdowns each day and a few minor injuries that didn’t require EMS services.
Net control Bryan K4RMY was located high atop Reddish Knob. Other hams were located around the course each day along with the Shenandoah 500 SAG trucks. A station set up at Natural Chimneys Regional Park relayed info to the ride organizers. Several other hams actually rode the course on motorcycles with the riders.
Hams working the event over the two days included the following:
Ray KE4HVR, Gerald KN4FM, Bob KN3Y, Gayle KU4XN , David N4WDC, Ray K2HYD, John KB4LOZ, and Tom KM4LHR, were stationed with SAG trucks at various points on the ride. Jason N4DSL rode with the riders providing updates on the ride, along with several WATR members who had HTs with them and called in when needed. Bob N1QEQ, manned the main station at Natural Chimneys and provided a relay to the organizers Saturday and Sunday.
A BIG THANK YOU to all these volunteers for making the ride even safer this year by giving time over this weekend to assist when needed.
WATR gave each participant in the event a Shenandoah 500 T-shirt.
Thanks again to all who gave their time and talents to make this ride safe and successful again this year.
Bryan K4RMY