Western Colorado has become world-renowned as a destination for mountain bike and trail running events. For years, Mesa County ARES and the local amateur radio community have worked with organizations such as Gemini Adventures and UTMB/Ironman to provide communication support for regional and international races. This year, we will again be setting up emergency communication and support stations for several races. We kick of the season with the UTMB Desert Rats running event. This takes place April 11, 12 and 13 on the Kokopelli trails west of Fruita, CO, but we’ve been preparing and planning since the end of last year’s races. Our ARES team will cover 10, 20, 50 and 100 kilometer races, which will require about 2 dozen of our members to set up a control center and staff aid stations along the race courses.
Race season will continue with the Fruita AdventureFest on May 11, 12 and 13 in the North Fruita Desert recreation complex, followed by the Wild Horse 30 and 65 mile mountain bike races outside of DeBeque, CO on May 18 and 19.
Most of our staffing has been completed by now, but if you’re interested in participating, let us know and we’ll see if there are any openings for additional personnel. It takes a lot of people to staff these events, and it provides a great opportunity to brush up emergency communications capabilities that we can put to work in disasters and emergencies. For more information, contact Chip Ferron at chip.ferron@gmail.com.