Sunday, September 22, 2002 marked the 7th Annual Paul's Dirty Enduro mountain bike race held in the Ganaraska Forest just northeast of Oshawa.  This race raises funds for the Canadian Mental Health Association and the North Shore Amateur Radio Club has been proud to be a part of this fun event for the last four years.  There are actually five different racing events as part of the day.  There are a kids, 15k, 30k, 60k, and 100k courses.

The day, for most of the crew, started with a 6:00am breakfast at the Fifth Wheel truck stop in Bowmanville.  It was very foggy with visibility sometimes down to mere metres but we all made it there safely.  After a good breakfast and lots of coffee the group was briefed by Mike VE3VCY and Ralph VE3CRK on where we would be stationed that day and what was expected of us.  At around 7:30am we rounded up the wagon and headed for the Ganny, as the Ganaraska Forest is affectionately called.

In no time flat Ralph VE3CRK had our mobile repeater setup and running on a hilltop overlooking the Ganaraska.  Our repeater station consisted of Ralph's Saturn 4 door car and his dual band radio set to crossband repeat mode.  We have used this setup every year and it works flawlessly.  At about the same time that Ralph was finishing the setup of the repeater, the crew back at the Ganaraska Forest Centre were putting the finishing touches on the net control station.  By about 8:15am we were all set up and ready to go.  All the radio operators were issued special t-shirts by the races organizing committee with "Radio Operators" stamped arcross the back.  Every year we get t-shirts but this is the first year that we had special ones made just for us.  Plus, they were a nice dark green with light green lettering giving it almost a glowing effect.  They even had the North Shore Amateur Radio Club logo on the back of the shirts where the major sponsors are listed.  An identical t-shirt, less the "Radio Operator" was given to all riders and event staff.

At about 8:30am the operators that were to man the various checkpoints departed for their assignments.  Larry VA3FHG lead me, Laird VE3LKS, to my checkpoint deep in the western part of the forest.  Thank goodness Larry knew where he was going as there are no road signs on the old logging trails of the forest.  My VW Jetta made it safely over the roads meant for 4x4s and other off-road vehicles and arrived just down the hill from my checkpoint shortly before the race started.  Larry guided me up the hiking trail to Checkpoint W2, gave me a brief tour of the checkpoint and then departed for his. 

No one else was at Checkpoint W2 at this time, about 8:50, so I spread a blanket out on the edge of a small bluff over looking the  Ganaraska, tested my radio with net control, and read a bit of the September/October issue of TCA.  From this perch the misty valleys of the Ganaraska, with its hilltops breaching the still dense fog, was a wonder to behold.  Occasionally the tranquil solitude was interrupted with the sounds of whining motorcycles and ATVs and then all would go serenely quiet again.  The Ganaraska is a multipurpose forest that is shared with hikers, mountain bikes, motorized vehicles, and even horses with great respect for one another.  Some riders would stop when they saw me there and come over and chat, mostly wondering what the heck I was doing out  in the middle of nowhere by myself.  At about 9:15am Alex VA3AMP, my radio counterpart for this checkpoint, wound his way through the forest and up the huge hill on his ATV.  Alex brought a large supply of apples with him which came in handy not only for us to munch on but to feed some horses that came meandering through the trails with their riders. 

Finally, at around 9:40am the race officials arrived to man the checkpoint and at about 9:50 the first riders started to make their way through.  By this time they had traveled 42km, about 26 miles, through some pretty rugged terrain and they are not even half way to the finish as this was the 100km, or 60 mile, course.  You could tell that some of them had not faired too well in the bush as legs, and some faces, were scraped and covered with dirt.  These fearless riders, both men and women, would stop long enough to grab a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, a few slices of orange, a piece of banana, and refill their fluid containers with water or gatorade and then hit the trail again.  

Luckily, we we did not have to pass any emergency traffic back to net control.  Most of our traffic this day was in reporting how many bikes had come through the checkpoint and requesting additional food items for the racers when the supplies began to run low.

Thirteen NSARC members came out to assist with the radio communications for this public service event.  The following is a breakdown of the various manned radio stations and the operators.

The history behind the North Shore ARC being the communications of choice for Paul's Dirty Enduro is an interesting story in itself.  In the early years of the race the organizers tried using cell phones, a CB club, and even the military to provide communication between the various checkpoints and vehicles.  All groups made a valiant effort to provide communication but were destined to fail, not because of a lack of effort, but due to the terrain.  Because of the geography of the area, cell phones and CB radios did not work reliably if at all.  Even the military had difficulties.  While at work one day, Ralph VE3CRK, was approached by someone involved in the race planning and asked if Amateur Radio might be the solution they were looking for.  Ralph assembled a small team of NSARC members and headed out to the Ganaraska to do some testing.  After some well thought out planning a solution was found and has been used ever since.  Since Ralph and his assistants did such a remarkable job with the communications he was asked to sit in on the races organizing committee.  Ralph has made non-radio suggestions as to how the race logistics could be improved and many of them have been adopted into the race. 

Below are some pictures from the event starting at 0600hrs when we met at the truck stop until about 1230 when I had to pack up and leave due to work committments.  Enjoy!

Laird, VE3LKS

Click on the images below for larger versions!