The Reston Century 2004  Ride Across Loudoun

Hillsboro Rest Stop

      Folks don't reach Hillsboro Elementary School until mid morning but our whole crew was on site by 0630 hours. Tina - K8TMJ and Don - K8DSJ Jones of Harpers Ferry, WV were first at 0600 hours, followed by Tom Martin - KF4TNX of Berryville, Clarke County and Ed Krom - WD4KHP of Berryville. We all listened on 147.480 MHz as the rest of the network came up on frequency. First up was the 40-meter dipole and then the telescoping tower for the 5-element 2/440 yagi and a 2-meter 1/4-5/8 phased vertical. We checked into the HF and VHF nets at 0730 hours. The stations were powered by 12-volt dc deep-cycle batteries. Signals were good on VHF and we arranged through Ray Houff - K4AJA operating from his home in Purcellville to contact Bill Buchholz - K8SYH of Hurt, VA and have Bill come up on 40-meters to run the net. He did a great job and had great signals from all HF sites in Loudoun. The Red Cross and the Purcellville Scout Troop rolled in around 0830 hours and set up their support facilities.
      Hillsboro is midway on the Century - 100 mile - ride and many who arrived here are ready for some assistance. So, we were busy helping with bad knees and ankles, low tire pressure, a couple real spills, or arranging for transportation back to Reston. At one point, our log showed 9 folks waiting for SAG rides to Reston. About 1330 hours, an emergency transportation transfer point was quickly established at Loudoun County High School in Leesburg and Don and Tina Jones were dispatched there to assist in coordinating this operation.
      Several others thought that if they could just hitch a ride to Waterford then it would be all down hill.
      The operation went well for us and tempo was up. We closed the HF net after Bill left as mid-day conditions set in and things seemed fine on 2-meters. By 1400 hours we were looking for the last straggling rider and helping a few to move on. Around 1500 hours we were permitted to "close station" and we quickly prepared for "march order." Some of us drove over to Waterford to see if they needed any help.
       It was great to have "mutual aide" from the Clarke County ARES EC - KF4TNX and Assistant EC - WD4KHP. It was great to hear about the progress Tom and Ed are making in arranging emergency support plans for Clarke County. Tom has asked us to join him in mid September to support a similar bicycle ride operation throughout Clarke County.
      This was good training and test of our emergency deployment and communications capabilities. Time flew but we took time to chat with LARG-ARES route riders and SAG operators who passed through including Nancy - KE4RTP and Paul - N4PD Dluehosh of Leesburg, Bruce Lunde - KF4KKZ, Larry Hughes - K3HE, Tom Dawson - WB3AKD, Steve Greene - KS1G, and Kurt Reber - KI4FWB. A lot of folks put in some long hours to pull this one off. It was again nice to ride with you all. Best Regards, Norm Styer - AI2C.