Most everything that involves the amateur radio team for Sea Otter Classic back country support this year is the same as the past few years (at least so far). This year it will be April 10-13, 2025.

Help from amateur radio operators has been a vital resource for communication in the Fort Ord National Monument back country and the Carmel Valley roads for the Carmelo road event. Thank you to those of you who have volunteered in the past.

The Sea Otter Classic attracts thousands of athletes and spectators and is now regarded as the world’s premiere cycling festival. The areas where we assist have little or no cellular or repeater coverage. It is an excellent opportunity for demonstration and practice of emergency communications and help build readiness for a real disaster.

This year help will be needed for the following times:

Thursday 4/10 – Back Country Support for Enduro – Morning through Afternoon

Thursday 4/10 – Back Country Support for Gravel Race – Morning through Mid Afternoon

Friday 4/11 – Back Country Support for Gravel Race – Early Morning to Afternoon

Saturday 4/12 – Road Support for Gran Fondo Carmelo – Early Morning to Afternoon

Saturday 4/12 – Back Country Support for Fuego XL – Early Morning to Afternoon

Sunday 4/13 – Back Country Support – Early Morning to Afternoon

Camping is available directly from the event (https://www.seaotterclassic.com/camping/) or we have the option of camping for no charge in the Laguna Seca paddock. If you’re interested in camping in the paddock, please email me directly.

Ham radio operators will be primarily working radios including ham radios and/or commercial/public safety radios (i.e. You may be asked to coordinate on a public safety frequency to guide in an ambulance while the medic provides care). We’ll always try to pair experienced hams with new hams as needed. First aid and course marshal support will be provided by National Ski Patrol as in the past.

For the Carmelo road event support, our role will be slightly different than in years past. Our mission is strictly communications – not SAG support. We’ll be supporting a net control position, a few stationary location at event stops, and embedded in support vehicles. We’re looking at ham operators bringing SBCARA equipment, their own personal equipment or follow in their radio equipped vehicle.

Volunteers must be 16 years old or older and not have physical challenges that would keep them from performing their duties independently.

Volunteers receive a volunteer T-Shirt, a pass to the Sea Otter Classic Festival (a $100 value), and a lunch. There may be some other surprise items for the volunteers.

Please note that the times and details are subject to change, but we will keep you updated if you volunteer. Please keep in mind that end times are estimates. In most cases the event will end earlier, but if we have a significant incident, demobilization may go much later and especially in the back country, exit routes are closed to vehicle traffic during the event.

Please go to (https://sea-otter-classic.volunteerlocal.com/volunteer/?id=92218) in the password field, enter the word “RADIO” (without quotes) do not enter anything else on the page and click on “Submit”. The page will update with the Amateur Radio shifts. Click on the check box to click if you’re available and interested in that volunteer activity. Please only pick on one activity per day. All the events are for the backcountry at Fort Ord. For “Group – Organization Name” please select “San Benito Amateur Radio Association”. Fill out your information. We need a separate submission for each volunteer. Sign the disclaimer by clicking the check box and entering your name and submit. You’ll receive an email from Jeff Lindenthal to confirm your registration.  This process needs to be done for each volunteer. This is the now primary way to sign up and volunteer for shifts.

Please fill out the volunteer information at https://tinyurl.com/SOC25

Like many ham radio groups, we use groups.io for our email system. If you’re volunteering this year, please go to https://sbcara.groups.io/g/soc and sign up for our email system so you can get updates. If it complains that you need to be a member of the parent group, you can ignore that. I’ll take care of that behind the scenes. The nice thing about this is that this year, you can see emails, even those before your sign up, and don’t have to store them on your own email system.

If you can’t volunteer this year and want to stay connected, please go to https://sbcara.groups.io/g/soc-interest and sign up to receive email for future events.

IMPORTANT! Ending times are estimates only. Events may run longer. If there is an incident, we will need to stay on duty for that event until we are clear of incidents we’re involved with.

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