Ham Radio Operators Monitor OC Wheelmen's 'Ride Around the Bear'

Ham radio volunteers with San Bernardino County helped monitor the Orange County Wheelmen's 100-mile "Ride Around the Bear," which started and finished Saturday at Sylvan Park in Redlands.

Jeff Sabatini manned one of 12 comm sites on Highway 38's dogleg curve at the Forest Falls turnoff in Mill Creek Canyon. He had his pickup rigged with a radio tower to increase his signal output and reception in the steep-sided mountain gulch.

"Ham radio works when everything else won't," Sabatini said. "This is good practice for emergency situations. Fire, flood, earthquakes."

The bicycle club was scheduled to begin their at 5:30 a.m. at Sylvan Park, with the last riders departing at 7 a.m.

The ride route was described on a Wheelmen web page as "Very Hilly ride up Hwy 330 /18 to Big Bear Lake. Lunch at Dana Point Park (45 mile mark) before continuing up to Onyx summit @ 8400’ and 62 mile mark. Have fun on the fast downhill for the next 38 miles."

Caltrans issued an advisory Wednesday that included route info from Redlands to SR330, SR 18, Big Bear Dam, Fawnskin, Big Bear City, and SR 38 back to Redlands.

"The riders are expected to be off SR 38 by approximately 4:00 p.m.," the Caltrans advisory stated.

For more information about Orange County Wheelmen, visit www.ocwheelmen.org.

Sabatini works with San Bernardino County Fire's Office of Emergency Services. For more information, visit www.sbcfire.org/oes.