Tour de Victoria Oct 2 2021

Lantern Rouge communications motorcycle following a bicycle event

My day as a Lantern Rouge Rider

I admit I was also very tempted by the opportunity to ride my motorcycle on the Galloping Goose bicycle trail, which is normally forbidden to motorcycles. I discovered the radio challenges were a fabulous learning opportunity. It seems to be a feature of my radio hobby that I dive enthusiastically into things without really knowing what's involved, and this was no exception.

The radio brief was to provide communications support to the bicycle riders participating in the event, as well as position information via APRS. Bicycle riders might need a medic, a mechanic or a lift back, and so the role of the Lantern Rouge involves relaying requests for assistance or transportation. Event organizers and support crew were able to access real time information about my position at the tail end of one route of the ride event.

Getting my motorcycle (a 1992 EN 500 Vulcan) set up for radio was an interesting process, with the help of Dave VE7EPX who constructed a beautiful lightweight platform for the tail rack on my motorcycle to hold a mag mount antenna. The rack mounting was very solid, the antenna stayed firmly in place, and even though it was back in the 'dirty' swirling air behind my body the antenna didn't flutter or twitch in the wind even at highway speeds. Since the day of the Tour de Victoria was spent in first gear, at bicycle speeds, it really wasn't an issue.

Tail rack mounted antenna bracket and passenger backrest mounted radio bag

Close up showing antenna on it's mounting bracket

I decided to carry two radios, so instead of trying to make my Yaesu do both jobs, I also used my Baofeng. I carried it in a satchel over my shoulder, instead of mounted on my bike, which proved to be useful because I could get on and off my bike quickly to talk with bicyclists off the road and relay messages for them. I used a remote speaker microphone clipped to the front of my riding gear, and for the most part I was able to hear the radio fairly well, although getting the microphone close enough to be heard, while wearing a helmet, proved difficult. There were a few occasions I had trouble making myself heard, and apparently a few times I missed hearing my call sign too. Variable ambient noise was part of the problem, hearing though my helmet didn't help either. The satchel carrying my 2nd HT moving about on my shoulder meant that my radio occasionally ended up with the antenna in my armpit, which probably wasn't ideal for getting a signal out. Finding a better way to attach the radio might be one solution. A second antenna sounds a bit OTT, so I'm tempted! I think my APRS communication was much more effective than my voice communication, and so at least I know what to work on for next year.

The Lantern Rouge team was uniquely vintage; Dave on his '95 Honda ST 1100 and me on my '92 Kawasaki failed, as far as I could tell, to make any impression on the bicyclists, although I think the motorcycle mounted police riding behind us for the last few kilometers of the event (opening up the roads) noticed our bikes weren't as modern as theirs. I was tempted to point out my motorcycle was older than some of them, but decided it might be better not to offend... I'm not looking for ways to get arrested!

READ MORE

Tour de Victoria - https://tourdevictoria.com/

Tour de France - https://www.letour.fr/en/

Lanterne Rouge in Wikipedia - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lanterne_rouge

WARA (west coast amateur radio association) - https://www.ve7vic.ca/

SSIARS (Salt Spring Island Amateur Radio Society) - http://www.ssiarc.ca/

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