Motorcycle Volunteers

This year we made an impact in our community by supporting four events and helped to raise more than $1,000,000 for good causes. Publix Atlanta Marathon Organized by the Atlanta Track Club with support from local ARES volunteers. Scott, Sam, Sam's granddaughter and I provided motorcycle and amateur radio support to this event.  Next year, I may volunteer as a HAM capable cyclist, or use an electric motorcycle.   The course layout does not work well for motorcycle support at a running event, and I accidentally got funneled in with runners over the finish line towards the end of the day 😱 AJC Peachtree Road Race I volunteered as a Radio Operator at a water station for this event, while Scott became a mobile camera platform.  I had a lot of fun with the water stop crew and pitched in to help distribute water to the runners.  There was quite the party atmosphere going on at the water stops.  And I got to see Scott whiz by with a camera operator riding pillio...

Volunteer opportunities for 2023! More information to follow as we get closer to the events.  The big news is that Bike MS is moving from October to September.  In other news; I just heard that Move for Grady/VeloCity no longer requires Motorcycle Escorts.  I'll let you know if this changes. Publix Atlanta Marathon : Atlanta, GA Sunday, February 26th, 2023 Licensed Amateur Radio Operators only https://www.atlantatrackclub.org/2023-publix-atlanta-marathon-weekend Move for Grady (formally known as VeloCity) : Fairburn, GA Saturday, May 6th, 2023 No longer using Motorcycle Escorts https://www.moveforgrady.com/event-info Bike MS : Atlanta Peach Ride 2023 : LaGrange, GA Saturday, September  23rd and Sunday, September 24th 2023 https://mssociety.donordrive.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=donorDrive.event&eventID=1615 Spin For Kids : Camp Twin Lakes : Rutledge, GA Sunday, October 1st, 2023 https://www.camptwinlakes.org/ James Acworth, GA February 2023

Just received the latest batch of "Event Escort" Windshield Banners in time for the Fall Season of charity events.  I ordered some of these last year and gave out the last of them at VeloCity 2022. I have 10 with grommets & bungie cords.  I also have a few without grommets (with rubber tipped metal spring clips)  I order these from PurpleIron  at a discounted price of $20 each for ordering in batches.  I bring these to events and sell them at cost.  If you need one ahead of an event, please let me know and I'll mail it to you. James Acworth, GA August 2022

Fall is charity bicycle ride season! Spin For Kids : Camp Twin Lakes : Rutledge, GA Camp Twin Lakes is thrilled to be back to 100% capacity at their campsites this summer! They are partnering with Camp Sunshine for children with cancer, Camp Strong4Life for children with obesity, and Camp To Belong which reunites siblings that have been separated through foster care.  As you know,  Spin For Kids  is the largest fundraiser for Camp Twin Lakes that provides camper scholarships for these and 10,000 more campers! Please save the date for this year’s ride. It will be  Sunday, October 2 nd . If you are a member of a club or have a network of riders that you are in touch with, please consider sharing our sign-up link with them! ( https://signup.com/go/OVgBSay )   Overnight lodging is being provided for free to volunteers. Please contact Ashley Henderson ( ashley@camptwinlakes.org ) Bike MS : Atlanta Peach Ride 2022 : LaGrange, GA The Atlanta Peach Ride will take p...

It was lovely weekend for a motorcycle ride around LaGrange, Georgia.   There were no serious incidents, all 280 cyclists were accounted for and ~$300,000 was raised for the MS Society! On Saturday, we covered four routes with five motorcycle escorts: James (KN4VZE) & Ken supported the 100 mile route. Sam (KD4SHK) covered the 66 mile route. Jeff supported the 35 mile route and Cathie covered the 21 mile route. On Sunday, we covered two routes with six  motorcycle escorts:  Electra, Sebastian, Rondell supported the 65 mile route, while Jeff & Cathie covered the 31 mile route. Sam (KD4SHK) as a HAM capable motorcycle escort roamed both routes while staying in touch with Net Control. There was some drama.  On Saturday, my battery died just as Ken & I were escorting the last three century cyclists into town.  Both Jeff & Ken stayed with me through the evening & into the night and helped me to prepare the bike for a ride home with AAA.  ...

That's another Spin for Kids event in the bag!   The event attracted approximately 500 cyclists, who raised just over $500,000 in sponsorship for Camp Twin Lakes.  As usual the event was well planned, organized and executed.  Here is a link to more information about Spin For Kids and the work done at Camp Twin Lakes:  https://www.camptwinlakes.org   This year I signed up for the 100 mile route along with Ken, Mike & Lee (Ken & Mike are Bike MS Alumni - Go Team Moto!) and we had a fun day assisting cyclists and sweeping the route to make sure all cyclists were accounted for.  And it was great to catch up with LadyEJ and TopDog and their crews (A big shout out to the Black Angels Motorcycle Club, Faith Riders, Get2Gether Bikers, ATL Cruisers and the Christian Motorcycle Association) For the VeloCity 2021 event I had upgraded to a mobile radio with more power.  For this event I upgraded my ride to a 2018 Honda Goldwing Tour, which is an absol...