Bike Ride along the Pemi
September 2012

Today I road my bicycle along the Pemigewasset River. It was
sparkling. I worked a mobile station in Montana and two QRP
stations... one in North Carolina and the other in Ontario.



The old road runs along the river in the Army Corps of Engineers
flood control property in Sanbornton. Today I rode about a mile
north and stopped at a sunny spot right along the river. It was dazzling.



I threw a line over the branch of a tall pine tree and sat down along the bank. I ran 4 watts with the little
HB-1B on 20 meters. To my west was the river, and to the east, a steep hillside that rises nearly 700 feet
toward Knox Mountain. I was pretty sure any QSOs would not be coming from Europe and I was right.
I heard NT7R mobile in Montana calling on the county hunters frequency and I made a quick contact. Then I
went up to the QRP calling frequency and heard Steve W5QC calling CQ from North Carolina. We gave each
other 559s. Steve was running an 817 at 2 watts with a telescoping antenna right on the back of the rig! Fantastic.
He was camping in North Carolina. As soon as we finished, Gary VE3MPQ called me from Windsor, Ontario.
He was very strong at 579 and he gave me a 579 too. Gary was also running an HB-1B at 4 watts. We chatted
for more than five minutes with perfect copy both ways.



When I told Gary I was sitting by the edge of the river, he sent, "I'm jealous of your QTH."



After operating for a bit more than 20 minutes, I headed south back down the
road. It's nice to have the camera to record these wonderful afternoons. But it
doesn't record the sound of crickets, or the touch of a cool breeze on my face
as I peddle along the river. It doesn't catch the smell of early fall or the
nostalgia of the first fallen leaves along the trail.