Bike the Barns – Dane and Iowa County ARES and RACES

Overview of Bike Routes for 2026

I’ve been wrestling with finding a good repeater for an upcoming ride, Wright Stuff Century, and I created a map that includes the routes of four 2026 rides, Horribly Hilly, Dairyland Dares, Bike the Barns and Wright Stuff Century along with the approximate location of repeaters in the area, blue is FM38 and orange is 2m repeaters from RepeaterBook. It’s not perfect but I am a visual learner. I thought I’d share it with you all. At the moment, since I am working on Wright Stuff Century at the moment, those routes are bolded. Once I’m done I’ll make all the lines the same width. I am finding it interesting to see a bird’s eye view (a very high flying bird) of what we have to cover each year.

Note: I don’t have the Badger Challenge incorporated yet.

https://earth.google.com/earth/d/1Sk50NWJM6g0KZVu–ayNja7r50h4KswB?usp=sharing

Volunteers still needed for Bike the Barns 9/20/2026

I am happy to invite you to volunteer for this year’s Fairshare CSA Bike The Barns ride. Our participation as an ARES/RACES activation is important practice in the event of an official activation. For all other hams, it provides an opportunity to serve the public in CSA’s important mission.

And because the Fairshare CSA Coalition runs a very professional ride–over 750 riders last year–that have a good staff organization, lots of good food, and an enjoyable day between Madison and Mt. Horeb.

I’m hoping you’ll volunteer for public safety assistance at this great annual ride: Bike the Barns will be run this year on September 20.
If you’re available, please send this information back to me at: rrabrams@icloud.com

Name:

Call Sign:

Email Address:

Preferred Phone Number:

Preferred Position: such as SAG, Rest/Water Stop, Net Control help…

Do you have HT/2m radios with/without APRS to use or loan?:

Available hours between 8am-5pm?:

Bike rack on your vehicle?:

Bike rack to share with other drivers?:

Bike The Barns t-shirt size:

Additional comments:

I’m sending this request for volunteers ahead of final details and IC205 Form for radio frequencies we’ll use.

We have a special need this year for SAG drivers, radio operators traveling with SAGs, and those with spare bike racks to share.

There will be “short” and “long” routes, starting at 9:00 am and all finishing between 4:00 and 5:00 pm. We hope you’ll join us for a great day of protecting riders, food during the day, and a food-packed reception at the end of the day.

Short route: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/55786882

Long route: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/55786927

Both routes: Google map with both routes included

Provisional Route timing: Spreadsheet

Bike the Barns 2026

Bike the Barns 2026 will ride on September 20, 2026. In the meantime you can find their website at: https://www.csacoalition.org/bike-the-barns

Bike the Barns 2025 – Save the Date

Save the date! Bike the Barns will be run on September 21, 2025. We’ll post more information for volunteer communicators here as it becomes available.

Route Links for 2023 Bike the Barns

2023 Bike the Barns Location

We’ve received initial notification of Bike the Barns plans for 2023. The date will be September 17, 2023 and this year the location will be mostly concentrated in the Mt Horeb / Cross Plains area.

Bike the Barns – 2023

Bike the Barns will be held on September 17, 2023. Jeff, KC9UNZ will be coordinating Ham Volunteers again this year. Come back here for more information as it becomes available.

Bike the Barns – 2022

Bike the Barns – 2022 will be held on September 19th this year. Jeff, KC9UNZ is organizing ARES/RACES participation this year. He will be sitting down with CSA Coalition personnel on August 9th to finalize their needs. A formal request for help will be made after that meeting, however, it you’d like to make yourself available to help send a note to Jeff (KC9UNZ at arrl.net) and he will start his list.