The Birds and the Bees (and the Bikes)

I carry a cell phone on my rides. But fairly often, I end up in areas where T-Mobile has no reception. The staffed control in Vernonia on our spring Birkie 200 brevet is one of them. You can call if you have ATT or Verizon, but not T-Mobile. Same story along the coast on the 3 Capes 300k brevet. I decided to look at the coverage maps on the provider’s web sites to see how service will be along the GRR route.T-Mobile

The maps on the web site are really hard to read, but it looks like the coverage is good until half way up Jarbo Gap, after Oroville. Spotty coverage around Taylorville, and spotty again from a few miles before Susanville through a little after Eagle Lake. Nothing anwhere else.

ATT

Same spots with no signal along the Feather River canyon, and to Antelope Lake and the Top of the GRR. But stronger signal in Taylorville and Susanville. Plus good signal in Alturas, and spotty signal at the turnaround point, Davis Creek. 3G data signal to Oroville, and then only in Susanville.

Verizon

According to the map on the web site, phone coverage is much better than ATT, with a smaller section with no signal in the Feather River canyon, and another one (also smaller) around Antelope Lake. They even have coverage in Adin. The data coverage is about the same as the voice coverage. Overall, quite impressive.

Based on this, I am tempted to get a prepaid Verizon SIM to use on GRR to stay in touch.