Where is this bicycle race? Is there no cellular service available?
I've been a motorcycle marshal for many years with one of the largest MS Society bike rides.. We run a two day course over our ride (not a race) that covers 170 miles in one direction.
HAM radio has been an integral part since the outset, because of the nature of the ride. When we started, cell coverage was non-existent, now its present but subject to being overwhelmed. With 13000 riders, over 150 vehicles supporting, and hundreds of volunteers, we dont rely on nex-tel or cell for operational control of the ride.
We run two HAM nets one for logistics and one for ops, and there are many many times that my peers and I were first in assets and calling in accidents on HAM where there were two or three other riders trying to call 911 on cell and not getting through because of the geography. In modern day central and east Texas.
The HAM nets are much cheaper than a commercial rented radio system, and more reliable over the entire course of the route than cell, and by being on a radio net all the folks are able to maintain situational awareness of events on the route.
As of the last two years, the medical assets have migrated to a trunked public safety net that utilizes the regional water authority's assets (it happens to span the majority of our route), but the amount of radios involved precludes us from putting the entire operation on the trunked system... for now.
And to be clear, I may be an amatuer radio operator, but hardly a techie or radio nerd. I pull the radio out of the closet, mount it on the motorcycle maybe 3-4 times a year for rides/events, then take it off and put it back up.