I was threatened with an intervention. I took advantage of virtually no traffic in the District on Sunday morning to ride to the Memorial, snap some pictures and leave a few things. The memorial was much quieter than when we arrived Saturday afternoon. A few contractors were setting up for the candlelight vigil and volunteers were helping clean up after the downpour of the night before. When I went by Jeff Christensen's name on the wall, I was overcome. Not so much because of the days I spent searching for him or the ride last year in his memory, but the full row of names below his and the loss they represent. After a bit, I headed over to the Memorial Gift shop to meet some friends. A Unity Tour rider from Florida threatened the intervention, thinking we'd all had enough riding. Actually, I needed a little more riding to clear my head.
Through Fixedgeargallery.com I'd heard how much fun the C&O Canal path trail was to ride. I headed over to the start of the path in Georgetown, drank a cup of coffee, put a bottle of juice and a muffin in a jersey pocket and hit the path, much to the dismay of the transient who tried to steer me to a paved trail. I rode up the path around 12 miles. I found a nice bench in the shade to grab a quick bite before heading back to clean up for the Candlelight Vigil escort duty.
Among the survivors I had the honor to escort were the mothers of Aurora Detective Mike Thomas and Texas DPS Trooper Eduardo Chavez. I rode with 4 Aurora Officers in Mike's memory. Two of Eduardo Chavez' brothers rode with us to honor their brother.
As in year's past, there wasn't enough seating for survivors and the crowd flowed out onto E street and around the corner. The ceremony concluded with a roll call of the names added to the wall this year. 145 of those were killed in 2006. 237 in previous years. There are now 17,917 names engraved on the memorial.
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