Day 5 - D.C., C&O Canal, Candlelight Vigil

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.

Day 4 - Annapolis MD to Washington DC

Inspirational thought of the day: No one is ever really gone so long as you keep their memory alive.

Just outside Annapolis, the 160 rider group from southern New Jersey joined our 400 rider northern New Jersey group. The route from Annapolis took us through my favorite stretch of the ride; gently curving roads and rolling hills under a canopy of trees. That all-to-brief section then gives way to a brief foray through the car-jacking capital of the region, Prince George's County before entering DC. We rode through the city and on to the Pentagon, where we waited for the riders who were joining us from the south. We pulled out of the Pentagon and rolled back into the city and on to the National Law Enforcement Memorial. Despite the addition of hundreds more riders, this was the quietest stretch of the trip. No more war stories, no more complaints, just a single-minded focus on why we ride.







Stats for the day:
Miles ridden: 40 ish ...if anyone finds a cycle computer somewhere in DC, it's mine. The roads are a bit bumpy...

Dollars donated by the Police Unity Tour to the National Law Enforcement Memorial & Museum: $1.15 Million

Day 3 - Wilmington DE to Annapolis MD

Word of the Day: Hydrate

The day's ride was preceded by the weather report from one of the Motors: Temps in the mid-60s, overcast with a chance of rain, thus a chance of wet & dangerous road conditons. There was a bit of drizzle, but the rain never came. As we rolled south through Delaware and into Maryland, the clouds began to burn off and the temperature began to rise. There were complaints about the heat, but everyone who rode last year was glad to have the heat instead of the winds we rode through last year. The daily admonition to ride 2x2 and stay to the right was punctuated with the word of the day: Hydrate.

Our morning break was at the David Lokey Center outside Elkton, MD. The center provides services to developmentally disabled adults and they were one of the large groups that I remember coming out to cheer as we rode by last year. Lunch was at the Galena Fire Department again. Their lush lawn and numerous shade trees were just what the hot & tired riders needed.

After leaving Galena, one of the trumpet players, who was riding near the rear with me rode by and said she needed to get to the front for another service. I tried to make myself useful by getting in front of her to let her draft as we moved to the front. After getting up to the lead truck, plans changed and we took another break before the trumpet players needed to play. At the break though, they decided to send the trumpet players ahead early to the site of the ceremony, which did not involve a stop, just them playing as the riders rolled by. I was told it was in Centerville, which was only a couple miles down the road. I was sent along to let them draft behind and make sure any mechanicals were taken care of. We had two motors to escort us. Because it was only a couple of miles, we set off at a nice brisk pace. Three miles later, there was the sign....Centerville 9. I slowed the pace to make sure there was enough breath left for them to play Taps. They played 4 times so the entire procession of riders could hear it. The horns were quckly packed and whisked away for another rendition at the Queen Anne's County Fallen Heros Memorial on Rt. 18 just outside of Centerville, MD.

Plans changed, however, when the vehicle carrying the trumpets was recruited to carry one of our riders to the airport. When the rider's bike was rolled back to the truck, I recognized it as belonging to one of riders from New Hampshire. It's never a good sign when a rider has to leave suddenly. He had to return because Corporal Bruce McKay of the Franconia, New Hampshire Police Department had just been murdered in the line of duty. The tour leadership kept us blissfully ignorant of this so that we could finish what was an otherwise wonderful day on Maryland's Eastern Shore.

95 miles of riding. 7 hours 45 minutes of saddle time. Salad, Seafood & Pasta in Annapolis.

Day 2 - Edison NJ to Wilmington DE

Today marked the end of leisurely starts. We were up at the crack of dawn for breakfast and hit the road around 7. Yesterday's bright blue skys were replaced with low clouds that kept the temperatures relatively cool. Today's route took us onto major highways and our motor officers did another phenomenal job keeping us safe from the traffic.

The sun broke through the clouds late in the afternoon as we rode over the Commodore Barry bridge from New Jersey into Pennsylvania and on to Wilmington.

Stats for the day:
Miles ridden: 90.4
Donuts consumed....yea, like I'm gonna acknowledge the stereotype
Former NJ State Police Barracks used for breaks: 2, really, we weren't going in circles, they just really do look a lot alike

Day 1 - Morris Township - Edison NJ

The first leg of this year's tour wasn't too long. We rode about 35 miles today. We were shuttled to the start at Morris Township, where we enjoyed a substantial breakfast before attending a memorial service before our departure. I made it a grueling 3 miles before I got a flat tire and had to miss a bit of the riding while changing the tire in the repair trailer. After a quick tube change, I was on the road again. The weather was fantastic and the countryside was beautiful. We rode on to the town of Watchung for the unveiling of a memorial to Officer Matthew Melchionda, who was killed March 8, 2006. We finished the day with a quick cruise into the hotels in Edison.


Stats for the Day:
Miles ridden - 31.2
Miles missed riding in the repair trailer -3
So much for pedalling every darned inch of the ride. Guess I'll have to try again next year.

Day Zero - Echo Taps

Late last night after helping shuttle vehicles, I was invited to join riders from New Jersey and New York on a short pre-ride tour. I joined riders from New Jersey this morning for an invigorating 2 mile ride to a ferry stop. We rode a ferry into NYC to attend the send off ceremony for Chapter 37, the Port Authority group, at Ground Zero. The ceremony included a roll call of Officers killed at Ground Zero and those for whom the Chapter is riding this year. Together we then rode through the Holland tunnel and back to New Jersey. Our next stop was the bridge over the Hackensack River where Jersey City Officers Robert Nguyen and Shawn Carson were killed on Christmas 2005. The route then took us through Newark to the Newark Police Memorial where we remembered Sgt Tommaso Poplizio, who was killed on March 3, 1007. Our last stop was in Orange New Jersey at the site of Kieran Shields' murder on August 7, 2006. At each stop, two of my fellow riders played Echo Taps.


Stats for the day: 21 miles ridden. 4 renditions of Echo taps

Updates

During the past few months a number of people asked me if I was going to do a blog again for this year's Police Unity Tour. Based on the positive feedback, I guess I will. I'll start this year's blog of with some updates.

The Colorado Officers killed in 2005 that I rode for in 2006:
Denver Police Detective Donald Young's killer was found in Mexico, brought back, tried, convicted and sentenced to 80 years. The coward did not not appear at sentencing.

Special Agent Greg Boss' killer was tried, convicted and sentenced to two life terms, plus 26 years. Appeals are pending.

Rocky Mountain National Park dedicated a memorial to Ranger Jeff Christensen. In true National Park Service fashion, a memorial was not enough, they also put up an interpretive display explaining all the different things that make up the job of Park Ranger.

Since February of 2006, the Colorado Law Enforcement Community has lost 4 Officers. The losses have been disproportionately shared between the Colorado Springs Police Department, who lost Jared Jensen on Feb. 22, 2006 and Ken Jordan on Dec. 5, 2006 and the Aurora Police Department, who lost Mike Thomas on Sept. 20, 2006 and Doug Byrne on March 25, 2007.

The names of 382 Officers killed in the line of duty were added to the National Law Enforcement Memorial on April 24th. 145 of those names represent Officers killed in 2006, including Jared Jensen, Mike Thomas and Ken Jordan. The remaining 237 names represent Offficers killed in previous years, but not yet added to the memorial. Doug Byrne's name will be engraved in 2008, amongst those killed in 2007.

The other question I've been getting from supporters is "are you really going to do the ride on that one speed?" Uh,yes, but it's not really a one-speed, it's variable speed. The faster I pedal, the higher the speed. It's a fixed gear too, so no coasting. It's not enough to ride every inch of the route, I'm hoping to pedal every inch. For the bike geeks amongst my supporters:
Surly Steamroller. 39:15.

Trip Pictures

"Oh the places you'll go."

"Daddy rides for those who died."

Finally, something steep to ride!

Denver PD Detective Donald Young's name on my bike & the Memorial

Cyclists arriving at the Memorial

A page from the play book.

Chamonix visits the riders in DC

A Beautiful Maryland Day

No, it's not real

What else?

Luggage in the trucks no later than 6.

The well-stocked repair trailer.

"What, I'm rooming with the old granola lady from Boulder?"

"Riders, 2 by 2 and stay to the right."

In the Holland Tunnel

Jefferson Memorial Baricades - No Swimming Allowed

May 15 - Peace Officers Memorial Day

Quote of the day: "I thank those who wear the nation's uniform for working hard to make America a peaceful place for those of us who live here." President George W. Bush

May 15th marked the 25th anniversary for the FOP sponsored memorial service held on the lawn of the Capitol. It was an amazing trip to the Capitol. I donned my dress uniform and got on the subway in Arlington. At each stop, the train cars began to fill with uniformed officers from around the country. At the Capitol South station, the doors opened and a sea of blue flowed from the cars.

We made our way to the lawn, passing by the intense security and began milling about on the lawn. We formed a line of honor for the survivors and I stood, geographically appropriately, between the California Highway Patrol and New Jersey. As at the candlelight vigil, bus after bus of survivors pulled up and we stood at attention as they walked into the VIP area. There were the usual songs and speeches, but the highlight for the survivors was the personal greeting for each of them by the President.

Then came the roll call of names. The names were read by state, with all officers from each state saluting for the duration of the readings. Watching Chicago's Officers and Color Guard, LAPD's 60+ Officers and NYPD's 100+, it felt pretty lonely being the only uniformed officer from Colorado saluting as Donny Young's name was read.

It's been an amazing week.
I will be ever grateful to the friend that planted the Police Week seed.
I am indebted to all those who sponsored my ride and helped the Tour raise the million dollars that it did this year.
I also want to thank all of my friends & family who've supported my efforts in many different ways.

Candlelight Vigil

Quote of the week: "Thank you" - Survivors, friends, bystanders & random people on the metro

A candlelight vigil was held at the National Law Enforcement Memorial on Saturday night. Friends from the ride encouraged me to volunteer for escort duty, telling me it would be the best and hardest part of the week. They were right.

National Park Service Color Guard

Color Guards from all across the country stood at the end of the reflecting pool, flags raised and changing out about every 10 minutes. Honor guards and other Officers stood vigil on each side of the reflecting pool. Those of us on escort duty stood opposite them on the walk, creating two rows of Officers to meet the survivors as they arrived by bus. I didn't count the busses, but they just kept coming. The escorts would provide a single rose to adult female survivors and walk them to their seats. I escorted a number of survivors, but the last one will not soon fade from my memory.

Off the last bus stepped a young girl, maybe 3, her face was frozen and she looked totally overwhelmed. She was given a rose and clutched a single penny in her right hand. As we walked between the rows of Officers she didn't look around or say much when I talked to her. As we reached the seats, I handed her off to her mother, who replied with "Thank you."


During the vigil, a special tribute was paid to Fairfax County Police Detective Vicky Armel whose memorial service was Saturday morning. Detective Armel was killed in a gun battle in the Police station parking lot on May 8. Officer Michael Garbarino was critically injured in the same attack. News of Det. Armel's death reached the riders at the Candlelight vigil in Florham Park before we left, much like the news of Denver Police Detective Donny Young's death reached the send off ceremony in 2005. During the vigil ceremony, Craig Floyd reminded us that a police officer is killed in the United States on average once every 53 hours. Five Officers lost their lives in the line of duty since I started my trip from New Jersey to Washington DC. - Update - While at the United ticket counter, getting ready to fly home, I learned about the 6th line of duty death during my trip. Although he appeared to be improving, Officer Michael Garbarino died in the early hours of May 17th.

Day 4 - Annapolis MD to Washington DC

Quote of the day: "We appreciate what you do." - Bystander as we entered D.C.

Thursday night's deluge cleared out and Friday dawned bright and sunny for our ride into Washington D.C. The route took us through more of the beautiful Maryland countryside and we were joined along the way by the riders from the South New Jersey Chapter of the Unity Tour. The route was hilly, causing some to complain, but cresting the last hill gave a great view down E. Captitol Street toward the Washington Monument.

We rode through the streets of DC with a few new motor escorts from Oklahoma, some the same as those who escorted the cross-country riders in Oklahoma. We wound our way to the polo fields along the Potomic for a break and to wait for the Virginia Chapter to arrive. Some friends drove down from Philadelphia to meet me and they said it was amazing to watch the long line of cyclists coming in.

The Virginia Chapter arrived and after a few more minutes of greetings and picture taking, it was time to leave for the National Law Enforcement Memorial. For our last time together, we took to the streets, riding two by two. As we entered the Memorial, we split to ride down each side of the walls of names. As I entered the right side, I thought I heard my name, but couldn't stop and look for fear of crashing. I put my bike up and returned to applaud the remaining riders. I then sought out the names of Donald Young, Jeff Christensen and Greg Boss on the memorial. I was taking a picture of Jeff's name when I heard my name again, it was Mark Magnuson, Chief Ranger at Rocky Mountain National Park where Jeff worked and died. I showed him the memorial bracelet with Jeff's name on it that I wore during the ride. I then got to meet with Jeff's family and gave the bracelet to his mom.

Me with Jeff's brothers, Brian & Jason, sister-in-law, Jenny, and parents Chris & Dale

A welcoming ceremony followed the arrival of all the cyclists. The Police Unity tour raised one million dollars for the National Law Enforcement Memorial this year and has pledged another five million toward the building of the National Law Enforcement Museum. The ceremony concluded with each rider giving a single dollar in memory of those who can no longer ride.

Stats for the day:
Miles ridden: 44
Time: 3.5 hours
Total riders arriving at the memorial: ~750
Dollars raised for the memorial by the tour: 1 milllion

Day 3 - Wilmington DE to Annapolis MD

Quote of the Day: "What a beautiful day for a bike ride" - Me
Alternate quote of the day: "I can't believe we're getting soaked in the last 100 yards." Cyclist near me

The theme of the day was weather. The predicted heavy rains didn't really come until the last 100 yards or so of the ride. We did have a few showers in the last 15 or so miles, but nothing like the deluge that started down as we neared Annapolis. There were also many complaints about the winds, but even that didn't seem too bad if you just took a moment to look around the beautiful scenery of eastern Maryland.

The day started in Wilmington with a lap around downtown Wilmington where it looked like all of the city and state dignitaries came out to great us. DuPont CEO Chad Holliday was also present and honored for a $3 million donation to the National Law Enforcement Memorial. I didn't know this was happening until I heard the sounds of bagpipes echoing amongst the tall buildings. When we rounded the corner, the crowd was there, including an entire Police recruit class standing at attention as we rolled by. In addition to our usual 2 and 4 wheeled escort, we also had air support from the Delaware State Police helicopter.

Once we got into Maryland, the winds started to pick up, but I got into a nice echelon of 4 riders that made things easier, then spent time either leading into headwinds or blocking crosswinds for a couple of riders who were having something less than a great day on the bike.

Fortunately for us, the state of Maryland will not close the bay bridge for us to cross, so we were bussed over the last few miles, in an absolute downpour. The Motors came through again, as always, providing us with safe passage, but they got very wet.

The stats for the day:
miles ridden: 93.56
hours in the saddle: 7:44
flat tires: 1
miles not ridden for time in repair trailer: 5-ish

Day 2 - Edison NJ to Wilmington DE

Quote of the day: "I'm absolutely amazed at how much work these support people do." - First time support volunteer

Today we rode 90 some miles from Edison NJ to Wilmington DE. We were in the saddle around 7.5 hours. We started with overcast skies, which cleared, making the whole day a beautiful day for a bike ride. We probably caused hate and discontent for drivers, especially when we got the southbound lanes of the NJ turnpike to ourselves for a few miles this morning and the whole John Barry Bridge this afternoon. For those of you following with the Google Earth Files, the track really should be continuous and we didn't ride off a bridge, my GPS was having some issues.

The ride took us through a number of small communities. The community support was amazing. Local Police departments lined the streets and citizens waved and high-fived from the curb.

With 400 riders to watch out for, I'm grateful for the support crew that consists of general logistical support, EMS and Motors. The Motors have been doing a superb job at traffic control for us. They leap frog ahead of us to close off every conceivable intersection where cars my come through. In closing one intersection, the leap-frogging didn't quite work and three motorcycles were involved in an accident. Fortunately no one was hurt, but it was a close call that reminded us all of the hazards that we face on the road.

The logisitcal support volunteers make sure we are well fed and hydrated at each rest stop and make sure our luggage makes it to the right hotel (and the right room). All the volunteer support members do an outstanding job.

Day 1 - Floraham Park to Edison via Ground Zero

Quote of the Day: "There's way too many cops here for you to be talking smack son" Motor Officer blocking an intersection to an unknown young man

Last night the town of Florham Park sent us off in style with a BBQ followed by a candlelight vigil. For a description and great pictures, take a look at the Cross Country rider's blog.

This morning's ride started off with breakfast in the park, in the dark. We rolled out of Florham Park around 7:30 and headed toward New York City. Our route took us through Jersey City and over the Hackensack River. On December 25, 2005, Jersey City Police Officers Robert Nguyen and Shawn Carson were killed when they drove off the bridge in foggy conditions. The bridge span had been opened to let a barge pass, but the warning lights and safety bar did not activate. We paused briefly at the bridge to honor their memories before traveling on.


We rode through the Holland Tunnel into New York City and then to Ground Zero. The Port Authority Police hosted a memorial ceremony and we were given time to reflect on the tragedy and loss at the site. The whoopin' & hollerin' of the first trip through the tunnel was absent on the return trip.




We paused for lunch before continuing on to Edison New Jersey for the night. We covered 62 miles at a not-to-blistering pace of 10.4 mph. Lots of pothole dodging and braking for the inevitable slowing and quickening of a group of 400 cyclists who've never ridden together before. From the experienced folks I've talked to, the ride will get faster and smoother.