Breakfast

On average, one police officer is killed every two days in the United States.

This morning I was having breakfast with riders from North Las Vegas and Las Vegas Metro when the cell phones started to ring.  Las Vegas Metro Officer James Manor was killed a few hours earlier.  Officer Manor was responding to a domestic when a suspected drunk driver turned left in front of him.  Officer Manor is survived by his Mother, several siblings and one child.  He was 28 years old and worked for the Department for 2 years.

Colorado Law Enforcement Memorial Day

Each year at 10 a.m. on the first Friday of May, Law Enforcement Officers from around the State gather at the Colorado Law Enforcement Memorial to honor the fallen.  Among those who gathered at the Memorial this morning were about 30 Officers who bicycled from the Aurora Police Memorial to the Colorado Memorial.  We rode to honor four Officers whose names were engraved on the Memorial this year:

• Pueblo Police Officer Nicholas Heine, EOW June 21, 2008
  
• Trinidad Police Officer Alexander Brighton, EOW January 22, 1909
• Rocky Ford City Marshall Jesse Craig, Sr., EOW July 4, 1911
• Rocky Ford Night Marshall Jacob Kipper, EOW July 4, 1911

Special thanks to the Aurora, Denver and Lakewood Police Departments for helping us make the ride safe and successful.

Pittsburgh

Two weeks after Oakland, three more.

Oakland

I'm at a loss for words.  

Anniversary ride...almost

My schedule has kept me from an anniversary ride, but I did manage to escape the heat of the front range and ride to the memorial for Jeff Christensen (EOW 7/29/05) at Rocky Mountain National Park this week.  Since getting back from this year's PUT, I have not been riding as consistently as I should, so the hills on this ride tested my limits on the fixed gear.  

Why I Ride

I ride to help ensure the sacrifices of the Officers whose 

names are on the memorial are not fogotten.

Colorado State Trooper Zachariah Earl Templeton

Aurora P.D. Officer Doug Byrne, whose name was added to the same panel as Denver P.D. Detective Donnie Young.

Rocky Mountain National Park Ranger Jeff Christensen

U.S. Postal Service OIG Agent Greg Boss

Colorado Springs P.D. Detective Jared Jensen.

His killer was found guilty of second degree homicide 

and sentenced to 96 years in prison.

Aurora P.D. Agent Mike Thomas

Justice is still pending.

His daughter and granddaughter visited the memorial

this year.  By all accounts, his granddaughter is as fearless,

hard-headed and loving as her namesake grandfather.

Colorado Springs P.D. Officer Ken Jordan

Justice pending the outcome of appeals

Peace Officers Memorial Day

In 1962, President Kennedy signed Public Law 87-726, a joint resolution of Congress authorizing the President to proclaim May 15th each year as Peace Officers Memorial Day.  In 1994, President Clinton signed an amendment by the 103rd Congress which directs Flags to be flown at half mast on May 15th.  

Survivors of Officers killed in 2007 gather on the U.S. Capitol lawn today and see the flags at half mast there, while flags across nation are lowered to honor the 18,274 law enforcement officers who have died in the line of duty.  

2008 Candlelight Vigil- AKA "You clean up well"

The 2008 candle light vigil was the 20th annual vigil held in honor of fallen law enforcement officers and their survivors.   Busses bring the survivors up E street to the Memorial and are greeted by a color guard at the reflecting pool, an Honor Cordon on either side of the reflecting pool and lines of Unity Tour members waiting to escort them.  The Color guard and Honor Cordon rotate out periodically and are staffed by Honor guard members from across the country.  The Aurora Police Department proudly represented their city and the State of Colorado.

The vigil is scheduled to start at 8, so we were assigned to gather at 5:15.  We got there around 5, only to discover that a few busses had already delivered survivors.  Fortunately there were Officers there to escort them.  Still, not too many people around at 5.  

The Unity Tour members who rode in from the south escort survivors on the east side of the reflecting pool while members who rode with the northern chapters escort on the west.  I broke with tradition by shifting over to the east when the bus carrying Zach's family pulled in.  Artie from Florida, who also rode in Zach's memory, and I escorted Zach's parent's to their seats.  

I had tried to prepare Zach's dad for what to expect when they arrived for the vigil.  From the look on his face, it was clear that my words were inadequate.  I pointed out that the hundreds of Officers standing at attention as we walked by were there to honor Zach and acknowledge the family's loss.

As the busses continued to arrive, the Memorial grounds began to fill and the ceremony got underway.  
At the conclusion of the ceremony, the names of all the Officers engraved the the wall this year were read.  181 from deaths in 2007 and 177 from past years.  The names are read by State and Officers salute as the names from their State are read.  I saluted as the names of Douglas Byrne and Zachariah Earl Templeton echoed over the din of the crowd.

Word of the Day: "Sunshine"

A small contingent of riders from California, Colorado and Texas took advantage of the fantastic weather we had today to ride in to the National Law Enforcement Memorial.  

We took the scenic route, stopping at the Lincoln Memorial and slowing traffic along Constitution Avenue (though not by much).  Zach Templeton's family arrived so we could take a picture in the sunshine, instead of in the rain from last night.
We grabbed a bite to eat, rode by the White House and WWII Memorial before heading back to the Hotel to get ready for the candle light vigil

Stats for the day:

Miles ridden:  11.8

Snarky comments about donut shops from random DC pedestrians: 1

Quote of the day...

"There is no such thing as bad weather, just poor clothing"

So, here's what would be about right to wear for today's ride, with the precipitation forecast from Intellicast below:  (Red is bad and does not show the wind forecast, which is also bad)

The Maryland State Patrol wisely determined that it would not be safe to allow the ride to continue, so we are going to be taken by bus from Annapolis into Washington D.C.  Although a lot of people are disappointed with not being able to complete the journey on two wheels, it's a very good decision.  The risks associated with trying to continue are simply too great.

I guess the Galena Volunteer Fire Department knew what was coming when they pulled the boat around during yesterday's lunch break.

Stats for the day:

Miles ridden - 0

Winds - North, 20-30mph

Rain - Lots

We can't do it without you.

Before writing too much more about the ride, I wanted to make sure to credit all the hard work by many behind the scenes to make sure that we all have a safe ride.   All we riders have to worry about is the repetitive motion of one pedal stroke after another.  The support and motor crews go through their own repetitive motions that make sure 490 riders are fed, their bikes functioning, luggage transfered, intersections blocked and morale maintained.  Thanks.

Today's ride took us through Wilmington and into the beautiful farming country of eastern Maryland.  The weather was nice for riding, though a bit breezy.  The rain didn't start until a few miles out of Stevensville, where we boarded busses to transfer over the Chesapeake Bay Bridge.  I had a bit of a technical malfunction with the camera, so not a lot of pictures of the ride, so just imagine waving fields of grain and horses running alongside us while raptors flew above.

Stats for today:

Miles ridden: 95

Taps played: 2

Flats fixed for the ride:  hundreds

A great day to ride

Once again we started the second day of the ride with a full tray, or two of donuts. You'll notice that we obviously do not fit the stereotype, as not many of the donuts were taken.

After breakfast and a few last minute fixes to Motors and bikes, we were ready to hit the road. The Dry road!
Our first break of the day came after about 22 miles of riding. It was at a former New Jersey Trooper barracks. I thought it would be a fitting place to take a picture of the spoke card I've had with me on the ride.
We rolled through some nice and some not so nice sections of New Jersey and took a break just before tackling the longest sustained climb of the trip. The Commodore Barry Bridge took us out of New Jersey, over the Delaware river and into Pennsylvania.

The roads in Pennsylvania were a bit of a challenge, having recently been scraped for paving. Our brief trip through Pennsylvania took us into Delaware, just north of Wilmington.

During the last part of today's ride, I got to speak with one of the original 18 who made the first Police Unity Tour ride from Florham Park to Washington DC in 1996. He made a comment about how hard core I must be to ride a fixed-wheel bike the whole way. This is his 11th Police Unity Tour. That's hard core.

Stats for the day:
Miles ridden - 90
Avg speed -11.8 mph
Hours in the saddle - 7.5
States visited - 3

Word of the day: "Wet"

The send off ceremony for the 2008 Police Unity Tour was co-hosted by the Port Authority and Jersey City Police Departments. The ceremony was held at the CRRNJ railroad terminal at Liberty State Park. The terminal is no longer used for the railroad, but is still used for ferries to Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty. A beautiful setting.

Riders with the Port Authority chapter started their ride at Ground Zero. Riders from Patterson NJ started from home and made a few stops to pay tribute to fallen Officers from the area.

After everyone arrived at the terminal, we were treated to a BBQ brunch, followed by the send-off ceremony.



Following the ceremony, we gathered our bikes and did as much as we could to protect ourselves from the rain, wind and cold. At least it wasn't snowing!

Stats for the day:
Air Temp - upper 40s, low 50s
Wind - yes, gusty too
Miles ridden - 31
Odds that Zachariah E. Templeton would be the name shown in a USA Today article on the engraving of the names on the National Law Enforcement Memorial - 181:1

Colorado Law Enforcement Memorial

Flags across Colorado were lowered to half staff on Friday, May 2, 2008 to honor Colorado Law Enforcement Officers killed in the line of duty.  The first Friday of May is set aside annually for the Colorado Law Enforcement Memorial Ceremony on the grounds of the State Patrol Academy at Camp George West in Golden.   

The weather forecast was gloomy.  Cold, possible rain, maybe some snow and some wind added for good measure.  I got up early and saw that it wasn't raining (yet) or snowing (yet), so made the decision to ride to Golden for the ceremony.  

It was cold and it was windy, but as I rode south, I looked back over the Flatirons and saw a little sliver of blue sky just ahead of what looked like a snow storm over the foothills.  A thin blue line at my back.  I rode on.  

The wind continued to blow, but the sky cleared a bit for part of the ceremony. Bagpipes wailed, speeches were read, kind words were said.  214 doves were released, followed by 5 more. 219 names on the Memorial now.  Taps and 21 guns rounded out the ceremony.

Five names were added to the Memorial this year. Two from 2007 and three from previous years:

J. Horace Frisbie, Night Marshall, Lamar. Killed December 26, 1906
Charles E. Gibbs, Deputy Sheriff, Routt County. Killed March 21, 1929
John Armour Stitt, Town Marshall, Paonia. Killed September 27, 1952
Douglas D. Byrne, Officer, Aurora. Killed March 26, 2007
Zachariah Earl Templeton, Trooper, Colorado State Patrol. Killed October 12, 2007

Riders from the Aurora Police Department will ride to honor Doug's memory.  I'll be riding for Zach.

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