An even stream of blue

July 9, 2015

First things first. The primary purpose of the Police Unity Tour is to raise awareness of law enforcement officers who have died in the line of duty. The secondary purpose is to raise funds for the National Law Enforcement Officer’s Memorial and Museum.

But what future riders need to know, is that the Unity Tour is so much more than a bike ride, or a fundraiser. When you choose to sign up it means you are willing and wanting to dedicate a lot of time, money and part of yourself for something bigger. You have the option to sign up with one of 9 chapters. Each chapter runs things a little differently, and we all take different routes to DC. In each of those chapters there is a need for support personnel, motor officers, and bike riders. Each person still has to fundraise the minimum amount of money their chapter requires, and must dedicate themselves to getting the message out that we have not forget the officers who have given the ultimate sacrifice.

To attend and participate in the tour you must be either an active or retired police officer or a surviving family member (Survivor) of a fallen officer. This is one of the issues that really makes the experience special and unique.

When I decided to participate in the tour this year I signed up with Chapter 8—the Florida Chapter. This was my second year riding and I signed up as a rider again … as I have really begun to love cycling, and it's a great way to stay in shape. Once you sign up around the first week of September you then set up an online fundraising page through First Giving. Each member of Chapter 8 is required to raise a minimum of $2,000. That cost covers the expenses of the tour and a donation to the Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund.

Fundraising $2,000 in itself can be a daunting task. I did the usual posting on Facebook and asked friends and family to help out. While I am fortunate to have great friends and family who helped, that can only get you so fa; it’s up to you to get creative. I worked with a coworker to set up a fundraising night with a local bar and restaurant that was willing to donate part of a night profits to the cause. We also got local business and sports teams to donate merchandise and held a silent auction. Then before you know it the tour is here. Chapter 8 rode from Portsmouth, Va. to DC. We will complete the ride in 3 days and put on just over 250 miles.

The journey really starts when everyone gets to Portsmouth. Chapter 8 is comprised mainly of folks from Florida, Texas, Arizona, Louisiana and Georgia, but also some from North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Maryland and Virginia. Most fly in; some of the officers drive up with their agencies—especially motors and support. In order to just get the equipment we need to safely complete this journey like the Motorcycles, trailers with coolers and tables and everything is a logistical challenge itself to say the least. So many take the long journey of driving up so we can have the resources we need.

I have a couple coworkers that were kind enough to spend their day off driving me and my bike to the hotel in Portsmouth. When we arrived we spent a little time hanging out and had a frosty beverage before I sent them on their way back home. 

Friday, May 8

We arrive in Portsmouth, Virginia at the Renaissance Hotel. I can’t help but notice the great view of Norfolk ship yard out the window. First order of business; I take a walk to a local bike shop so my roommate can get an extra pair of bike shorts that he forgot at home.

Next we take the Ferry to Norfolk (which is right outside hotel) and walk around and explore. We stop at the USS Wisconsin docked in the harbor and check it out.

At 1500 mandatory medical check-in starts. At about 1600 we get our ok. This is a very easy task in which the medics that volunteer to accompany us on the trip ensure that none of your medical information has changed. They provide you with a wristband and a matching one for your bike. That way if something happens and you crash they know who you are and which bike is yours. We also picked up our luggage tags and Unity Tour bike jerseys and rider jackets. As a little something extra they gave us 2015 Unity Tour Pins and stickers.

At 1900 we meet and greet at the local GOSPORT Tavern. The restaurant was closed to the public so we could all hang out and socialize and meet new friends and exchange stories. What a great event and ice breaker—especially for new attendees! There were many new faces this year. The food also was fantastic and they had a large selection of micro brews, which was a hit.

Saturday, May 9

As the motto of the tour says, "We Ride for Those Who Died". In keeping with that theme, every year each tour member selects the name of a fallen officer from the previous year to honor and ride for. In doing that, each member is provided with a blue metal bracelet with the inscription of, "In Honor and Memory of" then the fallen officer’s name, agency, end of watch date. They also contain the words “Police Unity Tour 2015” and have a bike rider, the crest, and rose symbol.

At 11:00 agencies arrive peddling T-shirts, water bottles challenge coins, etc. There are some really cool Unity Tour designs. The teams or agencies that bring these also use the money to help towards the fundraising goals. Chapter 8 was fortunate that every year a group of officers and survivors from The United Kingdom show up to ride and participate with us. I was able to purchase a cool polo shirt that they had made for the Unity Tour.

After checking out the swag tables and talking to people we have a mandatory meeting at 12:30. The meeting gives you an overview of the days to come. It also consists of a pretty in-depth safety briefing about how people should ride and what to do if things go wrong. Contingences are set in place for bad weather, crashes..etc. It also helps give new participants a little insight as to what’s going on. They explain any expected issues on the route and assign ride Marshalls to assist in helping control and lead the ride.

After the meeting we all just kind of hang out, finish getting all of our gear together and make final preparations. Then it’s off to meet new friends for dinner at a local restaurant. Soon enough it’s off to bed so we can be ready to ride in the morning.

You can tell that many people are very nervous about the ride or maybe anxious. Some people are already questioning if they had ridden enough to be ready or not. During the safety briefing they portray the ride as a little scary..lol

Saturday, May 9

As the motto of the tour says, "We Ride for Those Who Died". In keeping with that theme, every year each tour member selects the name of a fallen officer from the previous year to honor and ride for. In doing that, each member is provided with a blue metal bracelet with the inscription of, "In Honor and Memory of" then the fallen officer’s name, agency, end of watch date. They also contain the words “Police Unity Tour 2015” and have a bike rider, the crest, and rose symbol.

At 11:00 agencies arrive peddling T-shirts, water bottles challenge coins, etc. There are some really cool Unity Tour designs. The teams or agencies that bring these also use the money to help towards the fundraising goals. Chapter 8 was fortunate that every year a group of officers and survivors from The United Kingdom show up to ride and participate with us. I was able to purchase a cool polo shirt that they had made for the Unity Tour.

After checking out the swag tables and talking to people we have a mandatory meeting at 12:30. The meeting gives you an overview of the days to come. It also consists of a pretty in-depth safety briefing about how people should ride and what to do if things go wrong. Contingences are set in place for bad weather, crashes..etc. It also helps give new participants a little insight as to what’s going on. They explain any expected issues on the route and assign ride Marshalls to assist in helping control and lead the ride.

After the meeting we all just kind of hang out, finish getting all of our gear together and make final preparations. Then it’s off to meet new friends for dinner at a local restaurant. Soon enough it’s off to bed so we can be ready to ride in the morning.

You can tell that many people are very nervous about the ride or maybe anxious. Some people are already questioning if they had ridden enough to be ready or not. During the safety briefing they portray the ride as a little scary..lol

Sunday, May 10

Today’s the day! We get ready and meet outside about 6:20. We air up our bike tires and do final pre-checks on all of our gear. We fill up water bottles and grab a quick bite to eat.

Time for the send-off ceremony. A local police chaplain says a prayer and a gentleman from the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund shows up and says some nice words about what we were doing and why we do it. He was a retired DC Metro Officer. We also learn two officers were gunned down in Mississippi just hours earlier. The news really hits home for everyone about why we ride. We take a short moment of silence which leads into a rendition of Amazing Grace by a bag piper. I think just the sound of the bag piper always hits everyone a little bit.

After the ceremony everyone is hyped up and ready to ride. We are led out by the motor units and off we go. In the beginning of the ride everyone rides really slowly, trying to figure out just how such a large group is going to go together. Everyone is also very talkative and the first 20 miles fly by. At a rest stop we treat ourselves to a snack and some water. In the beginning of the ride many people stick next to who they know; but as the day progresses people start talking to the riders around them and find out where they are from and start exchanging stories. It really makes the miles fly by.

As we ride along it’s amazing to see how many people come outside or stand along the side of the road to cheer us on, support us and inspire us. It is a very humbling experience and reminds officers that there are many great people who appreciate us. I think in today's world that’s very important for us to remember.

Lunchtime is a park in Yorktown, Virginia right on the water. It’s a beautiful location and we have great weather. We’ve already biked about 45 miles. The local Masonic lodge provided lunch for us. I sat down at a picnic table and began talking to a women who happened to be a survivor riding for her husband who was killed in the line of duty in 2011 in Athens, Georgia. It’s a great moment—yet a gut check—when you see the look in the face of a survivor when you start speaking to them about their loved ones. This sort of thing is what makes the tour worthwhile. It's when you really realize why you’re participating in the Unity Tour. What the journey is all about. It really about them, the survivors, and what they have endured. We are here to honor the sacrifices of our fallen brother and sisters and ensure that people don't forget that they made the ultimate sacrifice. I think it's equally important that we let the survivors know that we have not forgotten their loved ones, either.

After lunch we only go a couple of miles when we stop at an overpass over a major highway to remember an officer who was killed in a motor vehicle accident trying to catch a traffic violator in that exact spot several years prior.

As we push on down Hwy 17 we’re instructed to pull over to the side of the road and stop. Sometimes this is done to relieve the traffic congestion behind us. But this time one of our rides—a female survivor—had a bad crash. When she fell she broke her left arm and suffered a bad laceration to the back of her head. We waited so the medical team could attend to her and transport her to a local hospital right away. (Later that night we got an update that she was going to be ok. She was going to meet us in D.C.)

About 60 miles in we have another rest stop. This time I would meet a rider (Matthew Singleton) who was a survivor. His father (Terry Singleton EOW12/07/93), a Gloucester County Deputy, had died in the line of duty (where we had stopped at for the rest stop) when Matthew was four years old. This was his first tour and he stated that it was probably one of the greatest experiences of his life … and that he already knew he wanted to do it again. Riding with and talking to the survivors is what really makes you want to pedal along. It's a great reminder of why we are there.

As we get towards Tappahannock where we would end for the day we stopped at the Virginia Motor Speedway. Right as we pull in it starts to downpour—heavily … some of the coldest rain I think I had every felt. It kind of shocked the body. We immediately pulled out and started to ride through the rain hoping that it would stop soon. Well our prayers were answered as it only rained for about 5-10 minutes. At this point we only had about 25 miles left. Now we were just hoping to stay dry.

In Tappahannock we pull into the Wal-Mart parking lot. There we are split up into three neighboring hotels due to the size of the group. So you pedal the last little bit to your hotel where there is a waiting support personnel to provide you with your room key and assignment. Upon getting there your luggage is already there waiting. The support crew does a fabulous job of taking care of the riders. At this point I had logged 112 miles over a period 7 hours and 30 minutes. I was more than ready to get off the bike and take a shower and get some dinner.

Dinner at a local restaurant with a bunch of the other members was a great time, as always. It was also fun because it was full of a mix of motor officers, riders and support people. I enjoyed  hearing the experiences of the day from each prospective. After dinner it was back to the hotel to repack and prep for the next day. I also needed to clean my bike off from the rain and roads and get it oiled back up. Then it was time to get some sleep because morning was coming fast.

Monday, May 11

Get up and have breakfast in hotel lobby and got the bike ready. Meet outside about 8:00 and leave at 8:30. In our send-off ceremony we talk about the anniversary of the death of an officer on that day in 2014, a Texas Swat officer who was shot to death.

We ride the first 38 miles of rolling hills and it is a beautiful morning—a little overcast with a breeze. We stop at a firehouse at the intersection of 17 and 301 at the bottom of Fort AP Hill. Turns out this is one of the bigger, longer hills we climb. It has a bit of nostalgia or myth associated with it. I think a lot of people really talk it up. Then I remember; most of the riders are from the South where they have no hills to train on. So after the short rest stop (we cut it short to try and beat some rain that was moving in) we start up the hill. Well, we crushed it in a huge group like never before. We stuck together very well and it was a blast. We then stopped a couple miles up at the actual Fort AP Hill base for a water break before traveling about two miles to a local fire station in Bowling Green, Virginia where we have lunch. At lunch we take some group pictures and eat the best-tasting peanut butter and jelly of your life.

After lunch it’s some pretty big rolling hills. A handful of riders start to have a hard time. So I, along with a couple others, help these riders by giving them a little push on the back as we make our way up the incline. That is what it’s about. Helping each other along the way to ensure we all make it. The rain clears to a hot and sunny sky. We stop in Fredricburg, Virginia at Target, one of our sponsors, for our last break of the day. We get together and present Target with a ‘Thank You’ plaque then start back up the road. Right before the hotel you have to go up a very long incline that many of the riders have nicknamed “The Widow Maker”. I helped push a rider the last couple miles up the Widow Maker who was struggling. He is a LA Deputy and we have become great friends due to the tour.

At our hotel we are greeted by a family of a fallen officer for a memorial service. Deputy Sheriff Bryan Marshall Berger of the Spotsylvania County Sheriff's Office, Virginia, End of Watch: Monday, April 28, 2014. Bryan’s family tells a heartfelt story about how he always wanted to be the police and died of a heart attack with only seven months on the job. He died at the training academy during some physical exercises.

This night I meet up with some of the officers from Louisiana who bring a trailer with a grill and I think a full kitchen in it! They cook out every night and feed their crew and hang out. I was invited to join in for dinner. What a feast we had! Spaghetti, chicken, sausage, jambalaya and a ton of other stuff. We also had a couple of beers and exchanged stories. Many of them wanted to know about the events going on in Baltimore and my take on it … being a close to local guy.

Then off to bed, as we have to get up crazy early!

Logged 69 miles in 4.35 minutes of riding.

Tuesday, May 12

So we get up and muster our way, half asleep in the parking lot. When we get ready to ride it is still pitch black outside, yet everyone is very excited to finish the ride today and ride into the memorial. This is also our hardest and hilliest day. When we start out you can feel the excitement. The sun is coming up and it is a beautiful morning. By this point people move around in the pack a little bit to talk to friends they have met and help encourage others. Our first 12 miles have some of our biggest rolling hills. At the first break so many folks are already hurting and getting worried about what the day will bring. But it’s still a blast … and no big deal.

At about mile 20 we stop at the United Sates Marine Corps Museum at Quantico. There for the first time ever we meet up with Law Enforcement United, another bike tour comprised of police officers and survivors. They do the same thing as the Unity Tour and were in fact started by former Unity Tour riders. The difference is they raise money for Concerns of Police Survivors and the Officer Down Memorial Page. They are about 400 riders strong. We decide to ride together for a while … apparently do to some permitting issues. Well, it also turns out to be one heck of a sight and a lot of fun! So now with around 525 riders and a bunch of motors and support we push on. We all mingle together and everyone immediately starts talking to each other and figures out where everyone is from, and where they work.

We ride with LEU for about 25miles until we stop for lunch in the Mount Vernon area of Virginia at a local police station. There LEU kept going a short distance more to their lunch location.

After lunch we all head into D.C. to RFK Stadium parking lot. At the parking lot all nine of the Unity Tour Chapters meet up. At this point we all converge together. This year there are a little over 1,900 riders. So it is another sight to see the giant mass of matching jerseys.

Once in the parking lot we place all of the survivors in the front of the pack to come into the memorial first. Then we all line up behind them and go in a two-by-two fashion and start our journey to the memorial. The last five miles are some of the best parts of the ride. As we travel down Massachusetts Avenue towards the Capital the streets are lined with supporters waiving Unity Tour flags. The sight of so many riders is just cool. As we approached the memorial a bag piper in the intersection is doing his thing. Again, just a cool sight to see. As I pull into the memorial the numbers of supporters is just fantastic. As I make my way around the wall I reach out and give some supports a high-five, and just try to take it all in.

After I finished I went back and helped welcome in the rest of the riders. I think it took about another 20 minutes for all of the riders to arrive. It was an amazing sight to see. Afterwards they do the arrival ceremony. This year the Unity Tour presented the Memorial Fund with a check for over 1.9 million dollars, raised this year.

After the ceremony a big group of us head to the hotel. We hop back on our bikes (it’s not over yet) and take a short 6-7 mile ride to the Hyatt in Crystal City where we finally call it … the end of the ride. For this year at least.

Personal thoughts about the tour

When an officer has a chance to be part of something like the Police Unity Tour it will change you forever. It will forever hold a special place in my heart. It is so much more than a bike ride. The Unity Tour is not about the ride, but the journey. “We Ride for Those Who Died” is much more than our motto; it is really what this group of extraordinary people is about.

While selfishly I enjoy riding my bike, it has become my stress outlet and place where I can go to get away from all that life throws at me. It has also been a great way for me to manage my weight. Now that I have participated in the Unity Tour, it is also the way that I help pay tribute to my fallen brothers and sisters in blue. I ride for them.

One of the absolute best parts of the Tour is that you get to meet and talk with the survivors. By riding alongside of them I truly believe that it helps them heal and remember that we have not forgotten their loved one’s sacrifice. That we have not forgotten what they have sacrificed, either. The tour is as much about healing as it is about remembering. I think they kind of go hand-in-hand. This year I chose to ride in honor of Deputy Cpl. James Clagett of the Charles County Sheriff’s Office. Deputy Clagett died on December 21, 2014 in a car crash on his way home. He died right near the part of the route we take on the tour. I also road in honor of Jerome Haaf Sr. of the Minneapolis Police Department (EOW 09/25/92). I had the opportunity many years ago to work with his son, James Haaf. His father was assassinated while eating lunch and completing paperwork. I contacted him and wanted to let him know that his father was not forgotten and that I was going to ride in his honor. So I also ordered and wore the band with his father’s name on it.

Riding in to the memorial almost makes you feel that by bringing these memorial bracelets to the wall, that you are helping lay the officer to rest. It is a journey of respect and something that is difficult for many of us to put into words. The memorial in general is something that is very special to so many of us. Seeing it filled with officer’s loved ones and mementos is just so overwhelming. It is also rewarding to know you have completed the bike ride and have made the journey.  

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