AMESBURY — Team New England is hosting a Metric Century Bicycle Ride Sept. 10 at 8 a.m. beginning and ending in Amesbury. The ride is open to all, and donations of $20 per rider would be appreciated. There are three route options for the ride: 100 km (62 miles), 50 km (31 miles), and 25 km (12 miles), so the routes should be fine for most riders of any ability. Each of the routes will leave Amesbury and travel though southern New Hampshire/Seacoast region and end in Amesbury. There will be a post-ride get-together hosted by the Amesbury restaurants Ale House, Barking Dog and Firehouse BBQ. Team New England is a cycling charity team made of police officers from the northeast. Each year riders from Team New England ride with Law Enforcement United (LEU), joining with more than 250 other riders, who are all police officers or survivors of a law enforcement line of duty death. These riders ride 250 miles in three days, each in honor of a law enforcement officer who was killed in the line of duty. The mission of LEU is to bring awareness to the public of the hazards of law enforcement and the sacrifices made by the families and loved ones of the law enforcement officers. LEU raises much needed funds for two groups: Concerns of Police Survivors (COPS) and Officer Down Memorial Page (ODMP.org). LEU does this by requiring that each rider raise at least $1,250 and support members raise $695 each year. This Metric Century will assist Team New England riders in meeting those goals. COPS is made up of survivors of law enforcement line of duty death and provides resources to assist in the rebuilding of the lives of surviving families and affected co-workers of law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty. Furthermore, COPS provides training to law enforcement agencies on survivor victimization issues and educates the public of the need to support the law enforcement profession and its survivors. ODMP.org is a website that acts as an archival resource and living memorial to U.S. law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty since the first recorded death in 1790. ODMP.org was founded in 1996 by Chris Cosgriff, who at the time was a James Madison University freshman. Cosgriff had read a Washington Post article about the release of a murderer, convicted of slaying two Prince George's County, Md., police officers. Upon learning that this violent criminal who had taken the lives of two of America's finest served only 16 years for this heinous act, Cosgriff was compelled to find a way to honor these and other fallen officers. Thus, the Officer Down Memorial Page, Inc. (ODMP) was created. In 2011 LEU donated $135,000 to COPS and $50,000 to ODMP.org. LEU is a registered, nonprofit organization made of entirely of volunteers. The tax identification number or LEU is 27-0743821. Team New England encourages preregistration for the event on BikeReg.com or by linking to the registration through the website www.teamneleu.com. Team New England is also grateful for local business and community group support and is seeking additional support for this event. Volunteers are also needed on Sept. 10 to make this event as successful and safe as possible. Text Only | Photo Reprints
Up at 0530 and breakfast at 0600. I made a few mistakes, I did not look at the ride sheet and see the elevation profile for the route, I also did not realize that Ed was riding in the Fast Ride Across America!! When we left Keene (el. 500') we rode right up to 1500' in less than 8 miles. Then down to 1000' they up to 1857' (the highest of the day) all in the first 20 miles! Ed helped me up the climbs, offering suggestions and encouragement (he should have been heckling me like I deserved to be!) like a partner on the street will help his fellow LE Officer. At mile 50, my right knee was killing me, (IT band I believe), so I told Ed, I had to SAG. Telling him that killed me, I felt I was letting my partner down! Ed, took in stride, even though I had a hard time with it. Ed, then spun his way up the steepest grad of the day, about 350 in ele gain, but a grade of close to 19%!! I was smart to get in the SAG then! While in the SAG van, I got to know LT COL Mike Munk (USAF Ret). Mike is the Operations Chief of the Ride Across America and an all around great guy. Mike took some great photos of the riders climbing, which he posts on his website: Bama Cyclist take a look, lots of great cycling information and photos. Mike told me about a ride that he leads called the Pacific Coast South. It starts in Astoria, OR and goes down the coast to San Diego in the fall. I really liked the sound of that ride! About 30 miles later, I jumped back on the saddle, now on roads I ride regularly. I managed to keep a good pace here, about 17 mph average, though relatively flat given the first 55 miles of the ride. I road into Salisbury Beach where Salisbury Police Sgt. Scione and Ptl. Szimcowski escorted us to the Pavilion for the ceremonial wheel dip in the Atlantic. When we arrived, there, many of the riders had family and friends waiting to hug and kiss them. I felt funny riding up to this point, since I did not do the entire ride from California or even ride the whole day. Ed assured me it was about brotherhood and the point of his ride. He started his first day at the Pacific Ocean with an Officer, they dipped their wheel and headed out. Now finishing with an Officer made the ride matter to him. It was pretty neat to see the finish, and all the folks that just happened to be enjoying the day at the beach really seemed to like being there too. One of the riders, Steve Bailey from the UK was on his cellphone, looking across the Atlantic toward his loved ones in UK, telling them he made it. I am still working on Ed for the LEU ride, he seems really interested!
When I got back to work after the 2011 Road to Hope ride with Law Enforcement United, I checked my voice mail. On the voice mail (received 5/9/11 the day I we checked in for the road to hope) was a message from Katie, whose friend's husband, Ed Maas was riding across country to raise money for the Las Vegas Police Memorial. Katie asked if I wanted to ride with Ed on his final leg of the ride from Keene, NH to the Atlantic Ocean! Once I caught my breath, I telephoned Katie, how put me in touch with Ed. Ed is a corrections officer in Vegas and his twin brother in on the Vegas Metro PD. Ed competes in Triathlons and marathons, so he decided to use those skills to raise money for a cause near to his heart. Ed began his ride at the Pacific Ocean in Orange County California on April 20 and will end tomorrow. Along the route he has had guest riders, who are police officers join him for a days ride, which are generally 100 to 125 miles each day. In fact, Ed completed 1000 miles in 8 1/3 days!
Please support Ed in his efforts and encourage him to join us in the Law Enforcement United 2012 ride.
http://fallenofficersmemorialbicyclerid.weebly.com/index.html
May 16th concluded the 2011 Police Memorial Week in Washington DC. During the past week, Team New England traveled to Chesapeake, VA and cycled with 270 other riders, which primarily were police officers, but also riding among the officers were about a dozen "Survivors" of a line of duty death. I can not explain the feeling I had when I looked over and saw a survivor struggling up the steep hills of Stafford County while being broiled by the sweltering Virginia sun. I could just see the strength to overcome the challenge coming from the memory of their loved one who was taking from them while they did their job serving the community. I saw how the sweat dripped off the nose and determination not to fail screamed from them as they were able to conquer the hill, all while healing from their loss. I am so proud of the first time riders, riders like Steve from NYPD who rode more that first day than he had ever ridden in his life, he never gave up and showed his support for COPS and ODMP on each peddle stroke.
When we arrived at the Pentagon on May 12, LEU President "Chad" Chadwick presented COPS with a check for $135,000 and ODMP a check for $50,000. Due to our support of ODMP, they have been able to update the website and ensure that the memory of the fallen will not be forgotten. The best was knowing that COPS will continue to support the growing numbers of Survivors in healing from the pain of line of duty deaths and to support police officers, but most of all, treat children of fallen officers to a week at COPS Kids Camp, where they can see they are not alone.
On May 13th members of LEU attended a reception where riders meet the families of the officers they rode for. After the reception we all went to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial for the Candle Light Vigil, which always is the most emotional event of the week. Many of us participated as honor guard for the vigil and it was a real honor to see the United States Coast Guard Ceremonial Honor Guard stand colors detail at the fountain as the survivors arrived. I had the opportunity to comfort survivors of ME3 Lin (EOW10/13/10), and stand with my fellow Coast Guard members in honoring his sacrifice.
On May 14th, Team New England ran the Police Week 5k. The weather was cool and misty, but great for running. there were over 5,000 runners there and each race number had the name of a fallen officer. It was great running with other LEU riders from VA, Minn, NY, PA, WI, NC, SC, and MD. When we ran across the National Mall, we could see through the Capital through the mist. It was an amazing venue to run in and I am glad to have had the opportunity. That afternoon, I met with the Welford Family downtown. We went to lunch and it was nice to meet with them again. I remember meeting them in Mississippi at Sheriff Welford's funeral, but of course they did not remember me. I was struck by how friendly the family was and glad to meet them. After lunch we visited the Museum of History and Technology, there I gave Sheriff Welford's youngest grand daughter a stack of APD patches. I told her to trade them at the COPS events, she smiled and thanked me. After a late dinner I returned to the hotel. That day I came down with a bad cold and was grateful to get into bed that night.
On May 15th, Team New England packed the trailer for the trip North. I had a few hours to sleep once the team left town and used that to my advantage. After I checked out of the hotel, I went to the National Law Enforcement Memorial, it had been raining the past few days and I had not been able to make some rubbings of some names on the memorial. Today, on Police Memorial Day the sun came out. I was able to get the rubbings done and to visit the names of Officers I had ridden for in the past. While I was at the memorial, I meet with a few Officers from Massachusetts. When that was done I left DC and headed to my life long friends house to visit and relax before my flight home.
photo by Elvert Barnes
Today we rode from Richmond VA and had our first stop at the Virginia State Police Division 1 Headquarters. There we gathered in memorial Services for 3 fallen officers, of of those being Officer Andre Booker (EOW 1/12/03) of the Henrico VA PD. The reason I mention Andre Booker, is that his wife was a COPS mentor for Debbie, Corporal Bruce McKay (EOW 5/11/07) at Police Week 2008. During our ride in 2008 we held a memorial service at the spot where Officer Booker gave his life, and it was at that location that a memorial was held to on the one year anniversary of Corp. McKay's death. Today again Team New England joined LEU in remembering Corporal McKay.
On a separate note: Team New England suffered it's first crash of the 2011 ride. Steve Hyland went down and experienced his first bicycle crash as an adult. Steve was just a little scraped up, so he got back in the saddle and dontin Welcome to the club Steve!
Sergeant Brian Dulle Warren County Sheriff Department, Ohio End of Watch: May 10, 2011 Biographical Info Age: 36 Tour of Duty: 12 years Badge Number: Not available Incident Details Cause of Death: Vehicular assault Date of Incident: May 10, 2011 Weapon Used: Automobile Suspect Info: Apprehended
Sergeant Brian Dulle was struck and killed by a suspect's vehicle while deploying stop sticks at the intersection of U.S. 42 and Utica Road. The pursuit had been initiated by the Franklin Police Department and traveled into Warren County at 1:50 am. The suspect ran one cruiser off the road and into a ditch on U.S. 42 before continuing towards Utica Road. After striking Sergeant Dulle the suspect fled on foot but was arrested several hours later following a massive manhunt. Sergeant Dulle was a U.S. Army veteran and had served with the Warren County Sheriff's Office for 12 years. He is survived by his wife, three children, parents, and two siblings.
Team New England has arrived in Chesapeake! Steve Hyland from NYPD has finally met his teammates and our squad is now together for the 2011 ride. The LEU check-in is complete and we are trying to get some needed rest before our early wake-ups so we can attend the send-off ceremony tomorrow.
The send-off ceremony is a reminder of the dangers that our brother and sisters in Law Enforcement face each day and night. Those dangers come in many forms, from aircraft crashes to gunfire, knife attacks to high speed vehicle pursuits, I could go on, but the point is in 2010 161 Officers gave their lives in the line of duty. We ride in honor of each of those officers, as well as legacy officers, officers that until this past year were temporarily forgotten by time and now will be remembered for eternity on the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial in Washington DC. The send-off ceremony will also be where we will learn what our fund raising efforts totaled and how much those efforts will go to supporting the efforts of Concerns of Police Survivors (COPS) and the Officer Down Memorial Page (www.odmp.org) .
During the send-off ceremony, prayers are spoken; tears are shed, sacrifices honored, and heroic actions recounted. Also there will be moments of joy as representatives from COPS will recount how seminars, retreats, and COPS Kids Camp heals wounds of losing a loved one officer in the line of duty. When the ceremony in the auditorium is completed, the 250 LEU riders will be ushered outside to mount their bicycles. There will be the roar of police motorcycles coming to life and the blue and red emergency strobe lights on cruisers will be energized. Sirens will call and the procession of riders will depart the lot on the beginning of our 250 mile Road to Hope.
Tennessee Trooper Andy Wall (EOW 5/7/11) was killed in a motorcycle accident on the Sam Ridley Parkway, in Smyrna, while escorting members of the U.S. Air Force's Thunderbirds to an air show. Another vehicle struck the motorcycles that Trooper Wall and another trooper were riding. Trooper Wall was transported to a local hospital where he succumbed to his injuries. The other trooper was treated and released. Trooper Wall had served with the Tennessee Highway Patrol for seven years. He is survived by his parents, sister, and girlfriend.
As the team packed to travel to Virginia to join our brothers and sisters on the Road to Hope, another hero falls. This time next year the freshly engraved name of Andy Wall will be on the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial and a LEU Rider will be heading out on the 250 Mile Road to Hope in honor of his sacrifice.
A True Friend is Lost Rob Moorhead ~ EOW: 4/19/2011 ~ Always Remembered Photo courtesy: dsobs.com It is with great sadness that we announce the loss of S/A Rob Moorhead, a member of Law Enforcement United and tremendous supporter of survivors of fallen officers everywhere. Rob was killed by a careless driver in Louisiana on Tuesday during a training ride for his upcoming 700-mile ride from the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center in Glynco, Georgia, to Washington, DC, in memory of all fallen officers. Join us as we pray for Rob's family, friends, and fellow LEU riders during this time of tremendous loss. Law Enforcement United Press Release: It is with a heavy heart that I inform you of the death of James "Rob" Moorhead. Rob is one of our LEU Members, and was preparing for the upcoming eight-day FLETC ride when he was struck by a vehicle while on a training ride in St.Helena Parrish,LA., and succumed to his injuries. Please join me in prayers and condolences to Rob's family and friends. We lost a member of our family tonight, please take a moment to honor him. Rich Gallo will be in touch with me to share further information and details regarding funeral arrangements. I will pass along information when it is received. With Deepest Sympathies to the Moorhead Family, Chad Chadwick, President Law Enforcement United
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