In a month, many Americans will be converging on Ground Zero to remember those who died in the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center 10 years ago on Sept. 11, 2001.
Some of them will be on bicycles. Several groups are riding their bikes to raise money for first responders on 9-11 or the veterans and their families of the ensuing wars. [The two firefighters at left are members of the Bay to Brooklyn Ride.]
In fact, at least three cross-country bicycle tours are already making their way to New York City. Others will either arrive or depart from Ground Zero.
Why ride bicycles to commemorate the tragedy? Long-distance bicycle tours get people's attention, and it's easy to start conversations with folks along the way. These rides also draw attention to a cause from the media.
Jorge Ostrovsky, 54, a firefighter from the Los Angeles area on the Ride for 9-11, told the Amarillo (TX) Globe News another good reason to ride a bike:
Ostrovsky said he and fellow Los Angeles firefighter Jim Prabhu, 38,
had been trying for years to come up with a way to commemorate the tenth
anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Center and U.S.
Pentagon. Prabhu said the pair finally agreed on the cross-country
bicycle trek and have spent the past 1½ years planning the trip.
“Because of the theme from (United Airlines Flight 93) of ‘let’s
roll,’ we thought what better way than to (bicycle) across country … so
we put it together with our friends,” Ostrovsky said.
Here's a brief summary of the tours that I know of. If you know of others, feel free to leave the details in the comment section:
A group of firefighters from Southern California are heading across the Southern Tier in the Ride for 9-11 to raise funds for The Leary Firefighters Foundation and the Wounded Warrior Project.
The six left the Los Angeles area on July 24 for the 3,308-mile bike ride to Ground Zero. Firefighters along the way are joining them for parts of the ride. They're bicycling across Texas right now.
The Leary Firefighters Foundation provides equipment for firefighters. The Wounded Warrior Project helps members of the military injured in 9/11 and the Afghanistan and Iraq wars.
Three Santa Clara (CA) firefighters left San Francisco last week for a 3,995-mile cross-country bicycle ride. They started by crossing the Golden Gate Bridge and will finish by pedaling across the Brooklyn Bridge into Lower Manhattan.
They're raising money for the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation. Along the way, they want to connect with firefighters and their families and talk about what 9-11 meant to them.
The three — Darrell Sales, his son Darrell Dean Sales, and David Lombardo, are currently in Idaho.
I've already done a write-up on Max McManus, the fitness instructor from Nevada who is bicycling through all 50 states in 50 days to arrive at Ground Zero on Sept. 11.
He's in Montana with 12 states behind him and about to enter North Dakota.
McManus is raising funds for the 9-11 Help America Foundation.
One of the first to sponsor memorial bike rides in 2002, the Tour de Force is gathering 200 cyclists to depart Ground Zero on Sept. 8. They'll ride to the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia, then across New Jersey, through Annapolis and into Washington DC for ceremonies at the Pentagon.
The group raises funds for police officers killed in the line of duty and aims to keep the memory of those policemen alive.
The 530-mile ride is limited to about 350 persons, including survivors, family members and first responders from 9-11. Injured veterans will ride for free.
The group raises money for bicycling-related activities to help rehabilitation and recovery for wounded veterans.
Meanwhile, a group of 50 bicyclists will depart Ground Zero on Sept. 9 and arrive in Boston on Sept. 11 to raise funds and awareness for Beyond the 11th.
Founded by Susan Retick and Patti Quigley, two widows who lost their husbands in the 9-11 terrorist attacks, the group offers support to widows in Afghanistan who have been afflicted by war, terrorism and oppression. Those Afghan widows are vulnerable and “trapped in an ever-deepening cycle of extreme poverty and helplessness.”
Retick was among an elite group who received a Citizens Medal at the White House last year for her efforts to gain awareness of the plight of the Afghan widows and help them become self-sufficient.
More details about Beyond the Bike 2011 at the website.
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