Washington hosts cyclists on memorial ride for fallen officers

They left Raleigh at 8 a.m. Friday morning and rolled into Washington at 6 p.m. It was the first leg in a trip that will take them through many towns on the way to Washington, D.C., to meet up with nearly 1,000 other cyclists, all sharing a common cause: to honor the fallen and remember the survivors of officers killed in the line of duty.

The riders are part of Law Enforcement United, on the “Road to Hope,” an annual ride to D.C. to observe National Police Week. Each cyclist is a certified law enforcement officer or the survivor of someone who died in the line of duty. Falling into one of those categories is the first requirement. The next is that each must raise $1,500 to join the ride — money raised is donated to send surviving children of officers to camp, to support the Officer Down Memorial Page website and other organizations that support surviving family members. Since 2009, the nonprofit has raised more than $3.4 million for their cause. Finally, every rider must be prepared to cycle more than 250 miles over three days.

“Every single one of these tables, there’s a lot of dedication,” said Dr. Sam Frye, certified police officer, pastor, chaplain and trustee for LEU’s Virginia division.

Frye referred to 37 riders and their support teams seated at tables spread across the garage bay at Washington Fire Station No. 2. On Friday evening, Washington Police and Fire-Rescue-EMS personnel welcomed the Greenville police-escorted group to town, with a place to rest and a meal to refuel. Saturday morning, they gathered again; this time, to conduct a ceremony the riders will encounter many times along the way to their final destination, according to Frye. Escorted by Washington Police, LEU cyclists met local law enforcement and first responders at Washington Police Department to perform a ceremony for a fallen officer. In Washington, that fallen officer was police Chief Harvey Lee Dellinger, who died in the line of duty on Sept. 25, 1926.

After the “End of Watch” ceremony, in which the circumstances of Dellinger’s death were read, and officers laid a wreath at the base of the WPD flagpole, Washington police and N.C. State Highway Patrol troopers escorted the group to its next stop in Edenton. Washington Police and Fire Services Director Stacy Drakeford said it was an honor to host the cyclists on their journey to the Law Enforcement Memorial in D.C.

“The City of Washington was truly honored to know that Chief Dellinger, who died in the line of duty, is gone, but he’s not forgotten by those in the law enforcement community,” Drakeford said.

Many of the officers memorialized in ceremonies along the route have died much more recently — a number that includes past riders on the “Road to Hope,” according to the LEU website. When the North Carolina group meets up with the 400-riders-strong contingent in Chesapeake, Virginia, each cyclist is a given a metal bracelet etched with the name of a fallen officer, Frye said.

“Each person riding will have a name they’re riding for,” Frye said. “This year, we’re wearing bracelets for those killed in 2015. … Already, this year, you’ve got line of duty deaths up 800 percent.”

The statistic makes even more of an impression when LEU cyclists have the opportunity to meet and present the bracelets to surviving family of fallen officers during the memorial ceremonies in D.C., he said.

“That’s the big thing, right there,” Frye said. “When they’ve had the opportunity to give this bracelet to a son, a daughter, a wife, a husband — it makes an impact.”

Frye traveled from his home in Williamsburg to North Carolina to begin the “Road to Hope” with Team Raleigh. Just as he has participated in the past nine rides, he said he sees many of the same faces each year.

“Most people you see around here are return riders,” Frye said, gesturing to the surrounding cyclists. “You can’t just do it once.”

For more information about Law Enforcement United, visit www.leunited-va.org. North Carolina members are a part of the LEU Virginia Division.