Remember 9-11 Ride '2005'

On September 10, 2005, the 4th Annual Remember 9-11 Ride took place. We were once again blessed with a beautiful day for this event. Here is my recap of how this day unfolded.

After working all year with a fantastic volunteer staff, we had all the details in place. The only unknown was the weather and as the weekend approached Mother Nature dropped a great big high pressure area over New England and gave us the most beautiful weather we could possibly hope for.

I left my home in Milford, NH at 4:00am with one other rider. We met up with a 3rd rider and headed to the Southern NH meeting area at Exit 1 in Nashua. By 4:45AM we were heading to Hopkinton with a group of around 30 riders from Nashua, Manchester, Concord and Billerrica areas. Many in our group this year were volunteering to be Road Captains.

Once at Hopkington, many of us assumed various responsibilities and helped out with whatever needed to be done, but with the excellent staff we had, there was not too much to be done. I organized the Road Captains and set in place the guidelines for the day's ride. The main goal this year was to keep the pack of bikes together and this year the Road Captains did an awesome job. There was a TV crew from Fox 25 News doing a report on the ride.

Around 6:30am we left Hopkinton with a group of about 170 bikers and headed to the Mass Pike. Thanks to the local and state police, this went well. We basically stuck to the same route as before with only slight variation through Connecticut.

We eventually got off the Pike and headed south on Route 84. It was time to gas up for most so we pulled off the highway at the designated exit in Manchester, CT. This year there was plenty of gas to accomodate the riders. Fueled up now, we hopped back onto 84 and headed south to pick up route 91 and then route 15.

Just before reaching Greenwich, CT we pulled off route 95 for a second gas stop. Unlike last year, everything went well. There was plenty of gas for the bikes and before long we were back on the road heading for the final staging area in Greenwich, CT. The parking lot we used was also used for a farmer's market, so there were plenty of people around and we received a very warm welcome from the town and the local fire department. We picked up another 100+ riders at this stop. By noontime we started our final ride into the city.

Like last year, the NYPD police did an outstanding job escorting the group into the city. Every ramp and intersection was blocked off and the entire group made it to Ground Zero without a single stop. Once again, the people of New York were giving us cheers, polite waves and taking plenty of photos. At Ground Zero we paused for a small prayer service led by Chip Fagan, the ride's organizer and to reflect on those lives lost.

Most of the group was escorted back out of the city but several of us stayed the night and had a great time exploring the city. This was the best Remember 9-11 Ride to date, but we'll soon be working hard again to make next year's ride even better.

To view photos, click here.