Ride Day 1

We have completed our first day of riding and Wow! What a day. We began at 0630 with a safety and route meeting and then took a short ride to the South Portland FD where opening ceremonies were held. The ceremony provided an opportunity for all of us to reflect on why we are riding. An honor guard presented the colors while the bag pipe played. All of the names of those how were lost this year were read, and then a tribute for a fallen South Portland firefighter took place. It was a somber time, but also a time to celebrate the lives of lost friends.

We have been provided with dog tags with David's name on them, as well as dog tags for others that have fallen. We wear these dog tags each day to remember David and all of the others that were lost this year.

After the ceremony the full ride began. I can not express what it felt like to see close to 100 riders, all in the same jersey, ride in parade formation through the city of South Portland and the surrounding jurisdictions. We were provided with police, fire, and EMS escorts throughout the area. Lights and sirens running, it drew people out to watch the procession. Cars stopped, pulled over, honked, and waved. This truely does bring public awareness to the losses we experience in EMS.

The day's route took us 90 miles through the Maine country side. The scenery was breath taking. From the rocky coast of Kennebunkport to the wooded canopies of back country roads we rode all the way to New Hampshire. In New Hampshire we met up with the riders who rode from Vermont. We greeted one another and then had a brief rememberance ceremony and then formed one group of over 100 EMS professionals. As a group we completed the ride to our hotel about 10 miles away. What a site this was. we had to cross multiple New Hampshire jurisdictions and were escorted by each jurisdiction's police and EMS. As we entered a new jurisdiction one agency would pull away and the next would take its place. Doing this, we made our way down major highways, in parade formation, from Milford to Nashua. Again, passersby stopped, honked, and cheered us on.

We arrived in Nashua excited about what we have seen and what will take place on our next ride adventure.