On the Road With the National EMS Memorial Bike Ride

Each year the National EMS Memorial Bike Ride commemorates providers who have died in the line of duty and honors those who serve in our difficult profession. This year the event encompassed three discrete rides, with East Coast (Maine to Pennsylvania) and Kentucky rides held in May, and a new Colorado route planned for June 19–21.

Rider Mike Kennard, who has served on the event’s board, offered the following diary of this year’s experience. For more, see www.muddyangels.com.

Saturday, May 18—Another year, the third week in May—EMS Week, time for another National EMS Memorial Bike Ride. This ride is dedicated to those providers who have lost their lives helping others in need. This year we also rode for two of our own “Muddy Angels,” Dr. Frederick “Ted” LaRochelle and Lt. Carol Park.

I first met Ted in 1997 when I moved into my current job. I work for a hospital-based EMS/ALS 9-1-1 transport system. When not on calls and after the paperwork is all caught up, our paramedics help out in the emergency department. Ted worked in family practice at the time and would be on call for admitting patients several times a month. I got to know him a bit when he came in. I remember him as someone who was kind and compassionate with patients and pleasant to the nursing staff, always having a kind word to say to everyone. Shortly after I started at the hospital, Ted left to work for the VA hospital in Augusta, Maine. He was a strong advocate for veterans.

I reconnected with Ted on my first Muddy Angel ride in 2006. I was standing in a Long Island parking lot early on a Saturday morning with my coworker, Doug, getting ready to start our first leg of this intimidating ride. Looking at us from several feet away was Ted. “Hey,” he said, “I know you guys. Where are you from?” Doug and I both looked at him, then at each other. “We know you too,” we told him. “We’re from Rochester, NH. Where are you from?” Ted started laughing and told us he used to work there but had moved on.

I got to know Ted better over the ensuing years, meeting every year for the bike ride, talking on the phone in between and working together on ride projects. Unfortunately, last fall, for unknown reasons, Ted fell on his kitchen floor. By the time his wife got downstairs to him, he was gone. A great friend of EMS and the Muddy Angels was lost forever. We miss you, Ted.

I also rode this year for Mike Chiapperini, from Webster, NY. Mike was shot and killed while responding to a 9-1-1 fire call in December.

This year I rode the ride’s East Coast and Kentucky legs. The Kentucky ride was only three days long, so when I finished in Bristol, TN, I traveled back north to meet up with East Coast ride in Connecticut. I rode with an old medic partner who moved on to become a doctor: Dr. Michael Austin from Ottawa, Canada. We did both rides on a tandem.

We spent the first day riding with good weather, sunny clear skies, no humidity and good companionship. Besides Michael and me, the team consisted of Robin Weeks, Bryan Kimberlin (who doubled as route coordinator), Dr. Ken Turner and his son, Ken Jr., Chase McGlinchey, Michele Schirmers and John Weeks. We were a fun and diverse group that bonded together quickly. By the time we got to the first rest stop, the ribbing and storytelling was in full swing, like a group that had been together for a long time.

Along the way we stopped at our usual squads for rest stops and renewed friendships with fellow providers. Though we only see each other once a year, it is as if we’ve not been away for more than a few days. The camaraderie, friendship and openness is overwhelming, like going home again.

There were several long, difficult climbs today; we gained more than 8,000 feet of elevation. It was slow going up on the tandem, but on the downhill it became a total rush, as we reached speeds of 50 mph and more.

Sunday, May 19—Overnight showers led to a perfect day of riding. The sun shone; temperatures began cool but warmed up, and there was good company to ride and visit with.

Our first stop today was Big Stone Gap, VA, and to get there we had to travel along a gorgeous route right out of Americana. Leaving Norton, VA, which is at the top of a small mountain, we traveled mostly downhill with some quick risers to clear. At times we could carry enough speed to coast over these. We went through several small towns along the way. It was like going back in time 50 or 60 years (yes, I’m starting to remember that far): the architecture of the buildings, the drive-in parking along the streets, small family-run businesses in the center of town, no big-box chain stores.

At Big Stone Gap, another picturesque town, we had cool drinks and snacks, visited with the squad and then pushed on. We were going to Duffield, where Bryan was to present one of the dog tags we all wore to the daughter of James Bledsoe. James died from complications associated with cancer. He was active in his EMS community, training many of the squad members who attended. He was instrumental in safety and rescue operations in mining disasters. As always, it was a solemn moment. After she accepted the dog tag, I asked her what it was like to work with her father. That started a whole host of stories, not only from her but from other members of the squad. After we left Duffield, we continued on to Kingsport, TN.

Monday, May 20—We awoke to clear skies and rising temperatures—it was going to be a warm day as we headed out to Bristol, our ending point for this three-day ride. Our first stop was at Bristol Motor Speedway to meet with the helicopter flight crew Bryan works with. They keep one of their helicopters stationed there. It is always nice to visit coworkers of friends during happier times.

After Bristol, we ended the day by joining the local EMS crews at Bristol Regional Medical Center for their annual EMS barbecue. After eating, we proceeded to the offices of the Southwest Virginia EMS Council for our closing ceremonies and reading aloud of the names of those for whom we rode, who lost their lives in the line of duty.

Wednesday, May 22—We traveled for 12 hours yesterday to meet the East Coast riders in Waterbury, CT. We greeted them as they came in from a hard hundred-mile ride in heat and humidity. They finished on a mile-long hill that sapped the last of their energy reserves. As they arrived I reacquainted myself with many people I’d met over the past eight years.

We started today with a quick ride into the center of Waterbury, where there was a small ceremony with local officials and the state EMS director, along with the reading of the names. From Waterbury we traveled to Newtown, home of the shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School. We met with the EMS providers, who are doing well and appreciated our remembering them and what they walked into. Newtown also provided lunch. From there we traveled another 30 miles before we put the bikes in the support vehicles and bused into Manhattan for the night.

I met a special person this week: Lori Rivera, a friend of one of the fallen we rode for last year, Lori Foster-Mayfield. Lori Rivera told me about growing up with Lori Foster-Mayfield from grade school into high school, where they started to grow apart. After a few tough years, they reconnected. Lori went on to explain that her friend, who passed in 2012 at age 34, taught her to enjoy life and live each day to its fullest, because you never know what might happen tomorrow. It took a lot for Lori to talk to me; it’s still very personal for her. I really appreciate her doing so.

We got in late, so dinner was outdoors at a nice Irish pub, where we could look down to Times Square and the lights. After dinner some of us walked down to take in the sights.

Thursday, May 23—Today we pedaled through New York City. Starting at Central Park, we traveled up 7th Avenue, through Times Square, onto Broadway, then past Ground Zero, where we saw the new tower going up. The last time I was here, the site had just been prepared for the new construction. After that we got on the ferry to travel to Staten Island, where we stopped at Battalion 23 for lunch. The skies had been heavy, and while we ate they opened up and with rain, thunder and hard winds. After determining the forecast saw no break in the weather, we decided to pack up the bikes and truck to the night’s hotel. Luckily we were only 15 miles away.      

Friday, May 24—It rained overnight, the roads were wet, and there were leaden skies overhead. We headed out again with the threat of rain. Our first rest stop was 22 miles away, and we made it without getting wet. Along the way we traveled through some beautiful New Jersey countryside. Flat, quiet country roads followed a river, its small towns with a homey feel. We started early, as this was supposed to be a 90-mile day, so many children were waiting for their school buses. They stood in their driveways bug-eyed as more than 100 bicycles rolled past.

At our first rest stop, the skies again let loose and the wind started to blow. We tried to wait it out but found this storm was not passing quickly. We again decided to load the bikes up again and travel to our lunch stop. The rain continued, we waited, the rain continued, the wind blew, and the temperature dropped. Spandex, rain, wind and cold don’t make for a good mix, as riders can become hypothermic quickly. We left the bikes on the trucks and drove into Philadelphia, where we regrouped to do a final parade to our ending site in Collingdale. By this time the rain had stopped, but it was still overcast with a brisk, cool wind. This final parade was only a mile long, which was fine with us—we’d been sitting so long and grown so cold, our muscles had started to cramp. It was not the way any of us wanted to finish the ride, but everyone got in safely. Only a couple of bikers fell during the week, suffering only minor injuries.

When we rolled into the parking lot of the Collingdale Community Center, it was as if the whole neighborhood was out to greet us, cheering us in. We had a small ceremony there that included reading the names and laying a wreath on their EMS memorial. From there we went to the Collingdale station for dinner.

Saturday, May 25—After getting up early all week, I thought I would sleep in. My body thought otherwise and had me up by 7. I wasn’t the only one, so six of us headed out early to explore some of the city. For breakfast we found the Farmers Market downtown, with a diner attached. After breakfast we made our way down to see the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall. Then it was time for lunch, so we all walked back to the Farmers Market for cheese steaks. I have been to Philadelphia several times and never found a bad cheese steak.

I have written over the years that being on this ride is like meeting up with family once a year. This year one of our West Coast participants—someone who’s done the ride for five years—couldn’t make it due to financial reasons. Several members of the Muddy Angels family found out about this, and in a few short hours raised the funds to get this rider a plane ticket so she could make the final ceremony. Family isn’t something you have to be born into; it can just happen.

Speaking of family, I would like to thank all the riders’ family members who stayed at home this week while the Muddy Angels pedaled about. It is not easy to leave loved ones behind to deal with the daily grind, and it’s hard to be the one left at home, going to work, taking care of the children, the home, laundry, cooking and other chores usually shared by two. These significant others who stay behind have our utmost respect for the duties they take on. In supporting us as we leave home at a moment’s notice to go to the aid of perfect strangers, they are the true backbone of EMS.

Mike Kennard, EMT-P, has been in EMS for more than 33 years. He currently works as a paramedic at Frisbie Memorial Hospital in Rochester, NH, and is a program coordinator for the New Hampshire Bureau of EMS. Mike is a retired assistant chief from the Nottingham (NH) Fire and Rescue Department. Contact him at grumpy1medic@gmail.com.