Monday, July 8 marks the start of the 18th annual Cops Cycling for Survivors bicycle ride around Indiana. A departure ceremony is scheduled for 8:30 a.m. at the Law Enforcement and Fire Fighters Memorial on the capital grounds in downtown Indianapolis. The cyclists will depart shortly after comments by Amy Elson, survivor of fallen Indiana State Police Trooper Cory Elson, EOW 4/03/1999.
After the 9 a.m. departure from the memorial, the cyclists will head north to the Boone County Sheriff’s Office in Lebanon where they will meet with family, friends and co-workers to honor and remember Deputy Jacob Pickett’s ultimate sacrifice for Hoosiers on March 5, 2018. July 8 continues with a ride across Hamilton County to end in Lapel to meet with survivors of DNR Sgt. Edward Bollman, EOW February 13, 2018.
Later in the ride the cyclists will visit the survivors of other Indiana law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty, including 2018 officers Patrolman Robert Pitts, Terre Haute Police Department, EOW May 5, 2018; Officer David Tinsley, Fort Wayne Police Department, EOW September 11, 2018; and Sgt. Benton Bertram, Charlestown Police Department, EOW December 12, 2018; as well as survivors from throughout Indiana’s history. The cyclists’ journey will last 13 days and cover nearly 1,000 miles bicycling the perimeter of Indiana honoring fallen police officers and their families.
Photo provided
The Cops Cycling for Survivors Foundation, Inc. annual bike ride consists of active and retired police officers, law enforcement survivors, law enforcement family members and friends of law enforcement riding their bicycles around the perimeter of Indiana to raise funds and awareness of the sacrifices made by Hoosier law enforcement families across Indiana. Funds raised from this event are used to perpetuate the memories of officers killed in the line-of-duty and to aid surviving family members and co-workers of officers killed in the line-of-duty. Previously raised funds have been directly donated to foundations, scholarships and camps started in memory of fallen officers or by Indiana survivors in honor of their fallen heroes and to provide immediate financial assistance following a line of duty death.
The ride is scheduled to conclude the afternoon of Saturday, July 20 at Crown Hill Cemetery, Heroes of Public Safety Section. The closing ceremony begins at 2 p.m. Phil Garrison, Paul Garrison and Lori Garrison Boggs, surviving children of fallen Indiana State Police Trooper Robert Garrison, EOW December 14, 1959 will provide the closing message. All are welcome to attend.
The general route of the ride is as follows:
- July 8: Indianapolis to Lapel (Lunch Boone County)
- July 9: Lapel to Bluffton (Lunch Taylor University)
- July 10: Bluffton to Angola (Lunch Fort Wayne)
- July 11: Angola to South Bend/Mishawaka (Lunch Middlebury)
- July 12: South Bend/Mishawaka to Merrillville (Lunch La Porte)
- July 13: Merrillville to Kentland (Lunch Lowell)
- July 14: Kentland to Terre Haute (Lunch Cayuga)
- July 15: Terre Haute to Princeton (Lunch Wabash Valley Correctional Facility Sullivan)
- July 16: Princeton to Huntingburg (Lunch Jasper)
- July 17: Jasper to Jeffersonville (Lunch Marengo)
- July 18: Jeffersonville to Madison (Lunch Madison)
- July 19: Madison to Bloomington (Lunch Brownstown)
- July 20: Bloomington to Indianapolis (Lunch Mooresville)
To track the ride’s progress, stops, and activities, please like and follow them on the Cops Cycling for Survivors Foundation Facebook page.
For more information about the organization, donations made, or this year’s ride, visit copscycling4survivors.org, or contact Monica Zahasky, President of Cops Cycling for Survivors Foundation, Inc. at copscyclingforsurvivors@gmail.com.