Our mini-blogathon covering the Sandy Hook Ride on Washington continues today as Team 26 completes the last leg of their 400-mile bicycle ride from Newtown, Connecticut to Washington, D. C. Hey338Too covered the team's arrival in College Park, MD this morning where they joined up with the Virgina Tech Victims Cycling Team to ride the last fifteen miles into the nation's capitol. Sandy Hook Ride on Washington - The Final Day.
#Team26 just passing Chocolate City Brewery (edit)
Shout out to DC resident covering their arrival.
PWat
@TurtleDub616
#Team26 just passing Chocolate City Brewery twitter.com/TurtleDub616/s…
— PWat (@TurtleDub616) March 12, 2013
Welcome to Baltimore, Maryland
Team 26 and their Awesome Support Crew at City Hall
In brief, [yesterday, March 11] was incredible. From the small towns in Pennsylvania and Maryland to the big city of Baltimore, we were cheered on by people who support reasonable measures to curb gun violence.
We saw today what the polls are telling us; that is Americans are looking to end the epidemic of gun violence. We heard from Mayor Rawlings-Blake her commitment to making her streets safer.
It's time to get it done.
Team 26: 26 riders and 6 support crew at City Hall in Baltimore.
Team 26 is a mix of professional, top amateur, and masters cyclists from the Northeast. Monte Frank, of Sandy Hook, Connecticut, started Team 26 as a way to deliver a message to Congress demanding common sense gun legislation.
Their team includes a former US National Team member, Canadian National Team member, Masters National Champion, and State and Regional Champions. Three members of the Team are from Newtown, including Monte Frank, Bill Muzzio and Chris Peck. Two of the riders have children who went to the Sandy Hook School. Their team includes parents, teachers, and a Vietnam Veteran. They all care deeply about our children and seek reasonable gun control legislation.
From WTOP
http://www.wtop.com/...
Before riding [from College Park] into D.C. to meet at the Capitol, the group will meet up with members of the Virginia Tech cycling team. Frank says Virginia Tech alum and rider Omar Samaha told him that his team would follow the Sandy Hook riders, but Frank insisted the two teams would ride side by side.
"Newtown is Virginia Tech. Virginia Tech is Newtown. This is an American problem, so we're real proud to roll into D.C. with the Virginia Tech cycling team."
Team 26 Riders meet up with Virginia Tech Victims Cycling Team to ride the last 15 miles side by side
Sandy Hook Ride on Washington
Team 26 (AKA The Sandy Hook Riders) are a mix of professional, top amateur, and masters cyclists from the Northeast. Monte Frank, of Sandy Hook, Connecticut, started Team 26 as a way to deliver a message to Congress demanding common sense gun legislation.
Their team includes a former US National Team member, Canadian National Team member, Masters National Champion, and State and Regional Champions. Three members of the Team are from Newtown, including Monte Frank, Bill Muzzio and Chris Peck. Two of the riders have children who went to the Sandy Hook School. Their team includes parents, teachers, and a Vietnam Veteran. They all care deeply about our children and seek reasonable gun control legislation.
Every great team needs a great support crew. "Getting 26 cyclists from the Sandy Hook School to the Capitol safely and trouble free is no easy task, and it requires a lot more than just riders willing to push the pedals for almost 400 miles." Please join us in supporting the
enthusiastic crew members riding with Team 26 to Washington by calling on Congress to pass common sense gun safety legislation.
Support the Sandy Hook Ride on Washington at their Facebook Page [registration is not required] and follow them on Twitter.
Now, Let's Meet the Riders:
Rider #1. Monte Frank, Sandy Hook, Connecticut
Rider #2: Bill Muzzio, Sandy Hook, Connecticut.
Rider #3. Chris Peck, Newtown, Connecticut
Rider #4. John Funk, South Kent, Connecticut
Rider #5. Stephen Badger, Roxbury, Connecticut
Rider #6. Andrea Myers, Danbury, Connecticut
Rider #7. Mike Andrews, Danbury, Connecticut
Rider #8. Tom Officer, Litchfield, Connecticut
Rider #9. Jeremy Brazeal, Manchester, Connecticut
Rider #10. Officer Jeff Silver, Newtown, Connecticut
Rider #11: Matt Baldwin, Redding, Connecticut
Rider #12: Jonathan Lowenstein, North Kingstown, Rhode Island
Rider #13: Lieutenant Gary Lyke, Brookfield, Connecticut
Rider #14: Michael Magur, Newburgh, New York
Rider #15: Andy Officer, Goshen, Connecticut
Rider #16: Fred Thomas, Cape Elizabeth, Maine
Rider #17: Carl Reglar, Mt. Vernon, New York
Rider #18: Wayne Prescott, Litchfield, Connecticut
Rider #19: Kevin Fitzmaurice, Middlebury, Connecticut
Rider #20: Megan Cea, West Harrison, New York
Rider #21: Brian Suto, Oxford, Connecticut
Rider #22: Matt Emeott, Woodbury, Connecticut
Rider #23: John Ford, West Harrison, New York
Rider #24: Aidan Charles, Middletown, Connecticut
Rider #25: Heather Peck, Newtown, Connecticut
Honorary Team #26 Rider: Chris McDonnell, Sandy Hook, Connecticut
And their AWESOME Support Crew:
Support Crew #1: Sean Cavanaugh, Danbury, Connecticut
Support Crew #2: Becky Frank, Sandy Hook, Connecticut
Support Crew #3: Adam Silbert, New York, NY
Support Crew #4: Peter Olson, Bethel, Connecticut
Support Crew #5: Greg Meghani, Bethlehem, Connecticut
Support Crew #6: Mike Conlan, Ridgefield, Connecticut
On Saturday we introduced the team's awesome support crew, Sandy Hook Ride on Washington - March 9 (Day 1) - Meet the Crew
On Sunday we introduced Riders 1 - 9, Sandy Hook Ride on Washington - March 10 (Day2) - Meet the Riders
Yesterday you got to know Riders 10 - 18, Sandy Hook Ride on Washington - March 11 (Day 3) - Meet the Riders
In the profiles below, Riders 19 - 26 express why they are riding to Washington to promote common sense gun safety legislation. Join us in supporting them on their Facebook pages and on Twitter as they arrive today for their final rally at our Nation's Capitol.
Rider #19: Kevin Fitzmaurice
Rider #19: Kevin Fitzmaurice, Middlebury, Connecticut
WHY I RIDE?
As I watched the news coverage of the Sandy Hook shooting on the morning of December 14th, I started going through the list of all the people I know that might have been at risk. The list was long and the wait to hear that everyone I knew was ok was long. I can’t imagine how long and painful the wait was for parents of children who went to the Sandy Hook Middle School. Unfortunately, everything did not turn out ok on that day and I would like to do something, anything, to minimize the likelihood of another Sandy Hook. I realize that there are a number of factors that contributed to this tragedy and there is a lot of work to do to prevent future occurrences but passing sensible gun control laws is a first step.
I ride to support my Sandy Hook friends and neighbors, everyone that was impacted by the Sandy Hook tragedy and for all victims of gun violence.
I ride so that Sandy Hook will not be forgotten and in hopes that sensible gun control laws will be enacted to help minimize gun violence.
As a gun owner, I ride to emphasize that sensible gun control does not mean taking away the right of private citizens to own firearms. Sensible gun controls include, among other things registration, proper training and keeping firearms out of the hands of high-risk individuals.
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Kevin Fitzmaurice's Cycling Record at USA Cycling
Rider #20: Megan Cea
Rider #20: Megan Cea, West Harrison, New York
WHY I RIDE?
As an epidemiologist and statistician with the Westchester County Department of Health I spend the majority of my day studying numbers. Specifically, the number of deaths, cases of disease, and hospitalizations among my community members. But for the most part, these deaths and illnesses are due to natural and inevitable causes – cancers, cardiovascular disease, infectious diseases. They are a part of life that is inescapable. But when I see the numbers associated with gun violence, my heart stops. According to the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reports, there were over 8,583 murders by firearm in 2011 – and this doesn’t include accidental deaths, suicides, or those injured but not killed by a bullet.
To me, 8,583 isn’t just a number; it is 8,583 human lives stolen from our communities too soon, 8,583 families torn asunder – an unfathomable amount of suffering – 8,583 deaths that didn’t have to happen and were for the most part preventable. Gun violence in our nation is an epidemic.
I ride because I refuse to live in a world where the “right” to own an assault weapon trumps the rights of all Americans to go to the movies, walk through their neighborhoods, and send their children to school without fear they may never return home.
I ride because I do not want to imagine a future where gun violence is so pervasive that elementary school teachers need to carry firearms and classrooms are treated like battlefields.
I ride in honor of those 8,583 souls and for the 26 victims and families of Newtown.
I ride because I won’t accept 8,583 more.
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Megan Cea's Cycling Record at USA Cycling
Rider #21: Brian Suto
Rider #21: Brian Suto, Oxford, Connecticut
WHY I RIDE?
I ride as a student who believes that every student has the right to feel safe in his or her school. I ride because my mom and her elementary school students in Monroe, just a few miles away from Sandy Hook, should not have to question their safety.
Safety was something that we always expected and took for granted in a school setting. On December 14, 2012, all of us realized that senseless violence could happen anywhere, even in such a quiet town, so close to home. This was the first time a tragedy of such magnitude became personal to me, as I now know that my mom could have been the teacher trying to protect her students, and I could have been the student, locked down in a room with my classmates, hiding from a gunman. It’s a shame that such a horrific incident was so preventable.
I ride because I want to help in any way I can to make this country a better, safer place for everyone. I want the 26 Sandy Hook families to know that I care, that WE care. Being a part of Team 26 allows me to have a voice in creating awareness and affecting change, not just for the community around me, but also for the entire country. It is an honor to have the opportunity to make such a necessary contribution.
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Brian Suto' s Cycling Record at USA Cycling
Rider #22: Matt Emeott
Rider #22: Matt Emeott, Woodbury, Connecticut
WHY I RIDE?
When we were asked to write a few paragraphs about why we are riding, I thought of the same reasons the others said....
I thought about the victims. I thought about the first responders who have to live with images they will never get out of their heads and I thought of parents having to make decisions about what to do with holiday presents their child would never open. I thought about traffic jams caused by scores of media descending on our towns to film funerals and I thought about my girlfriend's mother Kathy who had passed away in September and how each member of the victim's family must be struggling with the same inability to grasp the idea that someone they love is gone.
I thought about the statistics concerning gun ownership, the percentages of guns recovered by police bought through legal means and I even thought about Nancy Lanza's horribly misguided attempts to connect with a son she knew was disturbed, but had no obvious means of getting to treatment.
All of these things are true. I am riding for those reasons....but I'm also riding this for me.
I'm riding to quell the anger I feel at myself for ever having spent one dime in a store who refuses to sell certain fashion magazines or music CDs (ironically, for "moral purposes") yet has no problem "rolling back prices" on something who's designers were given a product brief which basically read: "create a firearm which matches as close as legally possible the performance, look, feel and characteristics of a military or police tactical weapon....but make sure it can be priced for sale in mass market channels."
I am riding to alleviate my own disgust that I could have enabled this country's addiction to firearms through my own inactions. I saw the same news reports you did about Columbine, about the Amish school, about VA Tech, about Fort Hood....the list goes on but I didn't do anything. I didn't write an email and certainly didn't call my senator asking them to do anything about it. I just rationalized it away and convinced myself it couldn't happen here....only then it did. Our little corner of the country had been violated less than 12 miles from my house and I was heartbroken. It was as if I thought unattended farm stands and Memorial Day parades somehow made us immune to this epidemic.
The morning of Dec 14th I woke up, The Today Show was on and the local news broke in saying "We are getting reports of a shooting at a school in Newtown.".....and my first thoughts were "I guess some asshole had a custody dispute with his ex". Then I made my coffee, ate my breakfast and went for a ride.
I got back to find it wasn't a guy and his ex, it was 20 children and 6 teachers/administrators. Then I spent the rest of the day running down the list of friends who might-just-maybe have kids who went to Sandy Hook School or who might work there and I meekly reached out to them. News slowly worked its way out that someone in our cycling community had lost their daughter and the next day I received an email from my neighborhood association saying that principal Dawn Hochsprung had lived in my neighborhood for 8 years.
So, yes, I'm riding this for Dawn, for Mary, for Lauren, for Ann Marie, for Rachel and for Victoria. For Charlotte, Daniel, Olivia, Josephine, Dylan, Madeleine, Catherine, Chase, Jesse, Ana, James, Grace, Emilie, Jack, Noah, Caroline, Jessica, Avielle, Benjamin and Allison...but I'm also riding this for me.
I'm riding this to forgive myself for becoming so apathetic and indifferent to the violence in this country that I could allow myself to simply shrug off "some asshole and his ex" and go about my day like it was any other day. Perhaps you can accept that about yourself, but I can no longer accept that about me. That should have been catalyst enough.
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Matthew Emeott's Cycling Record at USA Cycling
Rider #23: John Ford
Rider #23: John Ford, West Harrison, New York
WHY I RIDE?
I'm riding for the fight against special interests and for the greater good of the citizens of this country.
I'm riding in memory of the 26 innocent children and educators lost on December 14, 2012.
I'm riding because I know the great majority of the citizens of United States are reasonable people and support a reasonable, multi-faceted approach to reduce gun violence.
This includes banning the military inspired assault rifles that have become the mass murder's weapon of choice.
I'm riding because this is the right thing to do.
In the year 2000 my classmates and I came face-to-face with a shooter and by chance we were not injured because of the shooters' decision to target two people that day, he only succeeded in taking his own life that day. *
I’m riding because I want to make a real difference and now is the time.
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John Ford's Cycling Record at USA Cycling
Rider #24: Aidan Charles
Rider #24: Aidan Charles, Middletown, Connecticut
WHY I RIDE?
I ride as a husband, son, and brother of educators who have dedicated themselves to making a difference in the lives of children. I ride as a future father who wants his children to share the same joy and safety that I experienced at school.
I can't fathom a day where any one of my family members wake up one morning to go to work and never return due to gun violence at a school. While I have ridden almost every day for the almost 15 years, I don't think I have ever had the opportunity to ride my bike for such a meaningful purpose. If getting on my bike and riding can make a difference and open people’s eyes to the changes that need to be made, I will ride for as long and far as I can.
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Aidan Charles's Cycling Record at USA Cycling
Rider #25: Heather Peck
Rider #25: Heather Peck, Newtown, Connecticut
WHY I RIDE?
As a mother I am riding for the hope that my two children can grow up in a more peaceful world. I am there to represent all mothers who wish the same for their children. I am especially there for the mothers who lost their precious children to honor them and show my heartfelt support.
As a school psychologist I am riding for those beautiful smiling faces that I see coming down the hallway each day and their right to feel safe and secure at school.
I am riding for those children who may need mental health care so that their needs can be addressed early in life.
As a resident of Newtown I am riding for the strength of my town and the belief that as a community we can be the turning point and make a big difference in the world.
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Heather Peck's Cycling Record at USA Cycling
Chris Mcdonnell (left) and Dr. Begg (right)
Honorary Team Rider #26: Chris McDonnell, Sandy Hook, Connecticut
WHY I RIDE?
On December 14th we lost the love and light of our family, our daughter Grace. Since that day I have made a promise that her life would forever be celebrated, her vision of the world as a beautiful and peaceful place forever honored, and her voice forever heard.
I ride for HOPE that the moral conscience of our elected representatives has been awaken and will choose action over inaction when it comes to protecting the most vulnerable among us, our children.
I ride for PEACE and a society that holds itself morally responsible to leave the world a better place where gun violence is not so pervasive.
I ride for LOVE of the innocence of a child whose life was full of dreams and boundless possibilities.
I ride for GRACE.
Grace McDonnell - (2005 - 2012) - Daughter of Chris and Lynn McDonnell
Sandy Hook Ride on Washington ~ March 9 - 12
Team 26 is a group of 26 elite cyclists who will ride from Newtown, CT to Washington, DC beginning on March 9 and arriving on the west lawn of the U.S. Capitol on March 12. Along the way, we will stop in Ridgefield, CT, Frenchtown, NJ and Baltimore, MD. Our goal: to bring Newtown's message to Washington in support of common sense gun legislation.
Please join us as we follow Monte Frank, Peter Olson and the other members of Team 26 as they travel from Newtown, CT to Washington DC. Embedded blogger Becky Frank (Monte’s daughter) will be providing info and photos from the daily events.
Click here to visit Team 26's Facebook page
Facebook account not required
To add this series to your stream
follow the "Team 26" tag
or follow on Tweeter: SHRoW@SHRoW2013
Saturday 3/9
tytalus ~ Morning kick-off 5:30am EST
LilithGardener ~ "Meet the Crew"
Glen The Plumber ~ Evening Wrap-up
Sunday 3/10
Dave in Northridge ~ Morning kick-off
LilithGardener ~ "Meet the Riders"
DefendOurConstitution ~ Evening Wrap-up
Monday 3/11
this is only a test ~ Ride with "Team 26"
LilithGardener ~ "Meet the Riders"
glorificus ~ Evening Wrap-up
Tuesday 3/12
Hey338Too ~ Morning Kick-off
LilithGardener ~ "Meet the Riders" 2pm EDT
remembrance ~ Evening
Huge gratitude to
Glen the Plumber for his organization and encouragement during our mini-peloton of blogging to support Team 26 and join our voices ad Daily Kos with theirs as the [previously] silent majority calls for common sense gun safety laws. Shout out to Kossacks Peter Olson and Greg Dworkin for reporting.
1:28 PM PT: A Head's up by petersolson on Tue Mar 12, 2013 at 01:23:39 PM PDT
- Monte Frank will be appearing on [Fox 61-Hartford] at 5:15 today with Sen. Blumenthal. I can't believe I am saying this, but please watch.
Lawrence O'donnell will have a one on one interview with Monte at 10:00 tonight.
3:58 PM PT: by this is only a test on Tue Mar 12, 2013 at 03:43:27 PM PDT
Here are my stats from today's ride to Baltimore (2+ / 0-)
...and back to College Park as a tag along with the team, and then from College Park down to DC with the 26 and the VA Tech riders:
100.9mi - Distance
2,776ft - Elevation (?)
07:00:35 - Moving Time
5,075 -Calories
I'm hungry!
PS. Awesome police support leaving Baltimore, leaving College Park, and arriving in DC -- kudos to the local police for helping!