11 May

Today we completed the second of the 100 mile days. This puts us over 250 miles for the trip and just one more day of riding. We are scheduled to arrive in Washington, DC at the Memorial sometime between 2 and 4 in the afternoon.

We rode from Delaware to Maryland today and have stopped for the night in the home of the US Naval Academy, Annapolis. Mother nature was not the kindest to us today. The morning was pleasant with sunshine. We had anticipated that it was going to rain late in the afternoon, but figured we would already be in Annapolis. Well just after our lunch break, it started to rain. The rain was annoying and at times came down pretty good, but it was the temperature that didn't help. I am not certain exactly what the temperature was but one of the ladies riding with us told me when we got to Annapolis it was 53. It would be a pretty good bet that as we rode through the farmlands of Maryland it was very near 50.

As we neared Annapolis we were graced with a fly over by a Maryland State Police helicopter. He made a few passes over the group as we rode along. It was also pretty neat to see Navy-Marine Memorial Stadium as we arrived in the city. Pretty cool to see a big ole "Go Navy" spelled out in gold letters amongst the other blue seats in the stadium. As a former Navy man it made Mark proud.

This evening a number of us from the chapter went out to dinner at a seafood restaurant. Several of the ride members wore their Police Unity Tour jackets and struck up conversation with a couple in the restaurant. As we sat and prepared for dinner the manager came over to us and told us that this couple was so impressed with what we are doing that they were going to pay for a portion of our dinner tab. Very nice people and an appreciated, awesome gesture.

There weren't many photos taken today as just over half the day was in the rain. I will be uploading a few of them tomorrow as it is late here and we still have one more day on the bike.

Tomorrow morning we ride to RFK stadium in DC where we will meet up with riders who are coming from Virgina. After everyone is together we ride into the city and to the memorial. We are all certain that the final leg of this journey will be emotional and very much worth the trip.

Today was not the best of riding days. We labored through bone chilling temperatures and became seemingly soaked to the bone. However, through all of that each of us knows it pales in comparison to the sacrifice that our friends and countless other officers have made. We take to heart the motto of the Police Unity Tour and take pride in the fact that, "we ride for those who died".