Cops Cycling for Survivors 2019 Ride

The news release below is being sent on behalf of Cops Cycling for Survivors. Media contact for any of the information below is Sgt. Orem of the Hamilton County Sheriff's Office, he can be reached at Bryant.Orem@hamiltoncounty.in.gov

Monday, July 8, 2019, 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. EDT 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 9:00 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.

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, 2019, at Crown Hill Cemetery, Heroes of Public Safety Section. The closing ceremony begins at 2:00 p.m. EDT. 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:

• Day 1- July 8th Indianapolis to Lapel (Lunch Boone County)
• Day 2- July 9th Lapel to Bluffton (Lunch Taylor University)
• Day 3- July 10th Bluffton to Angola (Lunch Fort Wayne)
• Day 4- July 11th Angola to South Bend/Mishawaka (Lunch Middlebury)
• Day 5- July 12th South Bend/Mishawaka to Merrillville (Lunch La Porte)
• Day 6- July 13th Merrillville to Kentland (Lunch Lowell)
  Day 7- July 14th Kentland to Terre Haute (Lunch Cayuga)
• Day 8- July 15th Terre Haute to Princeton (Lunch Wabash Valley Correctional Facility Sullivan)
• Day 9- July 16th Princeton to Huntingburg (Lunch Jasper)
• Day 10- July 17th Jasper to Jeffersonville (Lunch Marengo)
• Day 11- July 18th Jeffersonville to Madison (Lunch Madison)
• Day 12- July 19th Madison to Bloomington (Lunch Brownstown)
• Day 13- July 20th 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 https://www.facebook.com/Cops-Cycling-for-Survivors-195826717113332/

For more information about the organization, donations made, or this year’s ride, visit their
website: https://www.copscycling4survivors.org/ , or contact Monica Zahasky, President of Cops
Cycling for Survivors Foundation, Inc. at copscyclingforsurvivors@gmail.com

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Media: Interviews with cyclists and survivors are available on Monday, July 8 prior to the 8:30
ceremony. Interviews are also available throughout the ride prior to departure each morning
(7:00am each morning), at lunch (approximately 11:00 each day) or evening hours. Coverage of
the opening and closing ceremonies as well as along the route is appreciated. Media may
contact Sgt. Bryant Orem at Bryant.Orem@hamiltoncounty.in.gov to schedule interviews.

It is difficult to estimate arrival times as many factors affect timing. The best resource for time
is to track the group’s progress on our Facebook page. A GPS map with the ride’s current
location is active during the ride at https://www.facebook.com/Cops-Cycling-for-Survivors-195826717113332/. Exact lunch and overnight locations are available on the website calendar.
If you would like the travel route for a specific day, please let me know.

I should be at the Law Enforcement Memorial around 6:00am on July 8 if any Indianapolis area
media would like to do live coverage. We truly appreciate your coverage of the event as this is not about our ride but rather about
honoring our fallen heroes and remembering their survivors.