CUMBERLAND — About 300 motorcyclists taking part in America’s 911 Ride went through the city Friday morning to commemorate the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and raise scholarship funds for families of first responders.
Over three days, first responders, police, foundation members and people from across the country travel to all three crash sites. They start at the Flight 93 National Memorial in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, then head toward the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, before reaching Ground Zero in New York City.
“It’s a bucket-list ride,” said Roger Flick, a board member of America’s 911 Foundation, which organizes the ride. “I’ve had people tell me for the last 15 years, this is the most well organized large ride you’ll ever be on because we’ve been doing this for a long time.”
The first ride was in November 2001 when a large group of motorcyclists traveled from the White House in Washington to Ground Zero. Since then, riders have traveled to all three crash sites every third weekend of August.
From Shanksville, the group rides through Cumberland every year and stops at Rocky Gap State Park for a quick break before continuing east on Interstate 68.
Flick said seeing support for the ride in cities like Cumberland is uplifting.
“Riding through places like Cumberland, the people come out and wave their flags,” Flick said during the Rocky Gap stop. “It’s extremely patriotic.”
Riders like Gordon Ehrlich, who has participated in the ride from its inception, hope that raising awareness and honoring the memory of the past will prevent future tragedies.
“It was almost 25 years ago, and there’s a lot of people that don’t remember (or) weren’t even born,” Ehrlich said. “I think complacency opened the door for 9/11 to happen. We felt isolated and secure, and they showed us that we’re not. I think it’s important to remember so that we have the resolve to never get complacent again and allow it to happen to us again.”
Along with honoring the past, the ride serves as a fundraiser for the America’s 911 Foundation scholarship program for families of active first responders to attend college. This year, the foundation awarded 20 scholarships, each totaling $2,000, Flick said.
The foundation, run completely by volunteers, has found other ways to support first responders by showing up to support them through disaster relief during catastrophes like Hurricane Katrina and the severe flooding in Westernport this May.
“We’re getting into disaster recovery. It’s not really part of our core thing, but we go help the first responders,” Flick said.
Through the foundation, many riders have formed lasting friendships.
“Actually for a lot of us, this is like a family reunion because we see people that we only get a chance to see once a year on this ride,” Flick said.
Ehrlich agreed.
“I have a 9/11 family,” Ehrlich said.
While participation in the ride has dwindled in past years, Flick said he expects a boost in the number of riders next year for the 25th anniversary of the 2001 attacks.
Even if participation was in the single digits, Ehrlich said, low participation wouldn’t stop him and his friends from completing the ride each year.
“We’re going to ride no matter what, even if it’s six of us. We’re just going to do the ride to all three crash sites,” Ehrlich said. “So, it’s been important to keep this moving, and that’s why I continue to raise the money so that it goes to the foundation to help keep it alive.”
Onlooker Anna Stewart and her young son unexpectedly came across the ride during their trip to Rocky Gap on Friday morning.
Stewart said it was a good opportunity to sit with her son and talk about the tough subject.
“It’s just a good conversation starter to remember what happened and how it changed us,” Stewart said.