By JAN LARSON McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
When the California firefighters rolled into Bowling Green Monday evening, they had been on the road for 30 days. They have 10 more days of pedaling till they reach Ground Zero in New York City on the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.
For two of the firefighters, this is their second time stopping in Bowling Green for a meal and soft bed – with the first time right before the 10th anniversary.
As he loaded up a plate of food, Santa Clara firefighter Darrell L. Sales talked about his motivation for organizing the Bay2Brooklyn rides. Like many of the firefighters on the ride, he was working 20 years ago on Sept. 11. And like many, he does not want the sacrifices made that day to be forgotten.
Sales said he has been heartened as they have traveled across mountains, flat prairies, and rolling hills.
“The memories are still alive and well,” he said.
The ride has been a little more challenging this time, since Sales and fellow organizer Dave Lombardo are a decade older. The headwinds in Nebraska were punishing, and the elevation changes in the Teton Pass were taxing.
But Sales keeps returning to one thought.
“It’s far easier for us, comparing this to the challenges of that day on 9/11,” he said.
This time around, there are 10 bicyclists, and three support drivers. Depending on the conditions, the cyclists average 12 to 18 mph, traveling about 100 miles a day to complete their 4,000-mile coast-to-coast trek.
They have encountered 100 degree heat, torrential rains, hail and a tornado that kept them holed up in a barn near the “Field of Dreams” site in Iowa. They start early in the morning and may pedal until dark – sometimes on gravel roads, which are inevitable during a cross-country ride. And in one day, the team managed four flat tires.
But the cyclists are bound by their brotherhood.
“We never forget the sacrifice of the first responders or the military,” said John Byrne, of CalFire, which works to put out the wildfires in the west. “I know if the alarm went off now, these firefighters would do the same thing.”
The bicyclists are stopping along the way at the memorial where Flight 93 went down near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, at the Pentagon, Arlington Cemetery, and then Ground Zero in New York City on Sept. 11.
The highest climb is still ahead of them, with a 8,500-foot ascent to be conquered in one day just east of Pittsburgh, Byrne said.
“We get each other through difficult challenges,” he said. “We think about why we are doing the ride.”
The other return rider, Lombardo, was going through fire academy training at Santa Clara Fire Department on Sept. 11, 2001. He heard about the first plane hitting the World Trade Center tower on his car radio. “I thought it was a hoax,” he recalled.
But it wasn’t long until the nation realized the reality of the attacks that claimed the lives of 343 firefighters.
“That’s why I rode 10 years ago,” Lombardo said. “And that’s why I’m riding today.”
Though a decade apart, both rides have proven to be uplifting for the firefighters, Lombardo said. As they make connections with people at firehouses, pizza shops and rest areas, they have heard stories of unity and respect.
“There’s hope,” Lombardo said.
“They gave us something to believe in,” Byrne said of the New York City firefighters, police and first responders. “I think it’s time for us to remember what our country’s about. Together we are very strong.”
Along the way, the firefighters have encountered many people with connections and losses from the 9/11 attacks. A Bowling Green resident, Donna Wetterau, came Monday evening to share her loss with the cyclists.
Her brother, Brian Donnelly, a New York City firefighter, went to the leveled towers in the days after the attacks. “He was down there helping other firefighters,” Wetterau said.
In 2015, her brother died from respiratory failure – she suspects from the contaminated air at Ground Zero.
As they pedal eastward, the bicyclists are also met by firefighters wanting to ride portions of the trip with them. In Bowling Green, firefighters Capt. Terry Busch and Lt. Ronnie Closson met the California firefighters when they passed into Wood County and rode Poe Road into the city – escorted by a BG fire ladder truck.
Tuesday morning, Busch and Closson will join them again as they head east to Fremont.
The ride has significance for several Bowling Green firefighters.
“I was on duty when it happened,” Busch recalled. “These gentlemen are representing us as first responders.”
Busch remembers 20 years ago, being upstairs at the station, finishing breakfast.
“We turned on the TV. I thought it was an accident. Then the second plane hit,” he said.
The thought of losing 343 firefighters that day is still difficult for Busch.
“It’s hard for me,” he said.
BG Fire Lt. Tony Zmarzly was also at the station that morning.
“We knew what they faced going in there,” he said of the burning towers. “It was tough.”
Retired BG firefighter Tim Schroeder came to join the cyclists Monday evening.
“I think it just shows respect for those who died,” he said of the coast-to-coast trek.
Schroeder was working in the Pearl Street fire station on that morning 20 years ago. The crew was performing equipment checks when they heard about the first plane strike.
“We got the TV on in time to see the second plane come in,” Schroeder said.
Also at the Pearl Street station was firefighter-EMT Clarence Foos, who clearly remembers that morning two decades ago.
“I remember thinking how glad I was to be in little old Ohio,” Foos said. “We knew it was going to be hell for them,” he said of the NYC firefighters.
The proceeds collected during the trek are slated to go to the Gary Sinise Foundation and the FDNY Children and Widows’ Association.
“We want the money to go to those affected by 9/11,” Byrne said.
The Bowling Green Fire Division hosted the riders, along with local first responders and retirees, to a cookout dinner at the City Park Veterans Building. The fire division also made overnight accommodations for the bicyclists at a local hotel before they ride on to their next destination Tuesday morning.
Information about the cycling group can be found at https://bay2brooklyn2021.com/, with updated daily riding information found on their Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/Bay2Brooklyn2021/. Here is also a link to a YouTube video from their 2011 ride… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JAqJefkloTQ.
