Patriot Day riders travel down Route 1 to remember 9/11
More than 100 motorcyclists participated in the 2012 Patriot Day Ride to honor the victims of the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001. The ride began at Chesapeake Harley-Davidson in Darlington and ended at McAvoy’s in Parkville.
- One of the many vests worn in tribute to those lost on 9/11 at Saturday’s Patriot Day Ride starting at Chesapeake Harley-Davidson. (Matt Button/Aegis Staff)
- The Patriot Day Ride started at Chesapeake Harley-Davidson in Darlington and ended at McAvoy’s in Parkville. (Jon Sham/Patuxent Homestead)
- A special Vietnam War tribute patch to honor those from Maryland who were lost in the war on the vest of Bruce “bam Bam” Maxwell. (Matt Button/Aegis Staff)
- A tribute to the late Captain Jack T. Fischbach custom painted on the front fernder of B.J. Fischbach’s 2009 Harley-Davidson Road Glide. (Matt Button/Aegis Staff)Q
- Dr. Edward Hoedebecke’s 2006 Fat Boy has the Harley-Davidson Military edition package paint job. (Matt Button/Aegis Staff)
- Friends Dick “Cobra” Smalley, left, and Bruce “Bam Bam” Maxwell, talk about the Purple Heart pin on Smalley’s vest while wait for Saturday’s Patriot Day Ride to begin at Chesapeake Harley-Davidson. (Matt Button/Aegis Staff)
- An American flag is stuck into the back of a motorcycle at the 2012 Patriot Day Ride, which honored those who died in the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. (Jon Sham/Patuxent Homestead)
- Norm Johnson, of Conowingo, and his 3-year-old son Myles stop by at Chesapeake Harley-Davidson to look at the motorcycles. (Jon Sham/Patuxent Homestead)
- Norman Meadows of Bel Air shares in one of the moments of silence and prayer before joining the many other riders in Saturday’s Patriot Day Ride starting at Chesapeake Harley-Davidson. (Matt Button/Aegis Staff)
- Motorcycles are lined up before the Patriot Day Ride begins. (Jon Sham/Patuxent Homestead)
- From left, Jeff Williams, of Towson, Donna Walsh and her husband Nick Walsh, of Parkville, and Williams’ daughter Cara Williams look at the motorcycles in the lot. (Jon Sham/Patuxent Homestead)
- A close-up of the headlight of a motorcycle. (Jon Sham/Patuxent Homestead)
- Ken Nacke, whose brother died in the United 93 crash on Sept. 11, speaks to other participants at the Patriot Day Ride. (Jon Sham/Patuxent Homestead)
- Bikers pulling into the parking lot of Chesapeake Harley-Davidson for the Patriot Day Ride are seen reflected in the mirror of a motorcycle. (Jon Sham/Patuxent Homestead)
- Participants say the Pledge of Allegiance before embarking on the 28-mile ride from Darlington to Parkville. (Jon Sham/Patuxent Homestead)
- A rider waits to climb on his bike and join the many others for Saturday’s Patriot Day Ride starting at Chesapeake Harley-Davidson in Darlington. (Matt Button/Aegis Staff)
- With engines revving, riders prepare to head on for Saturday’s Patriot Day Ride. (Matt Button/Aegis Staff)
- Proud riders wave for the camera as they set out on a beautiful Saturday morning from Chesapeake Harley-Davidson for the Patriot Day Ride. (Matt Button/Aegis Staff)
- Veteran B.J. Fischbach gives the “thumbs up” as he rolls out on his custom painted 2009 Harley-Davidson Road Glide tribute bike during Saturday’s Patriot Day Ride. (Matt Button/Aegis Staff)
- Bill Heise, of Dundalk, can be seen reflected in the right mirror of his motorcycle as he sits on it before the Patriot Day Ride. (Jon Sham/Patuxent Homestead)
- The road leading up to McAvoy’s was lined with 2,977 small American flags, according to event organizer Chuck Ritz. Each flag represented a person that died in the Sept. 11 attacks. (Jon Sham/Patuxent Homestead)
- Supporters wait in the parking lot of a strip mall on Putty Hill Road where McAvoy’s, the destination, awaits the riders. (Jon Sham/Patuxent Homestead)
- A biker slows down to turn into the parking lot at McAvoy’s at the end of the Patriot Day Ride. (Jon Sham/Patuxent Homestead)
- The riders and their motorcycles park in the lot in front of McAvoy’s, where the event ended around 12:30 p.m. Saturday. (Jon Sham/Patuxent Homestead)
- The line of nearly 3,000 flags in Parkville stretched for blocks and blocks leading up to McAvoy’s. (Jon Sham/Patuxent Homestead)
For this video, I wanted to show the long trip down Route 1 from Darlington to Parkville. I asked a retired Marine named Bernie Cross to attach a GoPro camera onto his helmet during the ride and he agreed. Since the ride took them about 45 minutes, I sped the footage up to 5,000 percent of its original speed. Take a look: