Chicago Fire Department 2010, 950 mile bike ride & memories of September 11th...

I was a young firefighter for the the City of Chicago when the World Trade Center was destroyed by terrorists on September 11th, 2001. At the time I was assigned to Tower Ladder 5 in Chicago's Pilsen neighborhood. My shift worked that day, it was shift 2E. I was off on Daly day (that is the E part, a scheduled day off).

I was called around 8 am by a close friend, Rob Mansfield. Rob told me to turn on the TV. The next hour what I watched felt like the the world was coming to an end. After the second building came down, I drove over to Rogers Park and met Mansfield for beers at Hamilton's. Beer and tears...

In 2002 I transferred to Truck 44 in Chicago's Lincoln Park neighborhood. The firemen from Engine 55, Truck 44 are very health conscious and fit. Several guys have actually qualified and competed in the Ironman. The guys work out hard every day. They had planned a bike ride, from Chicago, to New York. We wanted to raise money and help out the FDNY families.

I was younger, physically fit, and eager to contribute. We each had committed to raising money for the charity, and obviously, completing the ride. There were about 25 of us that rode, and another 5 or 6 that supported us by repairing bikes, preparing meals and scouting places to sleep. All of us were Chicago firefighters and paramedics and family members. We had a nice evening in Cleveland, a bunch of Chicago paramedics met us and cooked dinner. This is an unusual event, because medics do a lot of things, cooking is not one of them. It was a wonderful dinner.

I unofficially accepted the additional duties of scouting out local watering holes.

The ride was an amazing and gratifying experience. There were days in Pennsylvania that were freezing, rain was pouring, and the hills were steep. It was a bonding experience that reminded me of my time in the Army. I had some friends on the ride, and I made some friends that I will have for the rest of my life. My current lieutenant, John Gruber and I were easy to find after we did our average of 80 miles each day, in the nearest bar.

To this day, bicycle is Grubers favorite form of exercise.  He rides the same ancient Schwinn World Traveler that he rode on the 9-11 Memorial Ride.  Now it is rode on a trainer in his room at Engine 56. He probably rides 3 hours at a time every 3rd day. German.

Phil Walsh made a video of the event, which I will post on YouTube and FF911. I wish I could remember more details, but it was almost 10 years ago, and an emotional time for everyone.

We raised over $200K for the FDNY. When we arrived in New York, some of went to see Letterman, some of us went to a Yankees game, they were playing the Diamondbacks. All of us were catching our 3rd and 4th winds.

This 9-11 memorial bike ride was a rewarding experience. I am excited to see that a Chicago Fire Department Charity, Ignite the Spirit, is doing another memorial bike ride for charity.  This firefighter charity bike ride is for pediatric cancer. Ignite the Spirit is lead by a group of sincere and compassionate Chicago firemen. Rich Pinskey, Kenny Soo, and a lot of hard working volunteers plan, market and execute fire department charity events each year that benefit community charities that desperately need funding.

One of the most successful annual charity products that Ignite the Spirit is responsible for, is the Chicago Firefighters Calender. This calendar not only gives 5,000 active firemen and medics 12 shirtless, oily, firefighters to pick on. The firefighters calendar raises thousands of dollars to support widows, burn victims and fire department charity.

The Chicago Fire Department 2010 charity bike ride will take place on May 18th and will span 12 days, and about 950 miles. It will start in Chicago, and travel around Lake Michigan. The riders will travel through Illinois, Indiana, Michigan and Wisconsin. They will average about 80 miles a day. There are 30 riders that are sacrificing 2 weeks of riding, tons of hours of fundraising, and take my word on this, butt pain that will not disappear for months.

Richie sent me an email and mentioned he has a few sponsorship opportunities. They will promote sponsors in a lot of creative ways, including logos on rider shirts. Marketing is one of Ignite the Spirit's many talents. If Rich Pinskey is allowing a corporate sponsor to donate $200, it will certainly do more then help the charity, it will help the company or individual that donates it.

The money raised is for pediatric cancer. We have had a streak of very bad luck with cancer.  Brothers and family and friends that we love are raising children that are battling cancer. If we can help children with cancer and childrens cancer research, we must. This is a charity that is very important to all of us. Rich Pinskey can be reached at 773-218-1114. Please consider supporting our Chicago firefighter bicycle team.