UB Police Officers to Ride in Memory of Those Who Died in 9/11 Attacks

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Ever since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, Dale Hohl says he has wanted to help those who lost their lives to save others on that day.

Hohl, a University at Buffalo police officer and volunteer firefighter with the Ellicott Creek Volunteer Fire Company in Amherst, soon will get that chance. He and Amy Pedlow, who is also a UB police officer, will participate in the 2008 Tour De Force, a bike ride started in 2002 as a memorial to the police officers who gave their lives on 9/11. The ride's mission is to raise money for families of police officers nationwide killed in the line of duty.

"After the attacks, our fire company actually sent a crew to Ground Zero, but logistically, I just couldn't commit for the whole week," says Hohl, a resident of North Tonawanda. "Ever since then, it's been in the back of my mind that I could have helped if I could have gone. This really matters to me because I'll be part of something to help the families of those police officers who died."

From Sept. 8-11, Pedlow, a Grand Island resident, and Hohl, who both patrol campus on bicycles, will ride an approximately 250-mile route from the Pentagon in Arlington, Va. -- the target of one of the attacks on Sept. 11 -- to the World Trade Center site in New York City. Of the approximately 150 law enforcement officers from across the United States participating in this year's ride, they are the only ones from Western New York.

"We're really hoping to use this opportunity to not only showcase Western New York, but also the University at Buffalo," says Hohl.

Pedlow, who along with Hohl is a regular participant in local and regional charitable bike rides, including the Ride for Roswell and the Ride for Missing Children, says it was while participating in the latter that she learned about the Tour de Force from an officer in the Amherst Police Department. While too late to join in last year's ride, she and Hohl applied and were accepted for this year's ride. Participation in the ride is selective to keep the cost of support services to a minimum, she says, although the event has grown from 10 riders and four support personnel to 150 riders and 20 support staff over the past seven years. The ride now benefits not only the families of police officers killed on 9/11, but the families of all officers who've died in the line of duty.

According to Michael De Paolis, director of the Tour de Force, last year's ride helped raise $105,000 for these families nationwide, with this year's goal increasing to $150,000.

Everyone participating in the ride must raise a minimum of $1,000, adds Pedlow, who thanks friends, as well as staff in Campus Dining and Shops, for their promises to contribute. She also notes she is facing a special challenging going into this year's ride. While her position as a UB bicycle cop typically involves as many as 25 miles of riding every day, she says that this summer she's been sidelined by a softball injury to her hand.

"August is going to be a crucial month for me," says Pedlow, who had several pins removed from her finger earlier this month. "The first day alone is over 100 miles, and it's a lot of rolling hills, so I've really got to buckle down and work out like crazy for the next month and a half before the ride. But I'll do it. I'll make myself do it. No doubt about it."

Both riders also point to a special sense of connection to the attacks of 9/11. For Hohl, it's his 26 years' experience as a firefighter. For Pedlow, it's her memories of traveling to Ground Zero three months after the attack.

"You can't even express in words what was going on down there," she says. "They had cleaned it up considerably compared to the way it looked on TV, but you just have no idea until you get there and see it."

This year's Tour de Force, which concludes with a remembrance event at the New York City Police Memorial in Battery City Park, will ride past the city's official observation of the attacks at Ground Zero.

"Certainly, this is to raise money for the families of officers who passed away," says Hohl, "but for me, it's also about calling attention to the whole event. I see it as a way for me to say, 'Let us never forget.' Whether it be policemen, firemen or EMS (emergency medical services) people who died, I always say, 'Let us never forget.'"

Members of the community interested in contributing to Pedlow or Holh's ride can visit the Tour de Force Web site at http://www.tourdeforceny.com/sections/donation.asp and enter either the name "Amy Pedlow" or "Dale Hohl."