Old friends honor Pontious and get a lifetime full of memories
Waterford – And somewhere, Bill Pontious cheered. Laughed. Cried. Celebrated. And maybe even marveled at how his death gave so many of his friends a new respect for life.
This was all for Bill. But it became about so many others, too, for Gregg Swanson, Joe Rooney, Andy Walker and Scott Erricson, who spent their summer vacation on their bicycles. Two-hundred miles a week, sore hammies, quads and keisters, all for ‘Pont.’
It was their first foray with the Tour De Force Memorial Bike Ride, triumphantly zipping along, amid hideous roads and flat tires, in its 13th year now. What began with four riders in 2002 to honor the first responders of Sept. 11, 2001, has swelled to 280 bikers riding 280 miles in four days to honor and raise money for police officers killed in the line of duty.
The stars of the show are all old friends of varying backgrounds from East Lyme and Waterford: Rooney, a table game shift manager at Foxwoods; Ericcson, owner of E2 Engineers in New London; Walker, a physical education teacher at Clark Lane Middle School; and Swanson, owner of Swanson Insurance.
They raised $27,800.
They’ll take it from here.
Swanson: “I grew up with Bill Pontious in Waterford. He liked to say he dropped 18 on St. Bernard when they had (Harold) Pressley. Great guy. He was a career cop. He started in Groton and then went to Los Angeles to chase the Bloods and the Crips. He settled in Aurora, Co. and passed away in his sleep at age 52. He was a big bike rider and raised over $150,000 for the Tour de Force since 2006. When he passed, I asked if I could ride in his honor. Then I asked these guys. Boom. The four musketeers.”
Swanson: “We started at the JFK Hilton in New York. We rode to the 84th precinct with a police escort past Barclay’s Center, down Flatbush Avenue. We stopped at the 84th, home of officers (Wenjian) Liu and (Rafael) Ramos (shot and killed in 2014). It’s ‘God Bless America,’ the Star Spangled Banner, guys singing from that precinct. Moving beyond belief. It’s all I could do to get back on the bike.”
Erricson: “We went to the 104th through Bed-Stuy (Bedford-Stuyvesant) with officers on both sides saluting us. From there, we went to Melville, L.I. The next day, the Suffolk Country Police Dept. department guided us for 15 miles took us out service roads and back roads, not the L.I.E. (Long Island Expressway) 78 miles to Orient Point. We did hit a brewery on the way.”
Erricson: “So we get on the ferry and come to Mystic. Bill Pontious got all these Colorado people involved. There was a contingent of Colorado people that come out every year. Some of them were part of the SWAT team that cleared the Colorado movie theater (in Aurora, 2012). They’re the first ones in, finding (shooter James Holmes). Gregg made it a point to organize a meal. The Gourmet Galley made lobster sliders and a lemon shrimp pasta dish, desserts and even a birthday cake for a girl from Iowa we rode with. It was all at Crocker’s Boat Yard. We’re still getting Facebook messages thanking us.”
Erricson: “While we were here, we took everyone to the Dutch because we had to. We went from here to Warwick, going through Dunn’s Corners to 138 and 108, on some really (lousy) roads. Flat tires all over the place. From there we went through Attleboro and Norwood (Mass.) to the Dedham American Legion, where we got a police escort to the Boston Marathon (bombing) site. We finished in South Boston at the Harpoon Brewery.”
Rooney: The Sunday ride is called ‘Sean’s Ride’ in memory of MIT Police Officer Sean Collier, who was shot and killed by the Boston Marathon bombers. About 250 Boston riders joined us.”
And what a ride. Their memories have endured long after the muscles stopped aching, from all of Walker’s selfies, the woman from Texas who didn’t like Swanson’s salty language, all the potholes, all the new friends and bonds that belie knowing these people for such a short time.
“You wouldn’t believe the people who came out,” Walker said. “We got a picture with the New York City Police Chief (Ray Kelly). People from every background, color, clapping along the side of the road. Homeless people came out of the woods. I couldn’t believe it. Unreal. After four days of riding, I’m closer with some of those people now than people I’ve worked with for 25 years.”
This is the opinion of Day sports columnist Mike DiMauro. Twitter: @BCgenius
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