The honor was mine

I can't really remember what it was that got me to sign up for the Tour of Honor (ToH) except for that some of my friends have done it in past years, I've seen their postings and it must have peaked my curiosity enough to join. I have ABSOLUTELY no regrets! Not that I need a reason to ride but having participated in the ToH this year gave me one big reason - to HONOR those who have served and are serving in our armed forces and our first responder's.

Little did I know when the Tour started on April 1 that I would sort of get "hooked". First I was just figuring that I would pick up a site here and there and see what it was all about. As I started to visit these memorial sites I became more aware of the reasons for the memorials and it made me think quite a bit about those who have risked and are risking their lives for us. Those who paid the ultimate price. It made me think about all those wars that have been and those still going on. It made me think about our law enforcement, fire and rescue personnel and about history in overall.

VT4 - in my "back yard"

My first couple of memorial sites where in my home region of New England. I remember being excited about going to visit a couple just during a day ride in early April. In the middle of April I was going to North Carolina for a two day off road confidence building and training class. I was collecting National Parks, historical sites and monuments for the Iron Butt Association's (IBA) National Park Tour and decided to see if by chance there would be any ToH sites close by or on my route. It resulted in several sites that I visited on that trip. Thereafter I continued with a few more New England sites while visiting with friends one weekend.

Marco at NY7 - Firefighters Memorial Park

My friend Marco and I decided to do a Saddle Sore Extreme for the New York sites and on May 7 we headed out for a ride to visit all seven sites in New York state.We were successful and were awarded the IBA's ToH Saddle Sore Extreme 1,000. What it means is that we covered over 1,000 miles in no more than 24 hours while visiting all seven sites in New York. It was a great ride! And it was probably after this one that I realized I was "hooked". I'm a long distance rider and really enjoy getting on the bike and going for hours at end. The more ground I cover the happier I get. What better combination than to add ToH sites to my rides!

Lady Liberty - Grand Isle, NE

From here on, whenever I was heading somewhere, short or long ride, I was laying out my route so that I would be able to pick up ToH sites. So whether I was heading to Colorado or Maryland or Nevada - there were either ToH stops, Doughboy's, Flag Murals or Lady Liberties on that route. There are
additional rides that you can do - Doughboys, Flag Murals and Statue of Liberties, or Lady Liberty as I call them. It was by sheer "accident" that I happened upon a Statue of Liberty and decided to add that to the collection as well.

Doughboy in Oakley, KS

Some of my favorite sites that I visited are CT1 (firefighters memorial), PA7 (avenue of flags), NM3 (law enforcement memorial), KY5 (aviation heritage park), ME3 (veterans and mariners memorial), NH4 (9/11 memorial), VA4 (Blue Ridge WWII memorial), IN1 (the peace memorial). All of the sites around the country has a story to tell and I really wish I would have been able to see and visit them all! 

At WV4

On June 6, 2016 one of our fellow ToH rider's hit an elk in Montana while returning from a ToH ride. Steve Brooks (one of the organizers for ToH) asked everyone interested to carry the honorary flag of rider #406 - Lt. Col. Army (R) Duane Carlton on July 2, visit a ToH site and submit those photos to the Facebook page. I never even hesitated. And Mr. Carlton's honorary flag has been traveling with me ever since. 

I didn't know how many ToH sites I would end up visiting before this year's event came to an end but after submitting my final photos today I am proud to say that I have been to 64 ToH sites - all the way from the East Coast to the West Coast. I even visited a few ToH sites during my Coast to Coast Gold (Coney Island, NY to San Francisco, CA in less than 50 hours). I reached bronze finisher status (a minimum of 10 sites) for Doughboy's, Flag Murals and Statue of Liberties. My accomplishment is small in comparison to some of the other riders this year. Check out the stats for my friend Kenneth Andrews! I want to thank Steve and

Flag Mural - Fairmont, WV

Dave Brooks who are the organizers of the Tour of Honor and all the volunteers who make it happen. And a shout out to my fellow ToH riders. It has been fun to follow along on your travels and see where y'all went and what you saw.  

As I reflect on it all I know that participating in the ToH had me enjoying riding even more than before. I have visited places and ridden on roads I probably would not

CA3

have been to and on had it not been for the ToH. I have learned about the sites I visited and have paid my respect to those for whom the memorials have been erected. I have truly enjoyed participating in the 2016 Tour Of Honor and I say it proudly - It was my honor to ride and I salute all of you for whom these memorials stand.

If you don't know about the Tour of Honor and want to find out more  - go to the website: Tour of Honor. You can check out all the memorials for this year, see the rider list and what the riders accomplished. You can also find Tour of Honor on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/TourofHonor/), on Twitter and on Instagram. And if you are a rider and not participating, I strongly encourage you to sign up for the 2017 Tour. You won't regret it. You can visit one site or 100. Just do it! I'm already counting the days until April 1, 2017 when the memorial sites are released. Until then - flag #95 has retired for this year.

Retired these flags with the Highest Honor on my wall