From Travis

I had no doubt a 250 mile bicycle ride would be challenging prior to making the flight to Virginia. I had no experience on a road bike and had no idea of what to expect. In a pre-ride meeting one of the speakers gave some advice on how to take our mind off the fatigue we would surely feel during our ride to Washington D.C. He said take a look down to the black bracelet on your wrist and think about the officer you are riding for and the family they left behind. I do not like to be defeated, but I would be lying if I said there weren’t several times during the 250 miles when I wanted to quit. It was at these times, when my legs were burning so intensely, that my toes were numb, I would think about Officer Kevin Marceau whose name was stamped on that black bracelet around my wrist. Officer Marceau was injured in the line of duty and spent the last fourteen years of his life confined to a wheelchair and unable to communicate. I have no words to describe the inspiration this gave me knowing that my physical suffering was nothing compared to the physical and emotional suffering of Officer Marceau and his family.

I never had a chance to meet Officer Marceau or any of the other thousands of officers who have been killed in the line of duty, but I am honored to be able to do something to show them and their families they will never be forgotten. I had the honor of meeting the parents of Kevin Marceau shortly after returning to Texas and hand over the little black bracelet that kept me going on my journey.

The violence that people inflict on one another continues to amaze me. I will never understand why anyone would want to hurt the ones who have sworn to protect them. Unfortunately, I know police officers will continue to be killed in senseless acts and in my own selfish way I pray that it will never happen to any of the hundreds of officers I have met in my short four years in this career. Three hundred sixteen names were added to the Law Enforcement Memorial walls this year. It is hard to grasp the idea that each one of those officers went to work every day to do the same job I love so much and never made it home.

-Travis Bannister

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