Four officers with the Naperville Police Department embarked on a 400-mile bike ride over four days in support of their fallen brothers and sisters in blue as part of Cycle Across Illinois.
“The ride itself is rewarding, it’s exhausting, it’s hot, but the experiences that you share with the other riders, you can’t compare it to anything,” said Sergeant Mike Umbenhower. “It makes you feel good about what you do. Sometimes it’s hard to feel that way.”
The significance of Cycle Across Illinois
Known as Team NPD, Sergeant Umbenhower, along with fellow police officers Stephanie Jarvis, Katie Moore, and Mike Courterier, joined 90 other officers for the ride, all raising money for Concerns of Police Survivors – or COPS. The nonprofit helps families, friends, and colleagues in their grief journey after a police officer is killed in the line of duty.
“You get to learn so much about the other people who are on the ride with you, especially the surviving family members, said Officer Moore. “Their experiences and what they’ve been through and just being in that group of people who all kind of get, that helps them to heal, it helps us support them, and it is a very emotional experience.”
Feats of fitness
Officer Moore cycled across Illinois for the sixth time now, doing so just several days after also competing in a triathlon at the World Police and Fire Games in Alabama, bringing home a silver medal. She says doing both feats helps her to stay physically and mentally fit…