- May 5, 2024
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Ormond Beach Police Chief Jesse Godfrey and Cpl. Rhett Summerlot rode the last 75.8 miles of the Florida Tour de Force.
The Tour de Force is a memorial bike ride honoring fallen law enforcement officers. The 270-mile marathon left North Miami Beach on April 8 and ended in Daytona Beach Shores on April 12. Godfrey and Summerlot joined the group in Titusville in Brevard County and biked the remaining miles to Daytona Beach Shores.
Godfrey said, in a statement submitted to the Observer, they participated in the bike marathon to first and foremost honor fallen Florida law enforcement officers.
“We participate in the Florida Tour de Force ride first and foremost to honor the fallen Florida officers. We ride on Day 5, from Titusville to Daytona Beach Shores.
"Having recently lost Cpl. Michael Bakaysa, it makes this ride extremely meaningful to us as an agency," Godfrey said.
Bakaysa died on Dec. 1 after a medical incident following a training session two weeks prior. He was 54 years old and had worked for the OBPD for over 27 years.
Godfrey said the Tour de Force also serves as good training for cyclists participating in May in the Police Unity Tour, a three-day, 250-mile ride from Virginia to Washington D.C. The Unity Tour raises awareness for officers who died in the line of duty and money for the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial, according to the Unity Tour's website.
The Tour first began in 1997 with just 18 riders but has since grown to annual include 2,600 riders nationwide, across nine local chapters, the website said.
Summerlot said he trains for the Unity Tour throughout the year and he could tell in the Tour de Force leg he completed that the training had paid off. Godfrey was the one who got Summerlot to join in the first time, Summerlot said.
The principle of the two rides, he said in the statement, is to honor fallen officers.
"The Unity Tour's motto for the [Florida] Chapter 8 is 'we ride for those who died,'" he said. "That's why we ride and that's why I wanted to do it."
Pulling into the memorial ceremony in Washington D.C. at the end of the ride, alongside all the other officers is "breathtaking," Summerlot said.
The Unity Tour begins on May 9 in Norfolk, Virginia, according to the event website. Cyclists will arrive in Washington D.C. for the ceremony at around 2 p.m. May 12.
