Sherborn Police Officer Rides To Washington D.C. In Police Unity Tour

Earlier this month Sherborn Police officer David Nulty was one of 1,500 law enforcement officers to bike 300 miles to our nation's capital in just four days as part of a nationwide initiative called the Police Unity Tour.

“It’s a 300 mile bike ride and the primary purpose is to raise awareness for the law enforcement officers that have died in the line of duty and the second is to raise money for the National Law Enforcement Memorial in Washington D.C.,” Nulty said.

The ride started in 1997 with about 18 riders. This year there were about 1,500 riders who raised over $1.5 million- Nulty himself raised $2,450.

Nulty drove down to Florham Park, New Jersey where he met up with about 700 other riders in his chapter from all along the east coast.

“It’s an incredibly humbling experience when you see everybody in the same jersey all for that same reason, for the fallen officers. A lot of departments put placards on the back of their bikes with the fallen officers from their city or town or state,” Nulty said. “We did that for the fallen officers that died in Massachusetts last year.”

“It’s a motivating experience. It’s inspirational and it’s a heck of a rush when you finally come into the memorial and you see all the family members of the fallen officers there and they’re all affected by it. It’s a pretty emotional experience when you come in there,” he said.

Nulty was encouraged to ride on the tour by fellow Sherborn officer Luke Tedstone who made the ride last year.

"He did it last year and he told me about it and he said ‘Why don’t you get your butt in shape and get out here and start doing it.’ So I bought his bike off him and I started training,” Nulty said.

“It came up quick," he said. “I did it for about, maybe a couple months. I was doing about 20 miles every other day.”

Nulty said he did most of his training around the Sherborn-area. “Around here is a little bit harder because it’s so hilly,” said Nulty. He said that the terrain down to D.C. had some big hills but it was a little more flat.

Nulty said his favorite part of the trip was seeing all of the support they received along the way.

“The motorcycles stop traffic, so they’re shutting down highways for us and what they do is, the motorcycles have pamphlets and they hand out the pamphlets to the people sitting in the traffic,” Nulty said.

“So at first you see these people and they’re ticked because they’re sitting in the traffic and then they start reading and then you see them out there cheering and clapping along the route,” he said.

Along the way fire departments would raise the ladders on their trucks and hang American flags from them over the route.

“It’s really motivating when you get a couple people clapping when you’ve got that tough hill to go up,” Nulty said.

Nulty said they would ride between 50 and 100 miles a day and although he was sore in the morning it was worth the soreness.

“Every morning when you get up and you’re sore and then you’re like ‘I have to get on a bike and ride another 100 miles today.’ But once you stretch out you feel better and a couple ibuprofen later you’re usually ready to go. But when you step out of bed in the morning it’s pretty tough," he said.

“You just push through that though because you know what you’re riding for. And then you see all the placards and everything and you’re reminded and you’re like, ‘What the heck. These guys died in the line of duty, I can bike a few miles,’” said Nulty.

All of the 1,500 riders met up in Maryland before making the final push in to Washington D.C. 

“You see bikes and motorcycles and cars from all over the country so it’s really kind of cool seeing everybody come together,” Nulty said.

He said it could be daunting at times trying not to make a mistake with so many other riders around him all at once.

“I did good, I didn’t have to stop at any point. I had no problems with my bike thank God,” Nulty said. “My chain fell off once. I had to stop and put it back on, then I kept going.”

They got to the National Law Enforcement Memorial on May 12 where they announced how much money was raised and honored the family members of the officers who have passed away in the line of duty. Later that night they held a candlelight vigil.

“Police officers, we’re all in this line of work together so you hear about a fallen officer and it doesn’t really hit you until you’re out there,” Nulty said.

All the riders received a medal for completing the Tour.

“I can’t wait until next year. I’m going to maybe start training now, instead of a couple months prior,” said Nulty. 

Nulty, who has been a law enforcement officer in Sherborn for about two years, said he has never known someone personally who he was close to who died in the line of duty. But he did know officers that he had met on a professional basis who had fallen in the line of duty.

“I can only imagine how tough it would be for somebody that knew someone personally,” Nulty said. “The first thing you think of is your family. That’s what I think of is my family. I have a wife and a son.”

“The ride emphasizes that,” Nulty said.