There was a sense of sorrow in the crowd gathered Saturday in front of the Yarmouth Police Department, but also a sense of resolve.
The police department organized what turned out to be a 190-motorcycle ride across the Cape to honor the strength of humans under duress, and particularly the first-responding rescuers at the Boston Marathon bombings on April 15. A wide spectrum of guests gathered near the podium at 11 a.m.: Carlos Arredondo, whose aid to a severely injured man at the bombings made national headlines; a family member of Sean Collier, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology police officer who died April 18 after the bombings; Neil Heslin, whose son Jesse Lewis died Dec. 14 at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn.; and the family of Falmouth police officer Samuel Pierce, who died in 1933, 80 years ago, while on duty on a motorcycle in Falmouth.
The 50-mile ride, which began at noon, took the motorcyclists through Yarmouth, Dennis, Brewster, Orleans, Chatham and Harwich, ending back on South Shore Drive in South Yarmouth. Each rider paid $20 to be part of the event, and each passenger $10. The money benefits the One Fund Boston, which was formed to assist families and victims most seriously affected by the events surrounding the bombings at the marathon.
