National EMS Memorial Bike Ride

Registration for the entire ride (for riders) is $250. Each rider also must raise a minimum of additional $250 which will go to our Fallen Angels Fund to support the families of providers who have suffered a catastrophic event.

Support personnel pay only $50 but are also encouraged to raise more money to to add to the Fallen Angels Fund.

Riders who are only riding for 1-3 days pay $50 a day. Like the support people, we highly encourage day riders to raise more for the cause. (Day riders don’t get a jersey with their registration, but can purchase one separately.

Registration will be accepted up until the start of the ride, unless we have a huge influx of riders that stress our capacity beyond it’s limits, in which case we will close registrations at our discretion. However, riders registering after March 15, will not be guaranteed jerseys for the start of the ride, they could be received after the ride is completed.

Refund Policy:
-Up to April 1- full refund
-Up to May 1-50% refund
-After May 1 – no refund

The registration fee gets riders a way-cool, bike jersey (day riders don’t get a jersey with their registration, but can purchase one separately). Everyone who helps or rides gets a Muddy Angels T-shirt.
Besides paying for your duds, your fee goes towards rider insurance, maintenance and fueling of support vehicles, road markings, snacks and other expenses incurred in setting up the ride.
It does not pay for your housing or your transportation to/from the start/end of the route. We are looking at different levels of housing options to keep costs at a minimum and possibilities of transportation options for those who need rides for minimal fees.

Yes you can. However, you will need to have all donations made out to you if you plan on using them to cover your personal expenses, such as lodging, souvenirs, food, transportation to/from start point. These items can not be tax-deductible through the National EMS Memorial Bike Ride, Inc.

Donations to NEMSMBR or the Fallen Angel Fund (made in your name) can be sent directly to the organization through out Sponsor button on the Muddy Angels home page or by sending a check to NEMSMBR PO BOX 813, Littleton, NH 03561 These donations are tax-deductible through the National EMS Memorial Bike Ride, Inc

We expect that each rider will have a proper fitting bicycle in good condition on the night before each ride begins. We do not rent or sell bikes, and so far, we do not have a sponsoring bike shop. If needed, you should be able to arrange to rent a bike, and perhaps have it delivered to your starting hotel location. Remember that you will be responsible for its return. Consult Cyclist’s Yellow Pages at http://www.adventurecycling.org for more information about where to rent bikes and what options you have for renting a bike in your home town, and having it shipped to the start of this ride.

For the most part, this ride takes place on paved city and country roads. While some unexpected detours, bike trails or paths on our route may be hard packed dirt or limestone, the bulk of our ride is on pavement. We highly discourage fat (all terrain) tires. If you only own a mountain bike and really want to ride it 100 miles each day, we recommend you visit your local bike shop and purchase some skinny tires for this ride. In general, touring, road, or cross bikes are a built for longer distance cycling. They usually offer more handlebar positions and a more aerodynamic (energy efficient) riding stance.

For the most part the ride will be a touring format. There are times, like when we’re being escorted through a city, that we ride as a group. Each day we’ll cover an average of 75 miles with a century or two thrown in for good measure. It’s important to remember that this isn’t a race, it’s about remembering our fallen comrades. You don’t have to ride every mile and if you’re worn out feel free to hop in a support vehicle. Our motto is “Everyone rides into Roanoke” and we’ll do what it takes to help everyone accomplish that goal.

The EMS Memorial bike ride is not a race. The purpose of the ride is to celebrate the lives of those who have made the ultimate sacrifice, and those still working in EMS. As such, we are not trying to bike as fast as we can. Instead we ride a comfortable pace that will get us to our destination safely. In general we have two styles of riding.

Formation Style – We ride in this style when we are being escorted through major urban areas and want to raise the awareness of the local public about our cause. We ride double file with an emphasis on safety. Typically our speed will average 5-15 mph and everyone rides together taking breaks only when the entire group reaches an appropriate resting area.

Touring Style – We ride in this style when we are moving across longer distances in less populated areas. Bikers ride single file at the speed they are comfortable with, taking road-side breaks when they feel they need them.

We do not ride in a paceline or pack. We expect that most bikers will maintain an average of 10-12mph over the course of an 80-110 mile biking day, in sometime hilly terrain. Each day the route will open and close at a precise time allowing enough hours to comfortably complete the ride. Registered riders are expected to ride during this time period for safety and support reasons. You will not be pressured to ride at a certain pace, and we prohibit drafting and racing in pacelines. If you fall so far behind that you will not be able to finish by the time the route closes for the day, you may be politely asked to jump into a SAG vehicle.

Information on training is on the Training Page of this website. You will find links to training sites and tips on what to do to get ready for the ride. I suggest you train, train, train – do something, anything, everyday from the time you read this until the day you join us.

The Team (riders and support staff) spend the night at a pre-determined locations. Typically we ride from lodging to lodging and in previous years this has been hotels. This year we are investigating camping options and/or some availability in local EMS/Firehouses. Lodging costs are not covered by the registration fee and will generally run you about $100/room/night for hotels, $15-30 for campsites, and hopefully donated space if in a station. You’re free to make your own arrangements, but it’s much easier when we’re all in the same place as we usually start riding pretty early in the morning at a common location or affiliated lodging.

This is found on the Route page of the website and is generally posted by the end of November for each route. If it is earlier in the calendar year than that – be patient. Planning these routes is a difficult task, but the best of the best are doing their best! Each year the route gets tweaked for a number of different reasons; road conditions, traffic, location of a known LODD that is close enough for us to stop and honor, and much, much more. We try to cover a comfortable distance each day and travel through as many states as possible – we are an awareness event as well as a fund-raiser.

Most of our food is donated and we will be providing snacks to keep you fueled throughout the day. are also welcomed) There are usually a couple of meals that you have to spring for and once we hit the Hotel Roanoke, you’re on your own.

Many riders/teams will also tap into their local resources for donations stuff such as sports drinks, Gu, powerbars, etc.)

The EMS Memorial Bike Ride is a well supported ride. While we expect that most riders come prepared to bike the entire route each day, we are prepared to support you if mechanical or physical problems prevent you from completing a stage of the ride.

We offer full support with:

We welcome volunteers to join the support team for the entire ride. Unfortunately additional vehicles on the route create safety hazards, logistical problems and additional vehicular traffic congestion. We do not offer shuttle services, and we cannot spare volunteers to drive your personal vehicle. We strongly discourage riders from bringing their own support team and vehicles. Instead, we pool our volunteer and support resources. If you have departmental vehicles, staff, family, friends and coworkers who are interested in volunteering, please contact the ride coordinator at: ridecoordinator@muddyangels.org we would love to have you participate in a more coordinated format.

I am guessing, if you really think about this one, you will figure it out. Let’s think about it and do the math – 150 riders, 150 support cars driving 10mph behind them – through NYC, Washington, DC, rural roads of Virginia – NOT! This is a fully supported ride, we have designated vehicles that come with us, but it is not feasible to have more than necessary. If you do have someone wanting to travel with you, they can register as a support person and they will be assigned a task during the days, travel in our designated vehicles, and meet you at the daily end points. We would love to have them – but not your car.

Yes. We will have designated parking that can be made available, we will need your vehicle model, make and license plate number.

All riders are responsible for their own transportation to ride’s starting point and back home. We do have some folks that return to the starting points and depending on need, we can try and arrange some cheap options to accommodate rider’s needs. Let us know if you need a ride back to the start when you register.

We don’t schedule activities for family members, but we certain get to see some beautiful and exciting parts of the country!

Whoa, dude…TMI! We don’t need to know what you do in your free time – but if they are gonna hang during the day with our support people while you ride they will be put to work and made to register as support staff (liability and accountability). Same goes if they decide to ride, they will be required to register as a rider and required to adhere to our regulations.

We are a separate organization from the National EMS Memorial Service (NEMSMS). We have our own leadership, mission, vision, goals and objectives. Our fund raising supports our own Family Fund, that will assist EMS families that have suffered a catastrophic event, we do not raise funds for the NEMSMS.
We do support the NEMSMS by riding to and attending their service with grace and honor. We will ride for the known inductees of the NEMSMS, but we also ride for individuals who may not be a NEMSMS inductees but are known as EMS providers who have died for whatever reason.

The Board of Diectors decided that it was important for the ride to remain an EMS week activity. That being said, we will be organizing a one-day ride in Colorado to support the Memorial Service and the families of the honorees.

The first thing to do is to experience a ride on an established route. We want the ride to grow and we know it will, but we really want this ride to continue to be the special ride it is – based in group passion for the recognition of our peers who have given the ultimate sacrifice. The ride takes a lot of planning and commitment, sit with a route coordinator or a Board member and get the “skinny.” If you want to establish a route – join us under the Muddy Angels (NEMSMBR) – let’s bring EMS together when it comes to honoring our own.