Delco officers ready for Tour de Shore charity bike ride
It’s not unlikely to see a police department bike patrol unit making the rounds of local communities when the temperatures warm up, but seeing thousands of law enforcement officers traveling in a pack is something else.
This morning 2,500 cyclists, many of them police officers, will take part in the 30th Annual Irish Pub Tour de Shore bike ride, a 65-mile charity biking event that takes cyclists from the Irish Pub in Center City Philadelphia to the Irish Pub in Atlantic City. The yearly cycling event is a fundraising opportunity for the Irish Pub Children’s Foundation, a non-profit organization that provides monetary relief for families of fallen first responders and other children in need in the greater Philadelphia and South Jersey region.
Upper Darby Police Sgt. Amanda Pombo and Pennsylvania State Constable Mike Connor are two local law enforcement officers who will be grabbing their Fuji road bikes and taking part in this year’s ride.
“I’m very much looking forward to it and excited for it,” said Pombo, a 17-year vet with Upper Darby and first timer on the tour. “I’m keeping my body in shape to be able to ride like this and I’m learning how to raise money in different ways.”
Connor, who is doing the tour for the second time this year, said the cause is what motivates him to want to keep doing it.
“It’s a good cause, great cause for the families of the fallen and the kids,” he said. “There is a lot of different things I can take part in, but I try to be selective in what events I choose to participate.”
As Connor noted, one can’t just roll out of bed and be expected to bike 65 miles.
Training is key for a ride that, for Connor at least, can take five hours starting at 7 a.m. Connor and Pombo got a good amount of training in when they both participated in the multi-day Police Unity Tour in May that covers hundreds of miles from North New Jersey to Washington, D.C. Supplemental training through spin classes and recreational riding have occurred since the unity tour.
“I’ve continued (training) since the Police Unity tour, (but) it’s a different ride,” said Pombo. “This is more of a faster pace if you want to, and I plan to… I want to see if I can make it without stopping.”
Training hasn’t been as easy for Pombo, who just came back to duty in January following an operation to have her spine fused together after an injury she received trying to break up a bar fight while on-duty. The injury looked to be a careerender for the first woman promoted to sergeant in Upper Darby history. Pombo, who was an active runner, was told to take up cycling as an activity that would be less straining on her back than running.
“I worked really hard. I was told not to run because it was too much impact on the spine and that bicycling is better ... Then I started to train for the police unity tour,” she said. “If I hadn’t done the Police Unity tour I wouldn’t have been ready (for Tour de Shore).”
But Tour de Shore is different from the unity tour, according to Connor, noting that wind and summer heat are more trying elements on the ride.
“You still have to prep yourself for the day, I learned that doing the unity tour,” Connor said. “You need to build yourself up with training miles, hydration and food leading up to the tour … I’m doing something constantly to keep myself loosened up for the rides. You have to stay in some sort of shape to get back out and do it again.”
When asked what advice he could give to first-time Pombo, Connor laughed and said she didn’t need it.
“Amanda amazes me. She doesn’t need any guidance. She’s a remarkable individual who was two years removed from a career-ending injury and she fought herself all the way back to being a participant in the rides,” he said. “It encourages me to keep going. I can’t say enough great things watching her come through the way she has.”
With their minds, bodies and bikes prepped, Pombo and Connor are ready to take to the streets and join a band of their brothers and sisters in law enforcement to help others, and increase their own circle of friends.
“The camaraderie is important. At work we work very hard. There are unfortunate situations that happen … it doesn’t look too good for law enforcement, but events like this people get to see us out of uniforms, as humans. It’s nice to get that support.”
The 30th Annual Irish Pub Tour de Shore starts at 7 a.m. from the Irish Pub at 20th and Walnut streets in Philadelphia. More than $1 million has been raised this year for the Irish Pub Children’s Foundation through Tour de Shore. Donations can still be made at irishpub. donordrive.com.