A couple of years ago, in a Buckhead fire station kitchen, a couple of firefighters sat talking, passing the time away.
Mike Palmeri, a New York native who moved to these parts when he was 5, was recalling a bike ride that nearly killed him but won him a St. Louis bride. An incredulous Rodney Deese, a Georgia native and comrade, listened.
Like a mother who has forgotten the pain of labor, the travails of that ride to Missouri had long subsided for Palmeri. And so he looked at Deese and suggested it would be a good idea to ride from Atlanta to New York City to mark the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
Deese, a patriot at heart, liked the idea. Man, that is too cool, he told Palmeri. We need to do it.
And so Friday morning, after nearly two years of riding mountain roads, on gravel and through snow, 175 miles a week, Palmeri, Deese and 10 other Georgia firefighters and public safety officers will set off from Station 21 and head to New York, hoping to get as close to the observance at ground zero as they can.
Their mission is threefold, really, said Palmeri, who lost a cousin in the attacks. First, to commemorate the first responders and pay tribute to the fallen heroes and their equally courageous survivors. Second, to celebrate the unity in American fire stations across the country and finally to promote cycling as the fun sport that it is.
“When people talk about something, most of the time nothing gets done” Palmeri said early this week. “We’re not just talking. We’re going to do this.”
Bike rides don’t bring people back from the dead or dry the tears from tragedy. But Palmeri hopes his Freedom Riders, as they call themselves, will provide Americans a reason to hope again, to feel proud.
‘Part of a brotherhood'
In the beginning, Palmeri thought it would be just him, Deese and their backpacks.
“A friend heard about it, sent out a press release, and the next thing I know the Buckhead Alliance had gotten wind of it and it just ballooned,” he said.
This wasn’t the first time Palmeri had conceived such a cockamamie idea and it got away from him.
Back in 2008, he decided to ride his bike more than 500 miles from his home in Ellijay to St. Louis, staying at fire stations along the way.
“When I made it to the fire stations they were really happy to see me,” he recalled.
They cooked for him, washed his laundry and listened to his tales about work in Atlanta.
“I saw in their eyes the camaraderie and excitement of being a part of a brotherhood, a fraternity,” he said.
Palmeri arrived in St. Louis on Day Three, his legs tired and swollen. Instead of sweeping his fiancee off her feet with a marriage proposal as he'd planned, she shuttled him to a massage therapist ASAP.
“The Big Dawg was beat down,” Palmeri admitted with a big wide grin.
Only after she had loaded him up in her car and driven the firefighter back to Ellijay did he finally do what he’d set out to do.
“I asked her to marry me,” he said.
She said yes and became Mrs. Terry Palmeri.
This time it was his comrade Dees saying yes.
Like climbing Everest twice
As word spread about the anniversary ride, nearly 20 comrades signed up for the 1,035-mile trek.
To qualify, they first had to conquer 96 miles over two mountains and 9,600 feet of elevation. Deese was one of the first to make it over. In the end, only 15, including a 63-year-old retired Army colonel from Florida named Jim Bush, made the grade. They would be riding to ground zero with the Big Dawg.
For two years, they have worked toward Friday's launch, training and raising funds to underwrite the cost of food and lodging, hoping what is left is worth donating to the Atlanta Fire Foundation and orphans of the firefighters killed on 9/11.
They are still taking donations at the Roswell Road station and online at freedomride2011.com.
“We’re blue-collar workers, so it’s been tough,” Palmeri said.
Perhaps not as tough as this ride promises to be.
“The first seven days is all uphill,” Palmeri said. “We’re not just taking a beach cruiser ride along the coast of Florida. This is like climbing Mount Everest two times.”
Unlike his trip to St. Louis, however, Palmeri and the others will have a backup team headed by Capt. Stephen Hill.
It will be up to Hill's team to make sure the cyclists are fed and hydrated, to smooth over rough patches on the route and to keep track of any developing storms coming across the Atlantic.
“Hopefully, any bad weather will be in front of us,” Hill said. “It will be some long days if they are riding out there in the rain.”
The Freedom Riders will leave Atlanta, bike north to Ellijay and then through North Carolina before heading over the Blue Ridge Parkway, which includes the Great Smoky Mountains, Hill said. From there, they will hit the coast of Maryland, travel through Delaware and into New Jersey and finally New York.
The riders, 12 in all -- three had to drop out, one with cardiac issues, another who broke his leg in a charity football game, a third who crashed his bike -- say they are ready for anything.
Although he admits he thought his comrades were crazy when they first started talking about the ride, Robert Cotrell Jr. said the idea grew on him.
“Seeing how many people really appreciated what we were doing meant a lot,” he said.
Is he prepared?
Yes, Cotrell said. He's put in the training. Now all he has to do is remember what happened to his country that dreadful day in 2001.
“There’s not much we can do to honor those who died,” Cotrell said. “This we can do.”
If you go
What: Aaron's Freedom Ride 2011
When: 8 a.m. Aug. 26, 9 a.m. ceremony; 9:11 a.m. moment of silence
Where: Terminus, Café Street, 3280 Peachtree Road, Atlanta, Ga 30305
Goal: To raise $15,000
To follow the riders, check their blog at cartecaybikes.com
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