'Bay2Brooklyn' Cross-Country Bike Ride Commemorates Victims, 1st Responders Who Perished On 9/11
SAN FRANCISCO (KPIX 5) -- On August 1st, 10 current and retired firefighters, paramedics, and military vets from around the Bay Area jumped on their bikes in Santa Clara and began to ride across the country.
They're heading to New York to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks and to honor the 343 firefighters who lost their lives trying to save others.
So far, the team and their drivers have traveled thru California, Oregon, Idaho, Wyoming, Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, and Pennsylvania.
On Friday, the men stopped to visit a field of honor - the Flight 93 National Memorial - which commemorates the crash site in honor and remembrance of the passengers and crew of the hijacked plane who thwarted the attack on the U.S. Capitol was thwarted.
Two members of the cycling team - a father and a son who visited the site for the first time in their lives – spoke to KPIX 5 about their mission.
"It was very emotional, just to see the crash site and the flight pattern, you know, they, they had the whole flight pattern there and where the plane went down," said retired Santa Clara firefighter Jeff Provancher. "Those passengers were true heroes for me, to realize that they knew exactly what they were doing. And this was the last time they were going to be talking to their families through the phones and knowing what they were doing was the end. But they were doing it. I mean, they saved hundreds and hundreds of people and our capital."
"I was 10 years old when 9/11 happened," said Jeremy Proventure, a former Army Ranger. "I do remember the day, but it was also emotional for me just because that day is the day .. seeing what caused us to go to war and what caused like friends and brothers and friends and sisters and everyone to risk their life overseas as well, because it was pretty difficult for me."
Watch the entire interview in the player above.