“Enough Funerals:” Officer Will Bike 300 Miles For Fallen Brethren

Come September, Northbrook Police Officer Michael Shep plans to drive 800 miles to New York City, then bike another 300 miles more from Ground Zero to the Pentagon.

Shep is putting those miles on his car and his bicycle as part of Tour De Force 2011, an annual ride that honors victims of 9/11 and raises money for the families of officers who have been killed in the line of duty across the country each year.

“Being in police work for 38 years, I’ve been to enough funerals,” Shep said.

This year’s ride also coincides with the 10th anniversary of 9/11, as Shep points out.

“I think that’s something we should never forget,” he said.

Ride participants must raise at least $1,000 in donations from individuals or corporate sponsors. Money raised locally will come back to the families of slain Chicago area officers, Shep said.

This year, Tour de Force funds benefited the family of Chicago Police Officer Michael Flisk, who was shot in the head while investigating a burglary, and Schaumburg Police Officer Roy Reininger, who died in a car accident.

Shep will ride with Palatine Police Deputy Chief Al Stoekel, who’s done the ride for several years, and Chicago Police Officer Ray Ranne, a first-timer like Shep. The three are the only participants who will come from the Chicago area, he said.

“It represents the entire police department, the community as well,” said Northbrook Police Chief Charles Wernick. “God bless him, he’s got more energy than I do.”

While he didn’t know anyone directly who was killed in the line of duty, Shep said, he’s been to countless funerals.

“To me, personally, it’s something that’s important,” Shep said. “Honoring those that did die, and taking care of families.”

He’s A Bike Patrol Officer At Heart

Shep is no stranger to bicycling. He teaches police officers around Chicago to patrol on bikes—“We call it the stealth mode,” he says—and started Evanston’s bike unit in 1991, when he was an officer there.

Because the Evanston chief wasn’t sold yet on the idea of a bike unit, Shep said, they started out with two old bikes from the police departments’ stock of recovered property. Then local organizations started donating money, and today Evanston’s bike unit is a regular part of the force.

“You could be seen when you want to and not seen when you want to,” Shep said. “If you get into a foot chase, you’ve got the mechanical advantage.”

While Shep has been with the since 2002, he spent his previous 30 years on the force in Evanston as a patrol officer—the last 13 of those as an officer in the bike unit.

But First: Getting in Shape and Quitting Smoking

Today Shep does communications for the Northbrook Police Department, and completing a 300-mile bike ride will take some getting in shape—not to mention quitting smoking.

Shep smoked for five years, quit for 17 years, then started again five years ago. He said he plans to quit one more time before the ride.

He’s also taking classes with his wife at the health club in Highland Park. Both are part of a competition the club is hosting based on The Biggest Loser, in which the participant who loses the greatest percentage of his or her body weight will get a lifetime membership.

“The trainer puts us through a hell of a workout,” Shep said.

He does cardio, weights, and rides a stationary bike in order to get in shape for September’s long ride. While there’s no TV, Shep says he does wear headphones.

“I like hard rock—that head-banging stuff,” he said. “I try to keep the pace with the beat of the music.”

Once the weather improves, Shep said he plans to get out on the Green Bay Trail and the North Branch Bicycle Trail, which starts in the city and ends at the Chicago Botanic Garden. He also plans to start riding to work on his two-year-old, fire-engine red Giant road bike.

While that means he’ll have to leave at 5:30 a.m. to cover the 7 to 8 miles, he’s dedicated to the cause.

“I have a strobe light,” Shep said. “You can’t miss me.”

Anyone interested in donating to Shep’s ride with the Tour de Force can do so by searching for his name on the donations page of the Tour de Force website, at http://www.tourdeforceny.com/sections/donation.asp, or by contacting Shep directly at 847-509-5381.