- April 23, 2024
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The Tour de Force charity bike ride started in Miami and went through 42 law enforcement jurisdictions.
BY MATT MENCARINI | STAFF WRITER
James Crosby has been riding his bicycle all week, surrounded by fellow law enforcement officers, and soon, he’ll have his son by his side.
Tim Crosby is set to join him on the 270-mile bike ride April 18, for the final stretch of the five-day Tour de Force charity bike ride for families of Florida law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty.
Tim Crosby, an Ormond Beach resident and member of the Florida Highway Patrol, is biking in his second Tour de Force. He started simply because he knew it was a good cause.
“They made the ultimate sacrifice,” he said of the fallen officers. “This one week is just a small sacrifice we make for their families, to help them get through this hard time.”
Crosby and his son bike several times per week, he said, and his son was on hand for the start of the ride April 14, in Miami. He was scheduled to join the pack in Titusville, and finish the ride, which ends Thursday, in Daytona Beach.
“He’s extremely excited,” James Crosby said. “He knows what it’s for. It’s going to be a neat experience for him to experience it with us. He watched all of us take off from Miami and has been following (the progress) all the way. It’ll be an experience he’ll remember his whole life.”
R.W. Milstead, of Flagler Beach, is participating in his seventh Tour de Force and said he rides because it’s important that the families know their loved ones haven’t been forgotten.
The Florida Tour de Force was founded in 1997, in an effort to raise awareness and support for family members of Florida law enforcement officers who were killed in the line of duty. The bike ride, entering its 16th year, has raised more than $200,000 for families.
