COLORADO — The 2024 Tour de SHIELD616 begins Thursday and will see riders cover 271.4 miles as they tackle the tough terrain of Colorado over four days.
SHIELD616 is a non-profit organization in Colorado that helps donate all-day rifle-rated body armor to our first responders. It is also a great way for the community to show their support for local law enforcement in their areas.
WATCH: SHIELD616 donates body armor to Manitou Springs Police Department
SHIELD616 hosts a bike ride that helps donate vests to agencies, all the while visiting the physical locations of these agencies to remember all of those who have given their lives in the field.
WATCH: Riding to remember El Paso County Deputy Andrew Peery
The ride coincides with National Police Week which lasts from May 16 to 19. National Police Week is held to highlight those who have made the ultimate sacrifice. The route the ride will follow has also been curated to visit the agencies where a HERO made the ultimate sacrifice, El Paso County Sheriff's Office, Colorado Springs Police Department, Arvada Police Department, UCCS Police Department, Commerce City Police Department, and the Boulder Police Department.
The vests donated this year will be allocated to the Cortez Police Department, Boulder Sheriff, Lake Sheriff, Alamosa Sheriff, and Trinidad Police Department.
Any first responder riders will have vests donated to their own departments.
There will also be an End of Watch coin honoring Cortez Police Sergeant Michael Moran after the finish of the ride.
WATCH: News5 Special: 2023 SHIELD616 Border-to-Border Ride
The ride itself will be held over four days and cover various parts of the state.
The information for each day can be found below:
DAY 1:Colorado Springs Scheels to Sedalia
DAY 2: Sedalia to Boulder
DAY 3: Boulder Church to Boulder Police Department then to Estes Park Church.
DAY 4: Estes Park Church to Angel Armor to Scheels Johnstown.
For more information on the ride or how to donate, you can visit the SHIELD616 website.
Editors Note: The original of this article headline stated the participants would be doing 82 miles of biking on day one. After checking in with our field crew we were made aware that the participants made it 77 miles on day one.
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