REDLANDS – They rode 14 miles Saturday for the 14 who lost their lives in the Dec. 2, 2015, terrorist attack in San Bernardino.
Keith Moreland rode because he knew shooting victim Nicholas Thalasinos. Aileen Munoz rode because she knew victim Yvette Velasco. Mark Weidhase rode because when two terrorists opened fired inside the Inland Regional Center in San Bernardino, he was among the first responders.
The second Ride Yourself Fit Memorial Ride was held on Saturday, Dec. 2, 2017, to honor the victims of the San Bernardino terrorist attack at the Inland Regional Center on Dec. 2, 2015. Approximately 150 cyclists participated. (Sarah Alvarado, Contributing Photographer)The second Ride Yourself Fit Memorial Ride was held on Saturday, Dec. 2, 2017, to honor the victims of the San Bernardino terrorist attack at the Inland Regional Center on Dec. 2, 2015. Approximately 150 cyclists participated. (Sarah Alvarado, Contributing Photographer)The second Ride Yourself Fit Memorial Ride was held on Saturday, Dec. 2, 2017, to honor the victims of the San Bernardino terrorist attack at the Inland Regional Center on Dec. 2, 2015. Approximately 150 cyclists participated. (Sarah Alvarado, Contributing Photographer)The second Ride Yourself Fit Memorial Ride was held on Saturday, Dec. 2, 2017, to honor the victims of the San Bernardino terrorist attack at the Inland Regional Center on Dec. 2, 2015. Approximately 150 cyclists participated. (Sarah Alvarado, Contributing Photographer)The second Ride Yourself Fit Memorial Ride was held on Saturday, Dec. 2, 2017, to honor the victims of the San Bernardino terrorist attack at the Inland Regional Center on Dec. 2, 2015. Approximately 150 cyclists participated. (Sarah Alvarado, Contributing Photographer)The second Ride Yourself Fit Memorial Ride was held on Saturday, Dec. 2, 2017, to honor the victims of the San Bernardino terrorist attack at the Inland Regional Center on Dec. 2, 2015. Approximately 150 cyclists participated. (Sarah Alvarado, Contributing Photographer)The second Ride Yourself Fit Memorial Ride was held on Saturday, Dec. 2, 2017, to honor the victims of the San Bernardino terrorist attack at the Inland Regional Center on Dec. 2, 2015. Approximately 150 cyclists participated. (Sarah Alvarado, Contributing Photographer)The second Ride Yourself Fit Memorial Ride was held on Saturday, Dec. 2, 2017, to honor the victims of the San Bernardino terrorist attack at the Inland Regional Center on Dec. 2, 2015. Approximately 150 cyclists participated. (Sarah Alvarado, Contributing Photographer)The second Ride Yourself Fit Memorial Ride was held on Saturday, Dec. 2, 2017, to honor the victims of the San Bernardino terrorist attack at the Inland Regional Center on Dec. 2, 2015. Approximately 150 cyclists participated. (Sarah Alvarado, Contributing Photographer)The second Ride Yourself Fit Memorial Ride was held on Saturday, Dec. 2, 2017, to honor the victims of the San Bernardino terrorist attack at the Inland Regional Center on Dec. 2, 2015. Approximately 150 cyclists participated. (Sarah Alvarado, Contributing Photographer)The second Ride Yourself Fit Memorial Ride was held on Saturday, Dec. 2, 2017, to honor the victims of the San Bernardino terrorist attack at the Inland Regional Center on Dec. 2, 2015. Approximately 150 cyclists participated. (Sarah Alvarado, Contributing Photographer)The second Ride Yourself Fit Memorial Ride was held on Saturday, Dec. 2, 2017, to honor the victims of the San Bernardino terrorist attack at the Inland Regional Center on Dec. 2, 2015. Approximately 150 cyclists participated. (Sarah Alvarado, Contributing Photographer)The second Ride Yourself Fit Memorial Ride was held on Saturday, Dec. 2, 2017, to honor the victims of the San Bernardino terrorist attack at the Inland Regional Center on Dec. 2, 2015. Approximately 150 cyclists participated. (Sarah Alvarado, Contributing Photographer)The second Ride Yourself Fit Memorial Ride was held on Saturday, Dec. 2, 2017, to honor the victims of the San Bernardino terrorist attack at the Inland Regional Center on Dec. 2, 2015. Approximately 150 cyclists participated. (Sarah Alvarado, Contributing Photographer)Show Caption of Expand
For the second year, more than 150 cyclists on Saturday paid tribute to the victims of the Dec. 2, 2015, mass shooting by riding the streets of Redlands and San Bernardino.
Weidhase called the outpouring of support Saturday “amazing.”
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“Something like this ride brings all of us together,” he added. “Everyone has their way of commemorating the day, but seeing how the cycling community can come together to remember those who died is heart-warming, it really is.”
The attack that left 14 dead and 22 wounded took place during a training session and holiday gathering for San Bernardino County’s Environmental Health Services Division at the Inland Regional Center in San Bernardino.
Related: Learn more about the San Bernardino terror attack victims, what’s being done to help them
The attackers, Syed Rizwan Farook, 28, and his wife, Tashfeen Malik, 27, were killed hours later during a shootout 3 miles away.
The 14-mile memorial ride was a way of showing the survivors and the victims’ families “that we’re not going to forget that day and we’re going to be strong and come together as a community,” said Alesandra Wilson, of Ride Yourself Fit, the Redlands cycling crew that helped organize the event.
“This is not going to stop us.”
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Moreland, a member of Ride Yourself Fit, had known Thalasinos for nine-plus years before Dec. 2, 2015.
The 59-year-old said he speaks with Thalasinos’ widow, Jennifer, on a regular basis. The two talk about grief, about sleepless nights, about memories.
“And to think there are 14 families going through the same thing,” Moreland said. “It’s amazing the ripple effect something like that has on the community, on people personally.”
Munoz, a 9-1-1 dispatcher for the California Highway Patrol, answered the emergency phone call of a Dec. 2, 2015, survivor. Last year, Munoz participated in a memorial bike ride held by the San Bernardino Police Department. She said she shed tears that morning.
Related: What’s the status on a memorial for the San Bernardino terrorist attack victims?
Saturday, her 14-year-old son Jonathan tagged along.
“Sometimes with these tragedies, it’s out of sight, out of mind,” Munoz said. “To me, this is an opportunity to remember what happened, what those people went through. The pain is always there.”
Weidhase on Saturday retrieved a photo from his Facebook page of him standing shoulder to shoulder with other first responders on Dec. 2, 2015. A special agent at the time, Weidhase was involved in the fatal shootout.
“I fought wars overseas,” the 49-year-old veteran said. “That day, the war came to us.”
Two years after the Dec. 2, tragedy, small remnants remain of the memorial at the corner of Waterman Ave. & Orange Show Rd, for the victims of the Inland Regional Center mass shooting in San Bernardino, Ca., Thursday, November 30, 2017. (John Valenzuela/The Sun/SCNG)Two years after the Dec. 2, tragedy, small remnants remain of the memorial at the corner of Waterman Ave. & Orange Show Rd, for the victims of the Inland Regional Center mass shooting in San Bernardino, Ca., Thursday, November 30, 2017. (John Valenzuela/The Sun/SCNG)Two years after the Dec. 2, tragedy, small remnants remain of the memorial at the corner of Waterman Ave. & Orange Show Rd, for the victims of the Inland Regional Center mass shooting in San Bernardino, Ca., Thursday, November 30, 2017. (John Valenzuela/The Sun/SCNG)Two years after the Dec. 2, tragedy, small remnants remain of the memorial at the corner of Waterman Ave. & Orange Show Rd, for the victims of the Inland Regional Center mass shooting in San Bernardino, Ca., Thursday, November 30, 2017. (John Valenzuela/The Sun/SCNG)Calvin Canepa’s painting titled “Mountain Tranquility” located at the San Bernardino County Government Center, is dedicated to the victims of the Inland Regional Center mass shooting on Dec. 2, 2015, San Bernardino, Ca., Thursday, November 30, 2017. (John Valenzuela/The Sun/SCNG)Two years after the Dec. 2, tragedy, small remnants remain of the memorial at the corner of Waterman Ave. & Orange Show Rd, for the victims of the Inland Regional Center mass shooting in San Bernardino, Ca., Thursday, November 30, 2017. (John Valenzuela/The Sun/SCNG)A SWAT vehicle carries police officers, from multiple agencies, north on Waterman Avenue, in San Bernardino after two shooters killed 14 people and injured 22 others at the Inland Regional Center on Wednesday, December 2, 2015. The two shooters, Syed Farook, 28, and his wife Tashfeen Malik, 29, of Redlands, were killed hours later in a gun battle with authorities. (Staff file photo, The Sun/SCNG)Olivia Navarro waits to hear from her daughter, just outside the crime scene, where 14 people were killed and 22 injured at the Inland Regional Center in San Bernardino, CA. Wednesday December 2, 2015. The two shooters, Syed Farook, 28, and his wife Tashfeen Malik, 29, of Redlands, were killed hours later in a gun battle with authorities. (Staff file photo, The Sun/SCNG)Law enforcement officers, from multiple agencies, search for a possible third suspect involved in a mass shooting where at least 14 people were killed and 22 others injured at an incident at the Inland Regional Center on Wednesday December 2, 2015. The two shooters, Syed Farook, 28, and his wife Tashfeen Malik, 29, of Redlands, were killed hours later in a gun battle with authorities. (Staff file photo, The Sun/SCNG)Tionna Thompson sheds a tear, Wednesday December 2, 2015, as she prays at the Kingdom Culture Worship Centre in San Bernardino during a prayer vigil for the 14 people killed and 22 wounded during a mass shooting earlier in the day at the Inland Regional Center. The two shooters, Syed Farook, 28, and his wife Tashfeen Malik, 29, of Redlands, were killed hours later in a gun battle with authorities. (Staff file photo, The Sun/SCNG)Law enforcement officers, from multiple agencies, search for a possible third suspect involved in a mass shooting where at least 14 people were killed and 22 others injured at an incident at the Inland Regional Center on Wednesday December 2, 2015. The two shooters, Syed Farook, 28, and his wife Tashfeen Malik, 29, of Redlands, were killed hours later in a gun battle with authorities. (Staff file photo, The Sun/SCNG)Law enforcement officers, from multiple agencies, search for a possible third suspect involved in a mass shooting where at least 14 people were killed and 22 others injured at an incident at the Inland Regional Center on Wednesday December 2, 2015. The two shooters, Syed Farook, 28, and his wife Tashfeen Malik, 29, of Redlands, were killed hours later in a gun battle with authorities. (Staff file photo, The Sun/SCNG)A woman waits to reunite with her sister at the Rudy C Hernandez Community Center Wednesday, December 2, 2015, in San Bernardino following a shooting where 14 people were killed and 22 wounded during a mass shooting earlier in the day at the Inland Regional Center. The two shooters, Syed Farook, 28, and his wife Tashfeen Malik, 29, of Redlands, were killed hours later in a gun battle with authorities. (Staff file photo, The Sun/SCNG)Emilie Gleisberg, left, hugs her mother Diane Kimble, right, as family members are reunited at The Rock Church after a shooting where 14 people were killed and 22 wounded during a mass shooting earlier in the day at the Inland Regional Center. The two shooters, Syed Farook, 28, and his wife Tashfeen Malik, 29, of Redlands, were killed hours later in a gun battle with authorities. (Staff file photo, The Sun/SCNG)Law enforcement officers investigate the aftermath of the shoot out with Syed Farook, 28, and his wife Tashfeen Malik, 29, December 3, 2015. Farook and Malik shot and killed 14 people and injured another 22 at the Inland Regional Center in San Bernardino on December 2. (Staff file photo, The Sun/SCNG)Aaron Fierro prays and leaves a candle, Thursday December 3, 2015 at a makeshift memorial to the 14 people killed and 22 injured during the December 2 mass shooting at the Inland Regional Center in San Bernardino, California. (Staff file photo, The Sun/SCNG)Talula Schulte, 15 from Temecula, holds a candle during a vigil Sunday December 6, 2015 at Yucaipa Community Park for those killed and injured in Wednesday mass murder in San Bernardino. Approximately 250 people attended a candlelight vigil to remember the 14 people killed and those injured during Wednesday’s mass shooting Sunday evening December 6, 2015 at Yucaipa Community Park. Summer Adams, wife of murder victim and Yucaipa resident Robert Adams, spoke to those attendance. (Staff file photo, The Sun/SCNG)Bystanders form a prayer circle while law enforcement officials investigate the aftermath of the shoot out with Syed Farook, 28, and his wife Tashfeen Malik, 29, December 3, 2015. Farook and Malik shot and killed 14 people and injured another 22 at the Inland Regional Center in San Bernardino on December 2. (Staff file photo, The Sun/SCNG)Detective Jorge Lozano, a 15-year veteran with the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department, listens to first responders’ terrifying stories from San Bernardino mass shooting during a press conference at the San Bernardino Police Department in San Bernardino, CA on Tuesday, Dec. 8, 2015. Det. Lozano was recorded on civilian video saying, “I’ll take a bullet before you, that’s for damn sure,” while rescuing county employees out of the Inland Regional Center during the San Bernardino mass shooting that left 14 dead and 22 wounded. (Staff file photo, The Sun/SCNG)Mourners react following funeral services for Issac Amanios, 60, at St. Minas Orthodox Church in Colton December 12, 2015. Amanios was one of the 14 victims from the Dec. 2 Inland Regional Center mass shooting in San Bernardino, Califorina (Staff file photo, The Sun/SCNG)The parents of Yvette Velasco, Robert and Marie Velasco, embrace next to the casket of their daughter Thursday December 10, 2015 during her funeral service at Forest Lawn in Covina. Velasco is the first of the 14 victims from the Dec. 2 Inland Regional Center mass shooting to be buried. (Staff file photo, The Sun/SCNG)FBI and law enforcement officials search a Redlands home Thursday, December 3, 2015, in connection with December 2nd’s deadly shooting in San Bernardino that left 14 people dead. Officials say the team has discovered thousands of rounds of ammunition and at least a dozen pipe bombs. (Staff file photo, The Sun/SCNG)Members of the FBI Underwater Search and Evidence Response Team are searching Seccombe Lake in San Bernardino, Thursday, December 10, 2015 for evidence linked to the December 2 mass shooting at the Inland Regional Center. (Staff file photo, The Sun/SCNG)The family of San Bernardino mass shooter, Syed Rizwan Farook, from the left, brother Syed Raheel Farook; brother-in-law Farhan Khan, center, and mother Rafia Farook leave the apartment of the mass shooters as landlord Doyle Miller prepares to board up the property after the family hired movers to begin removing items out of the Redlands apartment Saturday December 19, 2015. (Staff file photo, The Sun/SCNG)Lifelong San Bernardino resident Kathi Rainbolt, right, takes a photo of a parade participate after giving him a “I am San Bernardino” sign to pose with during the San Bernardino YMCA Christmas parade on Highland Avenue in San Bernardino, CA on Saturday, Dec. 5, 2015. San Bernardino held the annual celebratory parade despite the terror that hit the city earlier this week. (Staff file photo, The Sun/SCNG)A day following the mass shooting, residents of San Bernardino start to show indications of rebuilding their community reflected in a billboard next to 215 freeway running through the city. December 2, 2015 two gunmen, Syed Farook, 28, and Tashfeen Malik, 27, opened fire at Inland Regional Center killing 14 and injuring 21. The two were later killed after a lengthy gun battle with police. (Staff file photo, The Sun/SCNG)Show Caption of Expand
Weidhase now works with Project Hero, a community-based rehabilitation and recovery cycling program for injured veterans. Several riders from his Inland Empire hub joined the memorial ride.
Early in the 14-mile route, members of Walk Yourself Fit, a sister program to Ride Yourself Fit, stood at Barton Road and Alabama Street holding American flags and signs adorned with the names and ages of those lost on Dec. 2, 2015.
Cyclists passed the Inland Regional Center and the makeshift memorial at Waterman Avenue and Orange Show Road.
After finishing the 14-mile course, some rode another 22 miles to remember the 22 wounded in the mass shooting, as well as those lost in other terrorist attacks around the country.
“By remembering and honoring those who died two years ago, I hope it softens people’s hearts on issues our country and other countries are facing,” Moreland said. “I hope people are more mindful of the things people go through on a daily basis: hardships, sicknesses, personal tragedy.
“I hope we can get back to looking out for each other as individuals.”
Source: Oc Register
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