A few thousand motorcycles, most with passengers, were riden through Newtown on Sunday, May 5, for The Sandy Hook-Newtown Green Ribbon Ride. According to race co-chair Greg Gnandt, “We don’t have a firm count yet, but there were at least 2,000 bikes in the ride yesterday.”

The route took riders from Shelton into Derby, Seymour, and Oxford, crossing Stevenson Dam into Monroe, north on Route 34 into Sandy Hook, over Wasserman Way. The route then turned south on Route 25 back into Monroe, and then into Trumbull, concluding at Trumbull Westfield Mall.

A state police escort opened the ride, clearing the roads and stopped traffic as the ride approached. The ride then featured “well over 100 motorcycle cops,” said Mr Gnandt. Police officers from as far north as Portland, Maine, and from as far south as at least New Jersey were seen within that group. In addition, the Patriot Guard volunteered their time to ride with the group, keeping traffic stopped at intersections and “just offering their support, which was also amazing,” Mr Gnandt said Monday morning

As they traveled, the riders and passengers passed dozens of locations where spectators waved to them. A large group was waiting for the ride just inside Newtown’s town line, at the intersection of Great Quarter Road, where a few young adults were holding a green sign with black lettering that read Welcome To Sandy Hook.

The event was a fundraiser for ten local funds, including the 26 families who lost a loved one on 12/14.

“It was amazing how smooth everything went,” Mr Gnandt said. “The volunteers who pulled this together were fantastic. It was so well organized.”

The ride’s other lead organizers were Race Director Fred Garrity Jr and co-chair Anthony Capozziello.

More details and additional photos of the Green Ribbon Ride will appear here later today.