Every year since 2007 the Brotherhood Ride cycles through the state of Florida for seven days to honor the Heroes in Florida who died in the line of duty while protecting their communities. The 2018 ride was dedicated to twenty fallen heroes, including two K9s. A group of 35 cyclists covered over 600 miles, averaging about 80 – 100 miles a day.

Elmer Sauceda was part of the Brotherhood ride this year, he works for the State of Florida as a wildland firefighter and volunteers as a structural firefighter in LaBelle.

“We rode from Naples to Tallahassee, our main objective was to honor and remember the fallen heroes and raise money for the families of the fallen heroes. We rode our bicycles to their hometowns and provided financial and emotional support to their families, friends and coworkers. We started the 9th of September and rode for a week, about eight hours a day. We visited each place that the fallen heroes lived and we got a lot of support from the local communities. The local fire and police departments would escort us through the city. At some point during the ride I started feeling sick but I never lost my motivation because we are doing it out of respect for all those individuals and the sacrifices that they have made,” Sauceda said.

Over the past ten years the Brotherhood Ride has continued the tradition of Honor, Dedication and Pride. They have honored the memory and sacrifice of a total of 531 Emergency First Responders which includes firefighters, law enforcement officers and emergency medical personnel. They have traveled on bicycles over 8,000 miles through 16 states and have donated over $400,000 to the families left behind.