(Indianapolis, IN) - A La Porte man is leading the way for bicyclists riding throughout the state to financially help the family members of fallen police officers.

 

Mike Kellems is driving the supply truck and behind him are about 20 bicyclists now in the southern part of the state.

 

Kellems, a retired La Porte County Police Officer, said the killings of two law enforcement officers and a jail officer in Indiana recently has weighed heavily on the shoulders of the riders. He now wears a badge for the police department at Purdue University Northwest.

 

“It’s been a tough ride emotionally,” he said.

 

The 13-day ride began Monday in Indianapolis and will make a brief stop in La Porte on Tuesday, before ending five days later at a cemetery in Indianapolis where a tribute will be paid to fallen officers.

 

Kellems said the riders, before leaving La Porte, will be served lunch at the Scipio Township Volunteer Fire Department.

 

The riders will then stop in New Carlisle to honor the late Neal Thompson at his grave.  Thompson was a La Porte County Police Officer when killed while chasing a stolen ambulance in 1980.

 

So far, Kellems said the riders are holding up well physically, despite the heat and humidity in hilly southern areas of the state they passed through over the last two days such as New Albany near the Ohio River.

 

The 22nd annual ride is conducted by the organization "Cop Cycling for Survivors."