Staying Fit
To commemorate the 20th anniversary of 9/11, a group of cyclists will bike from Berlin, Pennsylvania, to the Flight 93 National Memorial in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, on Sept. 18. Participants in the third annual Tour de Trail will be cycling 24 miles of the 9/11 National Memorial Trail, the 1,300-mile multiuse recreational trail that links the three 9/11 crash sites, in Pennsylvania, New York and Virginia. The event's organizers are expecting about 200 riders (but would welcome more participants; see box for details) on the route, which starts in Berlin, Pennsylvania, loops through the grounds of the Flight 93 National Memorial in Shanksville, and then ends back in Berlin. The proceeds will be used to maintain the trail.
The organizers say the trail represents continuity and perseverance. “The trail is the only physical manifestation that connects all three sites,” says Tim Brown, a board member of the September 11th National Memorial Trail Alliance and a retired New York City firefighter who was at the World Trade Center on Sept. 11 and lost a hundred friends. “For generations to come, it will be a healthy way to connect the sites and to remember all the heroes of September 11 and all the innocent people and the families who were left behind."
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By connecting the three sites, the trail founders hope to inspire recreationalists to learn more about that tragic day through healthy exercise, whether biking, hiking or walking.
How it started
How to ride the trail
You can participate in the 2021 Tour de Trail by registering at 911trail.org; Ride the 24-mile trail segment with the pack for $45, or donate $45 and participate virtually by biking, hiking or walking “20 miles, 20 minutes, 20 steps or with 20 friends.” You can cycle the route at any time, following the map on the organization's website. It winds through Pennsylvania's bucolic Laurel Highlands to and from Berlin (about an 80-minute drive from Pittsburgh) and feels like “a slice of Americana,” says Tom Baxter, president of the September 11 National Memorial Trail Alliance. Don't worry about traffic, he adds: You're likely to encounter more turkeys than cars along the way.
David Brickley on the 9/11 National Memorial Trail.
Courtesy 9/11 National Memorial Trail Alliance
Just days after 9/11, David Brickley, a former Virginia state representative and then the state's director of conservation and recreation, dreamed up the idea for the route at a conference on trails. “We had to find a way to marry our love for trails and greenways with this horrendous tragedy that just took place against our country,” says Brickley, president emeritus of the trail alliance.
Completed in 2015, the present route is divided between off-road and on-road sections and passes through six states. It overlaps many existing trails, including the Great Allegheny Passage, a recreational trail between Pittsburgh and Cumberland, Maryland, and the C&O Canal Towpath, which runs from Cumberland to Washington, D.C. Its developers aim to add more greenways as it evolves. “It's like the Appalachian Trail, which started in the 1930s but is still being changed and grown. Our route will be improved as the years go by,” says Brickley.
To help ensure those improvements are made, the alliance is lobbying for federal designation for the trail, which would lift its profile and potentially its support. The U.S. House of Representatives unanimously passed such a bill in July, and now the trail's backers are hoping for quick Senate approval and President Biden's signature by the anniversary.
