Cycle Across Illinois builds family for those grieving fallen police officers: ‘Honor, support, remember’

Christina Musil. Corey Thompsen. Andrew Faught. Clay Carns. Rafael Wordlaw. Allan Reddins. James Crowley. Luis Huesca. Enrique Martinez.

Those names are the reason almost 100 cyclists endured the grueling, humid, rural roads of northern Illinois for hundreds of miles this week.

Among the cyclists were police officers, a sheriff and deputies, a retired state conservation police sergeant, state troopers, at least one prosecutor, civilians, and family of law enforcement personnel killed in the line of duty. Many of them are burdened with at least one thing in common: They’ve lost someone they love.

“We all do this because of what the common cause is, and that’s to honor, remember and support our fallen,” said Rich Riedel, who retired as a sergeant after 27 years with the Illinois State Conservation Police.

The group was expected to complete the ride Sunday, with stops in Kendall, Kane, DuPage and Cook counties until they end in Chicago.

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DeKalb County Sheriff Andy Sullivan leads a group of cyclists as sheriff's deputies and onlookers line up along Illinois Route 23 to greet the nearly 100 cyclists biking from La Salle County to DeKalb on Saturday, July 12, 2025, for Cycle Across Illinois, a charity campaign to honor fallen police officers and raise funds for their families. (Photo provided by Curtis Kiebles)

Cycle Across Illinois is an annual charity bike ride meant to honor those who’ve died and raise funds for families left behind. The ride benefits the Illinois chapter of Concerns of Police Survivors, which provides resources, grief support and more to surviving family. Donations help plan police funerals and send fallen officers’ children to college and summer camps.

But the ride isn’t just to memorialize the fallen, Riedel said. Way out on country roads surrounded by cornfields, waving passersby, hundreds of miles in, the bikers seek camaraderie.

They chat while biking to pass the time. Nights are spent in hotels or in college dorms and at communal meals. Riedel, who in his career lost three law enforcement friends in action, said that on Friday night, a retired Chicago police captain spoke about survivor’s guilt.

“We honor the sacrifice that they did,” Riedel said. “We remember them. We do memorial readings, we’ll do anniversary readings ... so the name is never forgotten. And we’re always there to support the families.”

Riedel got involved in Cycle Across Illinois when a close friend, Jamie Cox of the Rockford Police Department, was killed in the line of duty in 2017. Cox, of South Beloit, was a Northern Illinois University graduate.

“We want to be out here, and we want to suffer a little bit to help us all realize what we’re going through is nothing compared to what the families go through.”

—  Rich Riedel

This year’s Cycle Across Illinois memorialized those killed in 2024: nine law enforcement officers and three K-9 officers – Nyx of the Rockford Police Department, Dax of the Lake County Sheriff’s Office and Odin of the Alton Police Department.

Stops during the four-day ride invited family and colleagues to brief memorial ceremonies. On Thursday, a Pesotum stop honored Illinois State Trooper Corey Thompsen, who was killed Oct. 18. Bikers paid their respects at the Illinois Police Memorial in Springfield. Saturday brought them to Ottawa to honor Morris native and Illinois Department of Corrections Sgt. Andrew Faught killed April 8, 2024.

Woodstock resident Dan Regna, a prosecutor in DeKalb County, is in his third year cycling across Illinois. Like the other bikers, he wore bracelets with the names of the fallen.

Regna said he believes officers and their families display mental and physical fortitude to bike while grieving or paying homage.

“It’s a challenge of the mind,” Regna said Sunday.

Not a drop of rain fell on bikers this week, either, despite flooding in areas further north.

That’s part of the point, Riedel said: giving riders, especially active-duty officers, the mental strength to keep going.

“We want to be out here, and we want to suffer a little bit to help us all realize what we’re going through is nothing compared to what the families go through,” Riedel said.

On Thursday, the bikers left Champaign at 6:30 a.m., and they left from Springfield at 8 a.m. Friday. Then, participants left Illinois State University in Normal about 5:30 a.m. Saturday, making quick time – about 14.6 minutes per mile – to arrive in DeKalb ahead of schedule.

The group spent the night at Stevenson Tower at Northern Illinois University, gathering in the dormitory’s ground-floor lobby, awaiting dinner and cooling off.

An early-morning ceremony Sunday at a law enforcement memorial in DeKalb honored the late DeKalb County Sheriff’s Deputy Christina Musil.

Stops in St. Charles, Downers Grove, Maywood and Oak Park rounded out the last leg in a 400-mile journey to the Chicago Police Department headquarters.

A Downers Grove stop midday Sunday honored Illinois State Trooper Clay Carns, who was killed Dec. 23. A Maywood stop remembered Cook County Sheriff’s Deputy Rafael Wordlaw, followed by a ceremony for Detective Allan Reddins at the Oak Park Police Department. Ending at CPD headquarters, the bikers will memorialize CPD officers James Crowley, Luis Huesca and Enrique Martinez.

For the 94 cyclists, 30 support staff, medics and aides drive along the route, preparing rest stops with electrolytes and snacks. David Parks of the Cyclery and Fitness Center in Edwardsville also biked the route, offering free roadside repairs.

DeKalb County Sheriff Andy Sullivan wore a bracelet for Musil, a sheriff’s deputy killed after a DeKalb man under the influence of drugs rear-ended her squad car with a semitruck March 28, 2024, in Waterman. Musil, 35, was a mother of three and a U.S. Army National Guard veteran who served in Afghanistan.

It’s Sullivan’s second year with Cycle Across Illinois. He also wore a bracelet honoring the late McHenry County sheriff’s deputy Dwight Maness, who died 10 years ago.

“This really has a special place in my heart, and I know it always will,” Sullivan said Saturday.

He biked with his brother, Huntley Police Sgt. Scott Sullivan, as well as DeKalb County Sheriff’s Deputy Tyler Rogman, retired DeKalb police officer Fred Busby and Regna. Lexi Frankenberry and Sarah Westlake of the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Office Corrections Division joined the support team.

Also biking? Christina Musil’s mother, Diane Caporaso, who led the pack with Sullivan as participants biked into DeKalb County on Saturday.

“I think of Christina the whole time,” Sullivan said when asked what goes through his mind on the road. “I’d give anything to have things different.”

There’s a balm offered for those hurt, too, Riedel said. With COPS, support lasts beyond officer funerals and bike rides.

“We say ‘You might’ve lost one family member, but you just gained 130 new ones,’” Riedel said.