Nearly 500 vehicles were in ‘Back the Blue’ ride, including 300 motorcycles
Photos by Tom Rivers
HOLLEY – Motorcyclists head down Route 31 in Holley’s Public Square on Saturday during a “Back the Blue” ride in Orleans County.
The Orleans Hub reported on Saturday there were more than 1,000 participants in the ride. That was an estimate scanning the grounds on Countyline Road in Murray at the staging area before the ride. I asked a few other people how many they thought were, too, including a motorcyclist who had been at four other rides.
We all thought there were about 1,000 vehicles, maybe more.
Motorcycles pass underneath a giant American flag held high over Route 31 by the ladder trucks at Holley and Clarendon.
But I reviewed a video today from the ride and counted about 500 vehicles. That includes about 300 motorcycles in the beginning of the procession. Then there were about 80 SUVs and pickup trucks. I counted five fire trucks, three dumptrucks, and about 80 other cars, including many classic vehicles.
Add them all up and it’s about 470, including the three law enforcement escorts to start the ride, with two from the Orleans County Sheriff’s Office and a State Police patrol car.
It took them about 25 minutes, from start to end, to pass through the Public Square in Holley. But on Route 104 in Gaines, where the speed limit was 55, it took 14 minutes for the vehicles to pass by.
Some of the vehicles drive down Route 31 toward Holley’s Public Square.
