Riding to remember

LYNN – Lynn Police officers ride in lots of fundraising cycling events, but today?s Ride to Remember from Springfield to Boston will hit closer to home, and not just geographically.The ride will be honoring fallen Springfield Police Officer Kevin Ambrose, who was shot and killed in the line of duty during a domestic dispute in June 2012. Lynn Police Officer Pablo Figueroa, who transferred from the Springfield department to Lynn not long before Ambrose was killed, said he knew him well, having worked several details with him.?When you worked with somebody and you hear news like that, you never take it lightly,” said Figueroa. “But it?s the kind of thing we have to deal with in this line of work.”A team of officers and some of their family members make up the Lynn contingent for the ride, which will join a mixed group of about 210, including police officers, firefighters, state troopers and federal agents.The officers are Sgt. Glenn Dunnigan, Lt. Marie Hanlon, Officer Rob Brown and Figueroa. Along for the fun is Dunnigan?s 17-year-old son, Cullen, in his first 100-mile ride, plus Officer Tito Kim and Brown?s wife, Laura, as supporters.North Shore Cycles and Cuffe-McGinn Funeral Home are sponsoring the team.The ride will begin in Springfield at 7:30 a.m. and end at about 5 p.m. at the Massachusetts Law Enforcement Memorial at the State House, which is the benefactor of each participant?s mandatory $300 minimum fundraising. The last 26.2 miles of the 104-mile ride will follow the Boston Marathon route.This will be Figueroa?s first century ride, and he said he?s looking forward to the opportunity to witness the strength of the law enforcement brotherhood.