In 1994, Boulder, Colorado Police Officer Beth Haynes made the ultimate sacrifice in the line of duty. She was first to respond to a domestic disturbance at an apartment complex. A bystander wouldn’t heed her commands to leave the area so she took the initiative to protect him. It was then the assailant took her life. She epitomizes the true Hero we see every day when Police and Firefighters respond to calls that can put them in harm’s way.
Officer Haynes must have been a very popular person. During my all day honor ride in Boulder today, it was as if I was a local celebrity. Horns blew, well wishes were offered, honks and waves were commonplace. It was a true Hero’s tribute for Officer Beth Haynes.

Outside of the Boulder Police Department Administration building is a memorial garden, dedicated to the six Boulder Police Officers who gave their lives in the line of duty. I visited the Police facility and Detective Kurt Foster took the time to talk with me about the men and women who paid the ultimate price. I was amazed that the last two Heroes to die in the line of duty were women. Tomorrow, I will ride all day in honor of the most recent fatality.
Today’s weather was ideal, allowing to make up some of the miles I missed out on during the 3 days of rain. Boulder is a great town and everyone here seems to support The Kindness Bicycle Ride for Heroes as I ride past them.

“I wish my mom was here to see this with us,” said a single mom with her daughter this Mother’s Day morning. Reading the phrases onThe Kindness Bus brought her to tears, tears of joy. If I had to make a guess, I would estimate  500 moms walked by The Kindness Bus today. Most weren’t as emotional, but most, if not all, took the time to read at least one phrase. The Kindness Bus was cozied up to the curb and the captive audience walking by and those waiting for up to 2 hours for a table at Snooze, a local restaurant were able to read the 400 or so phrases. At one time during the course of this day, I witnessed 6 moms reading The Kindness Bus with their children.
Watching this crowd wasn’t the best part, hearing the conversations was. Kindness, taught by moms on Mother’s Day is a time tested core value every day of the year. The Kindness Bus, with its messages, started some great conversations with mothers standing nearby and those watching from above.
A joyous Mother’s Day to all moms!

Starting the past few days at 4:45AM to get the best parking spot in town has paid dividends. The foot traffic is key to viewing The Kindness Bus. I love watching at a distance, within earshot of moms and dads explaining what some of the writings on The Kindness Bus means to them.
Riding The Kindness Bicycle between the raindrops today, was a bit challenging at times, but had a great impact on many. I think riding in the rain shows to others, my dedication to this cause.
Friend, Nawang Khechog stopped by The Kindness Bus as I was getting ready to ride The Kindness Bicycle. This proud Tibetan man and I spent time together catching up on what has been going on in each other’s lives since this past fall. Nawang lives an incredible life of kindness and compassion towards the world we live in. I always feel enlightened by our conversations. What a beautiful man of peace he is.

During the nearly 4 months since the beginning of The Kindness Bicycle Ride for Heroes, all of the towns have one thing in common, it doesn’t rain too often. Looking forward to getting some things done that I have put off for a while was a big help in accomplishing most of my list.
Today I had an interview for The Mahalo Show by its founder, Jessica Dancingheart. This film project will feature several individual’s acts of kindness and their cause and effect. It should make for an interesting film and help to spread the word about the goal of One Million Acts Of Kindness.
Sarah and Suzi, two Boulder residents stopped by to express their gratitude. Sarah has volunteered to help in her spare time, with growing this mission to others across the country.
Erin, a Boulder High School junior, was glad to see The Kindness Tour come to her town.
Today’s welcome rain needs to continue for another day to give me more time to complete my continual list of chores.

While out riding, I met Hero Firefighters, Jennifer, Chris and Joe as they arrived at the Administration building in Boulder. They were nice to take the time to talk with me about all the services the Boulder Fire Department performs. Boulder’s Firefighters do a lot more than fight fires.  Every Firefighter is a state certified Emergency Medical Technician. Every engine crew is equipped with, and trained to operate, a Cardiac Defibrillator. They are prepared to; deal with flooding in a business or house; extricate someone from a vehicle accident; rescue people from a stalled elevator or a collapsed trench; effectively deal with carbon monoxide alarms or tree branches on power lines. Many of Boulder’s Firefighters have advanced training in dive rescue, hazardous material spills, wildland fire fighting, or fire safety education.
This town is filled with families visiting for graduation tomorrow, there is no room at the inn, so to speak. I love the crowded streets and sidewalks. Information about The Kindness Bicycle Ride for Heroes spread in a big way today.

It is graduation week in Boulder and families from across the United States and beyond have descended on this town by the thousands. I headed to the University of Colorado at Boulder which was a great place to take The Kindness Bicycle Ride for Heroes today, as many of those families were walking the grounds. This is my favorite type of captive audience, families from everywhere, viewing the signs on The Kindness Bicycle and creating conversation that doesn’t occur often enough in most families. The Kindness Bus had a great, all day parking spot in a high pedestrian count area of town. This was a great day of conversations with hundreds of groups.
A big thank you to Vinnie for his great photos and donation as I was packing up The Kindness Bus.