Ten cyclists took part in the Yo-Pough-Yo bike ride on Saturday, June 13, to benefit the National EMS Memorial Service, held annually in the Washington, DC, area. This’s year’s memorial service in July will honor 37 EMS staff who passed away in the line of duty.
Event organizer Paramedic Bill Rothchild said about half of the cyclists were Empress employees. Two support volunteers were on hand to pick up riders who were ready to stop.
Riders started at the Empress stations in Yonkers and Poughkeepsie, both located near sections of the Empire State Trail. They met for lunch at a midpoint, Castle Park in Brewster. The full route from Yonkers to Poughkeepsie (or vice versa) covered 85 miles. Lunch was donated by Empress.
“A lot of people went only the first 45 miles,” Rothschild said. “They said in advance they would only go to Brewster. So, the support volunteers were available to shuttle people wherever they needed to go once they were finished riding.”
He said representatives of the International Association of EMTs and Paramedics met them for lunch, “to cheer us on and make us feel loved.” The union also donated breakfast for the participants.
Rothschild said the event was a success, and he plans to organize it again next year.
“It went flawlessly — really good weather, and no one had any mechanical failures. There were no complaints from the participants. We had good conditions, and the trail was pretty flat. We raised $1,200, with each $25 participation fee being matched three times by Empress as well as the local and national branches of the union.”
Empress Paramedic and Dutchess County EMS Coordinator John Mahoney started at the Poughkeepsie station and went south to Brewster.
He said his interest in cycling was longstanding, “I have been an avid cyclist since doing my first century ride in 1998 honoring a Yorktown Ambulance Corps member’s fight with blood cancer.”
Mahoney said he became a paramedic after losing a friend in a fireworks accident.
“The ability to help those in need is the most fulfilling part about EMS,” he added.
Empress Paramedic Andrew Pinney was also among the cyclists, crediting Rothschild for sparking his interest in long bike rides. He has taken part in the EMS Memorial Bike Ride for two years.
“I hadn’t done long bike rides until I was a paramedic student with Bill Rothschild,” Pinney said. “It took him about five minutes before he sat me down in front of the computer in the New Rochelle Fire Station and showed me the websites related to the EMS Memorial Service and the EMS Memorial bike ride. He regularly refers to it as the ‘best-kept secret in EMS.’ “
“Training for the EMS Memorial Bike Ride in 2025 got me back onto the road,” he said. “At one point, I used to ride to work while in the UK.”
Paramedic Ron Pugh, who works for Empress in Westchester, said he also got involved with the EMS Memorial Bike Ride through Rothschild.
“I rode a lot when I was younger and started riding again when COVID started — with Bill’s help, of course,” he said, adding that he has ridden in the EMS Bike Ride for the past four years, and attended two DC rides/memorial services, referring to the Weekend of Honor, which is held in the Washington, DC, area in July and also includes a bike ride, the Ride of Honor.
Pugh said he finds EMS work fulfilling and enjoys helping people. “Nobody is immune from help, everyone will need it eventually,” he said.
For Pinney, EMS was a career change. He was formerly an applied statistician and director of Statistics for Sustainable Development, a nonprofit providing statistical support to projects seeking sustainability. When related projects dwindled, he began exploring new opportunities.
“I had become a volunteer EMT soon after arriving in the U.S. I enjoyed the role of providing patient care, so I pivoted to medic school in 2025. … Being a paramedic provides a challenge on so many levels: Clinical, compassion, management, leadership, and logistics. So, there’s plenty to work on and plenty to strive for in my semi-retirement,” he said.
About PatientCare and Empress EMS
Empress Ambulance Service, LLC, a PatientCare EMS Solutions Company, has served the greater New York area since 1985. Empress provides 911 emergency medical services to the City of Yonkers, mutual-aid response throughout the Hudson Valley and holds emergency and non-emergency service contracts with municipalities, hospitals, correctional institutions, and private care providers throughout Westchester County and the Hudson Valley and Litchfield, CT. Empress also has a growing Mobile Integrated Health (MIH) unit providing out-of-hospital care to patients in those areas. To learn more about Empress and PatientCare, visit empressems.com and patientcareems.com.
