1,200 motorcycles on last ride honoring Sept. 11 victims

(AP) - About 1,200 motorcycles are rumbling across western Maryland and northern Virginia in what organizers are calling their last ride honoring victims of the Sept. 11 terrorist attack.

The America's 911 Ride begins Friday morning at the Flight 93 crash site near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, and continues through Cumberland and Hagerstown, Maryland, before heading south through Leesburg, Virginia, to a hotel near the Pentagon.

The ride continues Saturday from the Pentagon to the Sept. 11 memorial in New York City.

Organizer Ted Sjurseth says the 16th annual ride will be the last, partly because he's tired of battling Maryland and Virginia state police and highway agencies over their reluctance to block traffic for the motorcycle procession.

State agency officials say they must maintain safe traffic flow in the congested region.

ONLINE: https://www.americas911ride.org/