Nick Riding isn’t just a police officer. He’s a survivor.

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He worked with his father, deputy Dean Ridings, on the Spotsylvania County Sheriff’s Department. On Thursday, he rode in his father’s memory and wore a bracelet engraved with his name and the date he died. His father died almost a year ago in a boating accident on Lake Anna.

"Doing it for him that's all,” Ridings said. “That's all I could think about."

Riding and other officers gathered in D.C. Thursday to take part in a bike ride to honor fallen officers. Some will ride for three days for about 250 miles.

Tondria Sanders rode for her husband, a California Highway Patrolman killed in the line of duty three years ago. She was pregnant with their daughter at the time.

“Our agency lost five officers and one cadet last year,” Sanders said.

Most officers are riding with a flag on their bike – with the name of an officer who died.

Trish Wertz rode with a picture of her husband near her. Her husband, officer Scott Wertz, was killed in 2006 in Reading, Pennsylvania.

"He was killed when he was 40, great husband, great dad,” she said. “It's about how he lived not how he died. I did this to honor him and remember him."