JJ’s Ride: Break the Chains Motorcycle Rally to be held Aug. 2 in Seaford

The JJ’s Ride: Break the Chains Motorcycle Rally will be held on Aug. 2 at Seaford Wesleyan Church (The Ark). The first event was held in 2021 in Pennsylvania. Susan Bibb, the event organizer, and her family organized the rally to come to Delaware for the first time.

In 2021, Susan’s son, John Bibb, overdosed on heroin mixed with fentanyl. To raise funds for the funeral service, Susan’s cousin initially started the rally in Pennsylvania and has held it every year since.

“It was one of those situations where you really didn’t know what to do to get help,” Bibb said when talking about John. “So we’re bringing the rally down here to try to raise awareness on where to get help and how to get help (for people suffering from addiction).” Initially, the ride had only a handful of riders but now it is over 30.

Shown are riders at one of the previous rally of the riders, organized by Susan Bibb’s cousin in Pennsylvania.

“The first year they came back and we just sort of talked a little bit,” Bibb explained. “The second year was really big, they had food trucks and everything that year.”

This year, they’re looking to grow the event to include a number of speakers and organizations involved in raising awareness to fight addiction. Included in the event will be various riding clubs in Delaware and riders from Pennsylvania, Seaford Mayor Matt McCoy, Delaware State Police with a NARCAN demonstration, Frank Parks and his Fisher of Men organization, Teen Challenge, a memorial table, and various other organizations related to overdose prevention and addiction treatment. The memorial table will include stones where families and loved ones can write the names of those who have or still do suffer with addiction so that the riders can carry them during the rally.

When asked about the starting time of the ride, 10:10 a.m., Bibb explained that the time was chosen to match with the Bible verse chosen for the event, John chapter 10, verse 10: “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life and have it to the full.” This verse was chosen as a result of a part of the title, JJ’s ride, which stands for Jesus and John. According to Bibb, this choice comes from Jesus being the stand in for those that have lost their lives to addiction. August 2, the day of the ride, was also John’s birthday.

Susan shared some memories of John and talked about his struggle with addiction. “John on his good days he was funny, he loved to make people laugh, and he was ornery when he was little,” Bibb said.“When he was using though, he was a completely different person.” Bibb mentioned that John had been on and off with his addiction, even living in his car at one point, and had been clean for several months before passing during a relapse. John was the oldest of five siblings. While Bibb’s main focus has been on the ride, she and her family have also talked about their story with others and try to raise awareness for those struggling with addiction.

“We want this to be a community thing, we want it to be outreach,” Bibb explained. “We want people to get educated, and any money that we raise is going towards one of the organizations to help (those fighting addiction).”

Drug overdose has remained as the leading cause of death for Americans aged 18-44 according to the Center for Disease Control (CDC). The CDC continues to report that overdose deaths involving synthetic opioids, excluding methadone, were involved in roughly 2,600 drug overdose deaths each year in 2011 and 2012, but from 2013 through 2021, the number of drug overdose deaths involving synthetic opioids increased to more than 71,000 in 2021. According to the Drug Enforcement Agency, more than 107,000 people lost their lives to a drug overdose in 2023, with nearly 70 percent of those deaths attributed to opioids such as fentanyl. The DEA also reports that two milligrams of fentanyl is considered a lethal dose. For perspective, one gram of fentanyl, equivalent in size to a sugar packet, has the potential to kill up to 500 people.

Registration for the Break the Chains Motorcycle Rally begins at 9 a.m. on Aug. 2, and the ride begins at 10:10. For more information on how to get involved with the event, be it via attending, donations, riding, volunteering, etc, contact Susan Bibb at 443-523-7902. The event is free and open to the public, and merchandise for the ride will be available for sale during the event.