When 2000 or so motorbike riders glide into Canberra on Saturday, September 16, Dianne Proctor will be among them.
She's the widow of Tim Proctor, a probationary constable who was hit by a car while on duty in Sydney four years ago. Their baby was born six months after his death.
Because of his injuries, Dianne has a phobia about cars - but bikes suit her just fine.
She will ride in the Wall to Wall Ride: Ride for Remembrance on her Kawasaki Ninja. Her husband used to ride the same type of bike, though Dianne says his was a 250cc and hers is 400cc.
Dianne's aversion to riding in cars stems from the manner of her husband's death.
She remembers the marks of the seat belt across his chest after he was crushed in a head-on crash when a car coming the other way crossed into the path of his car.
But she also remembers the motorbike he would ride and that inspired her to learn the two-wheeled way too.
"He had injuries from the seat belt," she says of the man she loved. "He had those injuries on his chest so when I put a seat belt on I feel claustrophobia."
A bike gives her more of a feeling of freedom, more of a sense of being in control.
She knows about safety - as you would when your husband has died in a car crash - and she feels safer on a bike.
"I'm very cautious. I know my limits," she says.
In the grief-stricken aftermath of her husband's death, his police colleagues rode past the police station as a salute.
"I was there the first time they rode by, and I was bawling my eyes out," Dianne says.
It prompted her to saddle up herself. "You see all those big, burly motorbike guys who look so intimidating but after speaking to them I had tears in my eyes.
"It's the whole atmosphere, and I thought, 'Wouldn't it be good if I could join them'."
And so she did.
Wall to Wall
Each national Wall to Wall ride is in memory of police officers who have died on duty. It focuses on those who have died in the past year but remembers all of them, including Constable Tim Proctor.
This year's event will have the three latest police victims at the forefront of minds: Constables Matthew Arnold and Rachel McCrow who died on December 12 at a remote property at Wieambilla in Queensland, and Constable Anthony Woods who was crushed by a car in Perth three months ago.
Of the two deaths in Queensland, the police there said: "As the Constables walked towards the residence, they came under fire by offenders armed with high-powered rifles who had concealed themselves at the side of the driveway, Constable Arnold was fatally shot.
"Constable McCrow was also shot at this time and commenced treating her own wounds whilst using her body worn camera to record her observations at the scene."
Of the death in Perth, Western Australia Police said: "Constable Woods performed his duty with a smile that was infectious. He lived his life to the fullest and had a passion for protecting the community. Constable Woods was a much loved husband, son, brother, friend and colleague."
The perpetrators of the Queensland murders were themselves shot at the scene. A trial is pending after the Perth death.
Wreaths will be laid for the dead officers at the National Police Memorial on the afternoon of September 16.
Specially carved police batons will also be laid. Each has been engraved with the badge of the force from where the remembered officer came. They have been hollowed out and parchment with an inscription inserted. Dianne Proctor will take one in memory of her husband.
The full title of the event is Wall to Wall: Ride for Remembrance. It's called Wall to Wall because it starts at the police walls of remembrance in each jurisdiction and ends at the national wall.
In New South Wales, for example, riders will meet at 6.30am in the state's Police Force Wall of Remembrance in the Domain in Sydney. They are briefed and there is a short ceremony there. They then head out at 8.20am.
The cavalcade of remembrance will cross Sydney Harbour Bridge. At 9.05am, there will be a 10-minute slow ride in memory of Constable Proctor.
There are refreshments at the Police Academy at Goulburn before they head further along the Hume Highway to reach Canberra by 1pm.
Riders from all the jurisdictions (including those from Perth and Darwin) converge at the big Exhibition Park in Canberra before heading together to the National Memorial. The ceremony is scheduled at 4pm.
There should be about 2000 riders, according to Brian Rix, one of the founders of the event.
They will be serving police officers, retired police officers and their families. Some police force bikes will accompany the rides but the majority will be riders on their own machines.
The riders pay a fee to take part. Companies put in sponsorship (including Yamaha which has provided a bike as a prize in a raffle - a sporty peddle-bike worth $8999). All the money raised goes to Police Legacy funds in the different states. These funds provide support to families of police officers in need, often because of bereavement.
In the case of Dianne Proctor, for example, NSW Police Legacy helped in all those day-to-day ways a bereaved person is faced with - things like forms to fill in, visits to officialdom.
"We helped her just with life," Leisa Doherty from the organisation said.
"Dianne was pregnant so we were constantly checking in on her. She would often go the grave-side and we would take her."
But the point of the Wall to Wall Ride is about more than the raising money, according to Brian Rix. It's also about illustrating safe riding, he said, and "remembering your mates".
Rix in Victoria and Michael Corboy in New South Wales came up with the idea in 2009. They were both police officers and both keen motorcyclists. They both heard of a similar American police charity event called the Ride for the Fallen, held in Austin, Texas.
Phone calls were made. Enthusiasm buzzed along the lines - and they were up and riding.
Brian Rix who will be on his bike at the National Police Memorial in Canberra finds the ceremony moving almost beyond words.
"I've been blown away," he said.
It's not just about those who have died. It's also about the pain quietly - silently - borne by those countless officers who witness the worst of deeds - those who turn up at road accidents and murders as part of the routine of their jobs.
"The number of police officers who suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder is high," Brian Rix said. At the memorial, he says, police officers remember why they became police officers.
It is a gathering of those who serve. It is a gathering to remember those who died in that service.
