VENICE – Jonathan “J.C.” Chace had experienced rides on a Harley Davidson before – back in high school he rode in a side car, while a friend drove, and just recently he was on a Harley Tri Glide for his 31st birthday. But the ride he took Nov. 27 with retired Sarasota Police motorcycle officer Phil DeNiro topped both. 

“This was one of the best things that ever happened to me,” said Chace, a Venice Challenger Baseball athlete who is visually impaired. “This was like a dream come true.” 

DeNiro and his friend Leigh Sterritt took Chace from Challenger Field to the island of Venice, then down Harbor Drive to the Venice Municipal Fishing Pier and back. 

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The ride was arranged and coordinated by Mary Apostolu. 

She had a conversation with a benefactor, “Jimmy V” who gave Chace a vintage Harley leather jacket, leather belt, goggles and helmet. 

He also stashed a wooden cross in the left-hand jacket pocket for Chace to find. 

That cross meant as much to Chace as the cycle ride. 

"The amazing thing about the jacket,” he said, “I am a Christian and, in the pocket, there was a cross that came with it, to let me know that the Lord Jesus Christ is with me and that the loves me.

"I still have it and I’m going to keep it in that same pocket.” 

Chace was one of the first players who signed up to play Venice Challenger Baseball, when the late Rich Carroll started the program, which was interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Carroll died in July at age 72, just weeks shy of the September opening of the new Challenger baseball complex.

In case you’re wondering, the ride on the Harley Tri Glide was nice and smooth, with calm, easy turns, Chace said.  

In a side car, the turns come quickly, while on a two-wheeler, “you lean a little bit that but that doesn’t hurt,” he added. 

“It had handlebars on the side that I could hang on to, plus it was relaxing,” Chace said of his ride with DeNiro. 

“I never expected to get my own helmet and Harley jacket, too, that was a bonus,” Chace said. “Some things in life are just unexpected.” 

Earle Kimel primarily covers south Sarasota County for the Herald-Tribune and can be reached at earle.kimel@heraldtribune.com. Support local journalism with a digital subscription to the Herald-Tribune.